Forge1 Product Introduction

Let’s get to know Forge1 in 5 minutes.

Overview

Forge1 is an industrial-grade product powered by the RK3506J triple-core Cortex-A7 application processor. Operating within a temperature range of -40℃ to 85℃, it is specifically designed for industrial gateways, HMIs (Human-Machine Interfaces), PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), handheld POS (Point-of-Sale) devices, and home appliance display/control applications.

The embedded 2D hardware engine and display output engine minimize CPU overhead to meet demanding graphics rendering requirements.

With a comprehensive set of peripheral interfaces—including RS485, USB2, RMII (Reduced Media Independent Interface), CAN (Controller Area Network), DSMC (Digital Signal Microcontroller), Flexbus, and more—it accommodates diverse application development needs while reducing hardware complexity and development costs.

Hardware Information

Hardware Interfaces

armsom-forge1-front-back

Hardware Specifications

Category	Specifications
SOC	RockChip RK3506J
CPU	RK3506 Triple-core Cortex-A7 Processor
GPU	2D Graphic Engine Embedded high-performance 2D acceleration hardware
Memory	512MB DDR3L
Storage	512MB NAND Supports MicroSD card expansion
Networking	2 × 100M Ethernet
Video Output	1 x MIPI DSI (2Lane 1.5Gbps)
Audio	1 × Speaker 1 × MIC
USB Interfaces	1 × Type C (PD & Programming only) 1 × USB2.0 HOST
40-PIN	Partially compatible with Raspberry Pi 40-pin for peripheral connectivity Supports UART/SPI/I2C/I2S/PWM/5V Power/3.3V Power
Power Supply	DC IN 12V/1A Typec 5V/2A
Buttons	1x Maskrom Key (enters maskrom flashing mode)
OS	Officially supported by Rockchip: Buildroot
Dimensions	92 mm x 62mm
Operating Temperature	-40℃ ~ 85℃

RK3506J Block Diagram

Pin Definitions

40-PIN Header

GPIO Number	Function	Pin	Pin	Function	GPIO Number
	+3.3V	1	2	+5.0V
4	RM_IO4/SAI0_SDI0/GPIO0_A4_d	3	4	+5.0V
5	RM_IO5/SAI0_SDI1/GPIO0_A5_d	5	6	GND
59	RM_IO31/GPIO1_D3_d	7	8	UART0_TX RM_IO22/JTAG_TCK_M1/GPIO0_C6_u	22
	GND	9	10	UART0_RX RM_IO23/JTAG_TMS_M1/GPIO0_C7_u	23
58	RM_IO30/GPIO1_D2_d	11	12	RM_IO29/GPIO1_D1_d	57
52	DSMC_SLV_D2/FLEXBUS0_D7/DSMC_D11/VO_LCDC_D7/GPIO1_C4_d	13	14	DSMC_SLV_D3/FLEXBUS0_D6/DSMC_D12/VO_LCDC_D6/GPIO1_C5_d	53
51	RM_IO28/GPIO1_C3_d	15	16	RM_IO27/GPIO1_C2_d	50
	+3.3V	17	18	GPIO1_C1_d	49
48	GPIO1_C0_d	19	20	SARADC_IN2/GPIO4_B2_z	138
46	GPIO1_B6_d	21	22	GPIO1_B7_d	47
44	GPIO1_B4_d	23	24	GPIO1_B5_d	45
	GND	25	26	RM_IO26/GPIO1_B3_d	43
41	RM_IO24/GPIO1_B1_d	27	28	RM_IO25/GPIO1_B2_d	42
40	GPIO1_B0_d	29	30	GND
38	GPIO1_A6_d	31	32	GPIO1_A7_d	39
37	GPIO1_A5_d	33	34	GND
35	GPIO1_A3_d	35	36	GPIO1_A4_d	36
33	GPIO1_A1_d	37	38	GPIO1_A2_d	34
	GND	39	40	GPIO1_A0_d	32

