Extreme Toy Travel campaign had Superman launched to 39 kilometres in craft packed full of electronics

Oxford, UK, 6 November 2014 - RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the global distributor for engineers, has collaborated with Mattel via its electronics engineering DesignSpark community to support the Extreme Toy Travel campaign. RS teamed up with Rlab, a peer run community hackspace, card modeller Jude Pullen, and high altitude balloonist Dave Akerman, to send Superman to space and back in a custom-built capsule.

Mattel's Extreme Toy Travel takes its action figures to exotic and extreme locations all around the world. Inspired by Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking freefall from the edge of space last year, Mattel Italy, together with La Scatola dei Giocattoli, a support project for Mattel customers, approached RS to replicate this jump with one of its Superman action figures.

A team of makers, hackers and engineers on the DesignSpark community designed and built a capsule that attached to a weather balloon containing hydrogen. The craft, packed full of electronics and 3D printed components designed for the mission using DesignSpark software, travelled to a height of around 39 kilometres at the edge of space, where Superman then freefell back to Earth. The capsule included a Raspberry Pi to capture mission data, as well as a specially designed tracking unit to locate and retrieve Superman.

The launch took place on 12 September, in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, UK. During the flight, the mission data (altitude, temperature, weather) was collected along with HD videos and images. Both Superman and the capsule were monitored through a radio connection and a GPS. At the end of the mission, RS posted all the design files, bill of materials and design notes on the DesignShare section of DesignSpark under an open source licence so others could build their own. Moreover, Mattel and RS shared with their communities a video to show Superman's flight to space and back: http://www.rs-online.com/designspark/electronics/eng/nodes/view/type:blog/slug:hack-superman-launch-day

The space capsule weighed about 2.5 Kilos and slowly drifted down on a parachute with low impact. Since temperatures can drop to around -60 degrees Centigrade at high altitudes, and electronics tend to get warm when running, carefully housing them inside the capsule was important. Hence the components and devices were carefully tested beforehand to ensure they were able to withstand the temperatures. The flight lasted a few hours, so RS experimented with batteries to ensure they remained active throughout the duration of the mission.

"This project is a demonstration of our innovation in engineering design, using our industry-leading design resources, together with products such as the Raspberry Pi and 3D printing, made possible through collaboration with leading engineers and technology experts via DesignSpark," said Pete Wood, DesignSpark Community Manager at RS Components. "It has been a unique experiment as it involved carefully identifying the several challenges associated with High Altitude Ballooning (HAB) and developing a team of engineering experts who came up with the right plan for the capsule."

"I wanted to personally follow the launch of the spaceship with Superman," said Andrea Ziella, Associate Manager Digital Marketing - Mattel South East Europe. "It has been very exciting for me to see the Toy Travel in Space project come to life. The whole experience felt like travelling back in time to when I was a kid and dreamt about going to the moon with ships I had built myself! We are delighted to be partnering with La Scatola dei Giocattoli and RS Components, a company that has not only demonstrated its technology expertise, but also an incredible initiative and will to innovate, as we have at Mattel."

The Toy Travel project also aims to enrich children's learning experience and inspire their competitive creativity by engaging them to build their own spaceship and posting the design on the La Scatola dei Giocattoli website: http://www.lascatoladeigiocattoli.it/viaggiodeigiocattoli/

For further information on the project visit Pete Wood's blog at: http://www.rs-online.com/designspark/electronics/eng/nodes/view/type:blog/slug:hack-superman-launch-day

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About RS Components
RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers. With operations in 32 countries, we offer around 500,000 products through the internet, catalogues and at trade counters to over one million customers, shipping more than 44,000 parcels a day. Our products, sourced from 2,500 leading suppliers, include semiconductors, interconnect, passives and electromechanical, automation and control, electrical, test and measurement, tools and consumables.

Electrocomponents is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the last financial year ended 31 March 2014 had revenues of £1.27bn.

For more information, please visit the website at www.rs-components.com.

Editorial Contact
Lisa Townsend
PR Manager - EMEA
RS Components
lisa.townsend@rs-components.com
+44 (0)1536 209026

PR Agency Contact
Janice Fenton
Account Director
Publitek Technology PR
janice.fenton@publitek.com
+44 (0)1225 470000

Further information is available via these links:
Twitter: @RSElectronics; @alliedelec; @designsparkRS
RS Components on Linkedin
www.linkedin.com/company/rs-components

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