Open hardware as an alternative semiconductor ecosystem
Open hardware Europe refers to the growing network of companies, boards, and tools that publish schematics, source files, and interfaces so engineers can study, modify, and reproduce hardware without proprietary lock‑in, creating an alternative to closed semiconductor ecosystems and giving universities, startups, and hobbyists shared building blocks for deep‑tech innovation, from embedded systems to quantum technologies. This movement links commercial IP providers, open innovation platforms, and project‑level initiatives. Instead of treating chips as sealed black boxes, designers publish design files under licenses such as CERN‑OHL and build around open or standardized architectures like RISC‑V semiconductors. Combined with free software tools and collaborative communities, these platforms reduce entry barriers to advanced test equipment, wireless SoCs, and experimental computing. The result is a layered open stack—spanning PCB design, firmware, and processor instruction sets—that aims to give engineers more control over their tools and long‑term independence from any single vendor’s roadmap or business model.
Red Pitaya’s open instruments and the deep‑tech stack
Red Pitaya has turned laboratory‑grade instruments into open innovation platforms that fit on a bench and into teaching labs. Its STEMlab 125‑14 PRO Gen 2 board combines test‑and‑measurement and signal‑processing functions in a form that educators, researchers, and product teams can reconfigure through open interfaces and community examples. Originally launched via a Kickstarter campaign in 2013, Red Pitaya has grown into a widely used platform for fields such as photonics, embedded systems, and quantum technologies. By exposing programmable logic, software APIs, and reference designs, the company supports hands‑on deep‑tech education and quick experimentation. Engineering students have even built a radar system on top of the platform. This openness helps align long hardware lifecycles with fast‑moving research, and it fits neatly with policymakers’ focus on open innovation platforms that keep critical know‑how and tooling accessible instead of tied to proprietary instruments and closed scripting environments.
Cortus, RISC‑V, and a path toward semiconductor independence
Cortus illustrates how open instruction sets can shift power in the semiconductor supply chain. The company started in 2005 with its own 32‑bit processor architecture for embedded systems, technology that Michael Chapman says has now shipped in more than 18 billion devices, with current production at around 1.2 billion units per year. More recently, Cortus has focused on RISC‑V semiconductors for applications ranging from low‑power microcontrollers to high‑performance multicore platforms in automotive, avionics, space, and nuclear systems. Chapman argues that closed architectures were constraining innovation and that RISC‑V offers a way out by standardizing the ISA while allowing custom extensions. Cortus was a founding member of the RISC‑V Foundation and, according to Chapman, at that time “the only non‑American organization” among large technology firms and universities backing the effort. That early role gives it a seat at the table as open ISAs become central to strategies for technological sovereignty and local control over critical computing IP.
From KiCad to CoffeeCaller: open boards for embedded design
At the project level, boards like CoffeeCaller show how open embedded hardware can make wireless and sensor‑rich systems easier to learn from and replicate. Built around Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52840, a 64 MHz Arm Cortex‑M4 SoC with 1 MB of flash, 256 KB of RAM, and a 2.4 GHz transceiver, CoffeeCaller started as a coffee‑themed office gadget and evolved into a compact development board. It adds buttons, LEDs, a PWM buzzer, an SHT40 temperature‑and‑humidity sensor, Qwiic expansion, NFC, USB‑C power, and exposed I/O. Developer Andreas Kurz has published KiCad design files, schematics, and PCB sources in a public hardware repository under a CERN‑OHL‑S‑2.0 license. The Elektor Engineering Insights session built around the project focuses on turning those KiCad files into reproducible boards: deciding board shape, component placement, assembly steps, documentation, and revisions so that other engineers can build, modify, and test the design rather than treat it as a sealed product.
KiCad, Zephyr, and policy tailwinds for open hardware Europe
Underpinning these efforts is an ecosystem of open tools and firmware projects such as KiCad for PCB design and Zephyr for real‑time operating systems. Together they let engineers design boards, firmware, and products without depending on single‑vendor toolchains. For example, CoffeeCaller’s KiCad sources and open license mean its design can outlive any individual CAD subscription, while Red Pitaya’s open instrumentation sits naturally alongside open‑source software stacks for signal processing and control. This approach aligns with regulatory and innovation priorities that favor transparency, long‑term maintainability, and shared standards over opaque black‑box solutions. Open innovation platforms built on KiCad, Zephyr, and RISC‑V semiconductors can reduce supply‑chain risk and make it easier for universities and small firms to participate in advanced hardware development. As more boards, IP blocks, and tools move into this open space, the region’s engineers gain both the freedom to inspect and modify their hardware and a common language for collaboration.