14-PIN Header

Pin	Assignment	Description	Pin	Assignment	Description
1	RS485_A	RS485 Differential Signal (Positive)	2	RS485_B	RS485 Differential Signal (Negative)
3	CAN_L	CAN Bus Differential Low	4	CAN_H	CAN Bus Differential High
5	GND	System Ground	6	GND	System Ground (Redundant Design)
7	MICIN_P	Microphone Input Positive (Differential)	8	MICIN_N	Microphone Input Negative (Differential)
9	MICIN_P	Microphone Input Positive (Alternate Channel)	10	MICIN_N	Microphone Input Negative (Alternate Channel)
11	GND	Audio Signal Ground	12	VBAT_RTC	RTC Battery Power Input
13	SPK_P	Speaker Output Positive (Differential Drive)	14	SPK_N	Speaker Output Negative (Differential Drive)

Development Resources

SDK Source Code

📚

Source Code

For ARM development boards running Linux

Official Image

The ArmSoM team uses buildroot as the official operating system for Forge1. How to Flash Image📤

Download

The following systems have been tested and verified by ArmSoM official:

Network disk address:

Google Drive link

logo	Description	Download
buildroot	buildroot for Forge1: Linux Kernel 6.1, support RT-Thread 4.1, support bare metal programs, support multi-core heterogeneous AMP, Preempt-RT/Xenomai real-time patches, lightweight UI framework LVGL.	Google Drive link

Hardware Resources

📄

Forge1 SCH

📃

Forge1 2D

📜

Forge1 SMD

User Manual

Tools Preparation

Power Supply (Choose either):
- DC IN 12V/1A
- Type-C 5V/2A
System Installation (Choose either):
- Boot from onboard eMMC:
- USB Type-C data cable (to connect the Forge series device and a PC via the Type-C port for image burning).
Boot from MicroSD/TF card:
- MicroSD/TF card (Class 10 or higher, at least 8GB SDHC) and a card reader.

Image Flashing

🎇

Flash System Image

Interface Usage

If this is your first time using the ArmSoM-Forge1 product, please familiarize yourself with its hardware interfaces to better understand subsequent content.

Hardware Interface	Forge1

Debug Serial

Connect the USB-to-TTL serial cable as shown below:

armsom-sige7-debug

Forge1 Pin	Connection	Serial Module
GND (Pin 6)	→	GND
TX (Pin 8)	→	RX
RX (Pin 10)	→	TX

Ethernet

Connect one end of an Ethernet cable to the Forge1's Ethernet port and the other end to a router. Ensure the network is available.
The system will automatically assign an IP address to the Ethernet interface via DHCP on startup.
To view the IP address in Forge1’s Linux system:

root@armsom:/# ip a  
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000  
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00  
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo  
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever  
2: can0: <NOARP,ECHO> mtu 16 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 10  
    link/can  
3: eth0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN group default qlen 1000  
    link/ether 9e:06:ad:d5:e3:91 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff  
4: eth1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000  
    link/ether 7e:09:de:1d:0c:46 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff  
    inet 192.168.1.150/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute eth1  
       valid_lft 43173sec preferred_lft 37773sec  

Use the ping command to verify network connectivity (press Ctrl+C to exit):

root@armsom:/# ping www.baidu.com  
PING www.baidu.com (183.2.172.17): 56 data bytes  
64 bytes from 183.2.172.17: seq=0 ttl=52 time=10.838 ms  
...  
^C  
--- www.baidu.com ping statistics ---  
6 packets transmitted, 6 received, 0% packet loss  

USB Interface

Model	Forge1
USB	1× Type-C (PD & Programming), 1× USB 2.0 HOST

Testing USB Storage Devices

Insert a USB flash drive or external HDD into the Forge1’s USB port.
Verify detection with:

root@armsom:/# cat /proc/partitions | grep "sd*"  
major minor  #blocks  name  
   8        0  122880000 sda  

Mount the USB drive:

root@armsom:/# sudo mount /dev/sda1 /test/

Check usage and mount point:

root@armsom:/test# df -h | grep "sd"  
/dev/sda        4.7G  4.7G     0  100% /test  

Audio

List Audio Devices

root@armsom:/# aplay -l  
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****  
card 0: rockchiprk730 [rockchip-rk730], device 0: dailink-multicodecs HiFi-0  

Recording

arecord -D hw:0,0 -f S16_LE -t wav -c2 -r 16000 -d 3 t.wav  

Playback

aplay t.wav

RTC

• Forge1 includes an LK8563S RTC IC.
• Insert a 2-pin RTC battery to power the RTC.

