An open ISA
No license for the instruction set, no single owner, many silicon vendors. A machine expected to run for 15 years should not depend on one supplier's roadmap.
European RISC-V Industrial Computing Initiative
RISC-V Industrial Computers.
Open, partitioned, built to last.
RVA23 silicon has arrived. The industrial computer built on it has not. ERICI brings firmware, hypervisor, real-time and general-purpose operating systems together into one open reference stack, so that RISC-V can run the machines, lines and plants of tomorrow.
- Non-commercial
- RVA23
- Based in Europe, open worldwide
Linuxoperator GUI, HMI
QSOEreal-time control
gRouvrpartitioning hypervisor
HFI BIOSfirmware, Set-Up, boot control
RVA23 RISC-V SoCcores, memory, devices, IOMMU
Why now
Industrial computing is ready for RISC-V
Today's industrial computers run on x86 and Arm: two instruction sets, each owned and licensed by a single company. RISC-V is open, governed by a non-profit, and implemented by many vendors. Until recently it lacked what industrial systems need. That has changed.
RVA23: a real baseline
The RVA23 profile, ratified in October 2024, makes the hypervisor and vector extensions mandatory. Software can rely on them on every compliant chip.
Silicon is shipping
The first RVA23 SoCs and boards are available in 2026, with eight 64-bit cores and an IOMMU. Developers can buy them today.
One box instead of two
A partitioning hypervisor runs real-time control and the operator's Linux side by side, isolated from each other, on one SoC.
From a university project to industrial computing
- 2010RISC-V starts at UC Berkeley
- 2015RISC-V Foundation founded
- 2020RISC-V International, based in Switzerland
- 2021Hypervisor and vector extensions ratified
- 2024RVA23 profile ratified
- 2026First RVA23 boards. ERICI starts.
So why are there no RISC-V industrial computers yet? Board makers wait for software, software waits for boards, and customers wait for both. ERICI breaks that loop with an open reference stack running on real hardware.
The gap
The silicon is here. The industrial computer isn't yet.
The first RVA23 machines are on the market: eight 64-bit RISC-V cores, the hypervisor extension, an IOMMU. They are excellent development and edge platforms. An industrial computer has to do more: survive the control cabinet, talk to the field, and stay available for a decade or longer.
Firefly AIBOX-K3
T-Chip Intelligent Technology · edge mini PC
- SpacemiT K3, 8× X100 RISC-V cores up to 2.4 GHz, RVA23
- Up to 32 GB LPDDR5, UFS, M.2 NVMe
- 2× Gigabit Ethernet, 9–20 V DC input
- −20 to 60 °C operating temperature
Image © T-Chip Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. · product page
Milk-V Jupiter2
Milk-V · single-board computer, metal case
- SpacemiT K3, 8× X100 RISC-V cores up to 2.4 GHz, RVA23
- Up to 32 GB LPDDR5, UFS, M.2 NVMe
- Gigabit and 10 GbE SFP+, Wi-Fi 6
- Real-time I/O expansion for EtherCAT and CAN-FD modules
Image © Milk-V · product page
What a RISC-V Industrial Computer needs
| Requirement | AIBOX-K3 | Jupiter2 |
|---|---|---|
| RVA23 SoC with hypervisor extension and IOMMU | Yes | Yes |
| 24 V DC supply, wide input range | 9–20 V | 12 V / USB-PD |
| Extended temperature, −40 to 85 °C | −20 to 60 °C | Not stated |
| Fieldbus and real-time I/O (EtherCAT, CAN, TSN) | Not stated | Via modules |
| DIN-rail or panel mounting | Not stated | Not stated |
| Hardware watchdog, isolated digital I/O | Not stated | Not stated |
| Industrial EMC and safety certification | Not stated | Not stated |
| Long-term availability, 10–15 years | Not stated | Not stated |
| Partitioned software stack: real-time next to Linux | Not yet | Not yet |
Specifications as published by the manufacturers, October 2026. Both products are shown as examples of RVA23 hardware available today. No affiliation with ERICI or endorsement by the manufacturers is implied.
The missing pieces are not the cores. They are the industrial hardware around them and an open, partitioned software stack on top. That is where ERICI starts.
Reference stack
One example, many choices
A RISC-V Industrial Computer is built in layers. ERICI shows one complete stack running on real RVA23 hardware, but no layer is mandatory: each one can be replaced by the option that fits the application, the certification path or the team's experience.
Operator partitionGUI, HMI, networking
Linuxa general-purpose OS for everything that is not
time-critical
- any Linux distribution
- FreeBSD or another BSD
Real-time partitioncontrol loops, machine I/O
QSOEa QNX-style
environment: /N on its own Skimmer microkernel, /L on seL4, same userspace
- Zephyr
- NuttX
- RTEMS
- other RTOSes
PartitioningCPUs, memory, devices, IOMMU
gRouvrRVA23 resource-partitioning hypervisor; every
available means of isolation, IOMMU included
- QBao
- Bao
- Xvisor
Firmwareinitialization, boot control
HFI BIOSU-Boot-based, with a BIOS-style Set-Up
for industrial boards
- EDK2 (UEFI)
- OpenSBI + U-Boot
HardwareRVA23 SoC with IOMMU
SpacemiT K38× X100 cores, hypervisor extension,
IOMMU
- any RVA23 SoC with an IOMMU
Example: booting QBao with Multiboot3
Bao is a static partitioning hypervisor: each guest gets its own CPUs, memory and devices. QBao extends it with a module loader using Multiboot3. The boot loader loads the hypervisor and the images of every partition as modules, then hands over control. Real-time and Linux partitions start side by side, each with its own share of the SoC.
# hypervisor
multiboot3 qbao.elf
# real-time partition: QSOE/N kernel + root fs
module3 skimmer.bin
module3 qsoe-root.cpio
# operator partition: Linux
module3 vmlinuz
module3 initrd-linux.cpio.gz
bootJoin
Build the RISC-V industrial computer with us
ERICI is in its founding phase. Companies and institutions that see RVA23 as the future of industrial computing are welcome to join now and shape the initiative from the start.
Who we invite
- Silicon vendorsRVA23 SoCs with an IOMMU and long-term availability
- Industrial hardware makersindustrial PCs, boards, modules, enclosures
- Software projectsfirmware, hypervisors, real-time operating systems, Linux
- Universities and researchteaching, theses, joint projects
- Machine builders and plant operatorsthe requirements that matter in the field
How ERICI works
- Non-commercial. ERICI sells nothing and charges no membership fees.
- Vendor-neutral. Every layer of the reference stack can be swapped. No member owns the initiative.
- Contribute what you can. Hardware, code, requirements, test setups, or simply feedback.