CIE Components in Electronics
RS Components (RS) has revealed major new improvements to its online sourcing, design and purchasing service for electronics engineers and purchasing professionals. The latest innovations in RS’ free suite of technical solutions designed to support engineers throughout the entire electronics design process include: DesignSpark PCB Version 4.0, the company’s PCB design tool, and ModelSource, a new web-based component library, downloadable from DesignSpark, RS’ online community for engineers.
Version 4.0 of DesignSpark PCB is a free electronics design software for schematic entry and PCB layout, and now features a new library manager, which enhances the functionality of the tool’s existing library by integrating with ModelSource, a new online component library which is freely available as a standalone tool via the DesignSpark website.
The ModelSource library contains over 80,000 PCB schematics and footprints from leading manufacturers and is available for download in more than 20 different formats compliant with the most popular PCB design software packages. In addition, it contains over 30,000 3D models in 24 formats for widely used mechanical 3D software. The libraries are aligned with the RS board-level product offer and enable engineers to focus on innovation, research and development rather than spending time on creating the basic building blocks of the design.
A new Bill of Materials (BOM) Quote function has been integrated within DesignSpark PCB Version 4.0 and provides an instant quotation for the components in the PCB design. The tool automatically generates a BOM user report using the RS part numbers embedded in the new PCB component libraries.
A further time saving feature of the new software revision is the PCB Quote service, which provides independent quote comparisons from a variety of bare-board PCB manufacturers based on the engineer’s design specifications. The engineer can then proceed with a direct quote from the selected PCB subcontractor.
DesignSpark PCB Version 4.0 and ModelSource are available at designspark.com, RS’ online gateway created to support engineers throughout the design process by bringing together design information, user reviews and blogs, and free-of-charge tools, which today boasts more than 90,000 registered members.
“Supporting innovation in electronics design is an important focus of our business, and we recognise the critical value of time in an engineer’s efforts to bring a product to market,” said Mark Cundle, Head of Technical Marketing at RS.