Verify RTC Device

root@armsom:/# dmesg | grep rtc  
[    6.407133] rtc-hym8563 6-0051: registered as rtc0  

Sync System Time to RTC

root@armsom:/# hwclock -r                # Read RTC time  
root@armsom:/# hwclock -w                # Write system time to RTC  
root@armsom:/# poweroff  

Post-Reconnection Check
After reconnecting the RTC battery:

root@armsom:/# hwclock -r  
2023-11-03 10:35:40.461910+00:00  
root@armsom:/# date  
Fri Nov 3 10:36:01 UTC 2023  

MIPI DSI

Maximum Resolution: 1280x1280@60fps.

armsom-forge1-display

CAN FD

List Network Interfaces

root@armsom:/# ifconfig -a  
can0: <NOARP,MTU=16> ...  

CAN Configuration

ip link set can0 down  
ip link set can0 type can bitrate 1000000 dbitrate 3000000 fd on  
ip -details link show can0  
ip link set can0 up  

CAN FD Testing
• Send Standard Frame:

cansend can0 123##1DEADBEEF  

• Send Extended Frame:

cansend can0 00000123##1DEADBEEF

• Monitor CAN Messages:

candump can0 &  

Availability

The Forge1 will remain in production until at least May 2035.

Accessories

We designed the official accessory ArmSoM-Sige to help you achieve optimal performance from your computer.

Display-7-HD

A 7-inch touchscreen display designed for interactive projects such as entertainment systems and information dashboards.

Purchase Samples

ArmSoM Official Website: https://www.armsom.org/product-page/forge1

ArmSoM Official AliExpress Store: https://aliexpress.com/item/3256807356692995.html

ArmSoM Official Taobao Store: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=895906881225

For OEM & ODM, please contact: sales@armsom.org

What do others say about the Sige7?

CNX: $23 ArmSoM Forge1 industrial SBC is powered by Rockchip RK3506J SoC
itsfoss: ArmSoM's Forge1 Looks Like A Versatile Solution for Embedded and Multimedia Applications
electronics-lab

Notes

[Electrostatic Protection]

Before handling the device, please ensure you wear an anti-static wrist strap or take electrostatic discharge measures to prevent damage to the development board.
Assembly should be performed in an electrostatic-safe environment, avoiding operations in dry and low-humidity conditions.
When not in use, store the device in an anti-static bag and keep it in a suitably temperature-controlled, low-humidity environment to prevent static electricity buildup.
When handling the device, avoid friction or collisions to prevent the generation of static electricity that could cause damage.
When holding the device, try to avoid direct contact with the chips on the mainboard to prevent static damage.
Do not plug or unplug wires or other devices while the device is operating to avoid damage from electrical surges.
When connecting or disconnecting the GPIO/MIPI expansion interfaces, make sure to turn off the power and disconnect the power cable to prevent damage from electrical current.

Forge1 Product Introduction

Overview​

Hardware Information​

Hardware Interfaces​

Hardware Specifications​

RK3506J Block Diagram​

Pin Definitions​

40-PIN Header​

14-PIN Header​

Development Resources​

SDK Source Code​

Source Code

Official Image​

Download​

Hardware Resources​

Forge1 SCH

Forge1 2D

Forge1 SMD

User Manual​

Tools Preparation​

Image Flashing​

Flash System Image

Interface Usage​

Debug Serial​

Ethernet​

USB Interface​

Audio​

RTC​

MIPI DSI​

CAN FD​

Availability​

Accessories​