Open source machine learning inference accelerators on FPGA
Tom from Tensil here - happy to answer questions! We developed Tensil to bring custom ML accelerators to people who don't have the resources of companies like Google, Facebook and Tesla. Currently, we're focused on supporting convolutional neural network inference on edge FPGA (field programmable gate array) platforms, but we aim to support all model architectures on a wide variety of fabrics for both training and inference. Tensil is different from other ML accelerators in that it is open source and really easy to use. For example, you can generate a custom accelerator with one command: $…
In plain words
Tensil is an open-source platform for creating custom machine learning inference accelerators on FPGAs. It enables developers without large resources to build and deploy convolutional neural networks on edge devices through simple command-line tools. The platform streamlines the process from accelerator generation to model compilation to inference execution, aiming to eventually support all model architectures across various hardware types for both training and inference workloads.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Tom from Tensil here - happy to answer questions! We developed Tensil to bring custom ML accelerators to people who don't have the resources of companies like Google, Facebook and Tesla. Currently, we're focused on supporting convolutional neural network inference on edge FPGA (field programmable gate array) platforms, but we aim to support all model architectures on a wide variety of fabrics for both training and inference. Tensil is different from other ML accelerators in that it is open source and really easy to use. For example, you can generate a custom accelerator with one command: $ tensil rtl --arch <my_architecture> You can compile your ML model targeting that accelerator like so: $ tensil compile --arch <my_architecture> --model <my_model>` Running your model on FPGA is as simple as doing the following: $ tcu.load_model(<compiled_model>) $ outputs = tcu.run(inputs) The accelerator generator was developed in Chisel and we built our own parametrizable compiler to target it. The link in the post takes you to the documentation, and here's a link to the Github repository: https://github.com/tensil-ai/tensil/
More ai this month
the category →
I trained a 125M-parameter transformer to autocomplete piano performances in real time (~108 notes/sec on an iPhone 15). The idea is basically GitHub Copilot or Tabnine, except instead of prompting it with code, you prompt it by playing a few notes on a MIDI piano. The model then continues what you played, entirely on-device. The app is free if anyone wants to try it. Happy to answer questions about the model, training, Core ML, or the many things that didn't work.
AI · 17d ago · simedw.com
Astute▲585Automate your B2B brand going viral, with new media creators
AI · 18d ago · company-app.joinastute.com
Hey HN, Henry from Cactus here! We previously released Cactus Needle, a 14MB agentic LLM for tool call, device use, and structured extraction for phones, wearables, smart homes, small robots and microcontrollers. We got really great feedback here, and have now incorporated the suggestions to release Needle 2. The whole model is a single 14MB binary that runs a full session in 28MB of RAM; 45m parameters at 2bit compression. Needle hits 500 tokens/sec decode speed on a Raspberry Pi 5, sits between 400-1,500 tokens/sec on VR devices like Meta Quest 3S and Apple Vision Pro, and ranges…
AI · 26d ago · cactuscompute.com
Launched alongside, March 2022
the whole month →- IM
Hi HN! I made many small web games in the past with Unity or Phaser. But this time I wanted to make something completely on my own. So I coded a basic game framework in plain JavaScript, and used it to make Almost Pong. This was a really fun project that taught me a lot about JavaScript, and I plan to make more minimalist games with this framework. Interesting fact: Almost Pong doesn't load any assets, all sprites and sounds are generated with code. Happy to answer questions, and please let me know if you have any feedback on the game. Thanks!
Dev tools · 2022 · lessmilk.com
- IM
Life & fun · 2022 · networksfromscratch.com
- HA
Paste the following into the console of any HN page - for annotated avatars on all HN comments. (self contained code) for(u of document.querySelectorAll('.hnuser'))for(u.prepend(c=document.createElement('canvas')),x=c.getContext('2d'),c.width=18,c.height=14,s=u.innerText,r=1,i=28+s.length;i--;i>>29>X*X/3+Y/2&&x.fillRect(6+2*X,2*Y,2,2)&x.fillRect(6-2*X,2*Y,2,2):r+=s.charCodeAt(i-28,x.fillStyle='#'+(r>>8&0xFFFFFF).toString(16)))r^=r>>17,r^=r>2
Dev tools · 2022
- AG
Life & fun · 2022 · backofyourhand.com