RS Components will demonstrate its complete online engineering ecosystem, the purpose of which is to smooth the flow from design to purchase
Engineers worldwide have access to RS’ DesignSpark PCB tools. This fully featured free PCB-design tool is offered with no limitations, so it’s no surprise that the number of downloads is now approaching 160,000. RS has just released Version 4.0 of the software, which now delivers a PCB quote service and BOM quote functionality, as well as launching ModelSource, an open-source component library, downloadable from the DesignSpark site.
At Electronica 2012, the RS stand features live demonstrations of these latest online tools and resources, which aim to offer a complete engineering solution.
DesignSpark PCB Version 4.0 is a substantial extension of the software’s capabilities and makes the flow from design to purchase considerably quicker and easier. The simplicity of the user interface, with its built-in wizards, has now been combined with further time saving benefits. New functionality includes an enhanced library manager, featuring an attribute and part number driven interface to an extended library of over 80,000 components.
Other new tools include a BOM Quote function, which links with the RS website to provide an instant quotation for components in the design. The tool takes advantage of RS part numbers embedded within the new component library and automatically generates a BOM that has been ‘scrubbed’ to match the components gathered from the design. Purchasers can either save a copy of the BOM, request a quote, or automatically populate the shopping basket on the RS website.
Also available within the DesignSpark PCB software is the new PCB Quote tool. This is based on attributes from the PCB design software such as board size, copper layer count, manufacturing limits such as track width, copper gap and drill size. Engineers can obtain a direct quote from various PCB subcontractors.
Visit the library
ModelSource is a new component library containing more than 80,000 component schematics and footprints of semiconductors, passives and electromechanical components. It is available via the DesignSpark website for any engineer to freely access, with components available in more than 20 different formats for use with other popular PCB design software packages.
This resource has been integrated into DesignSpark PCB Version 4.0, greatly enhancing the software tool’s existing library. Additionally, ModelSource contains more than 30,000 3D models in 24 formats for widely used mechanical 3D software tools. Engineers can use ModelSource to search by manufacturer, or RS part number, where a specific part has been chosen for a design. When the choice of device is open, an attribute-driven search can be used to quickly identify components before downloading the model for use in the design tool.
Electronica: Hall A4, Stand 117