RS launches online gateway to spark design creativity

Glenn Jarrett, RS' head of electronics marketing, said: "DesignSpark cuts through the mass of inconsistently presented design information on the internet, providing engineers with information, reviews and resources they can trust at every stage in the design process." Jarrett claims DesignSpark is more than just a website. "It provides the electronic engineering community with an environment where they can not only find design tips and reviews that help inform the start of new designs, but also connect with partners, exchange ideas and contribute to a variety of valuable information sources available from across the internet which are relevant for the whole design cycle." RS claims that a major feature of DesignSpark is its library of independent reviews for development kits and evaluation platforms. These, it contends, are provided by engineers for engineers. Users will be able to post comments and star ratings for each kit. Some 1100 microcontroller, microprocessor, analogue and fpga development kits are featured at the launch. There is also a dedicated Design Centre, containing technology tips and hints posted by DesignSpark members. The centre is intended to keep engineers up to date with the latest design trends, as well as containing links to RS' website tools, facilitating component selection and integration into design software packages. DesignSpark also offers free of charge access to a range of design tools, incuding DesignSpark PCB. Said to be a fully featured pcb design tool, DesignSpark PCB comes with a component library that can be extended and shared with other engineers. Details of the components used from the library form the basis of the Bill of Materials generated by DesignSpark PCB. This can then be used to create an order or quotation request through the usual RS web portals.