DesignSpark Mechanical, DesignSpark PCB, 3D Printing, Raspberry Pi, Red Pitaya and more will be brought to life by RS at Electronica, Hall A4, Stand 246

Oxford, UK, 4 September 2014 - RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the global distributor for engineers, will be showcasing its suite of free online tools and resources for electronics design engineers at the 26th Electronica Trade Fair in Munich, Germany, 11-14 November, Hall A4, Stand 246. This year the RS stand will be divided into Product and Design Innovation Zones.

The RS on-stand Design Zone will feature live demonstrations of the recently upgraded Version 7.0 of DesignSpark PCB, the company's award-winning PCB design tool, and DesignSpark Mechanical Version 2, both of which are free tools that support a fast prototype in the design phase. The tools come with a library of over 80,000 schematics and 40,000 3D CAD Models respectively, accessible directly within the applications. Engineers can take advantage of these models in other native formats, including SolidWorks, Pro-Engineer and AutoCAD formats for 3D models; and Altium, OrCAD and PADs for PCB schematics, through the ModelSource resource accessible via the DesignSpark community website. The DesignSpark community has so far attracted over 250,000 members who can download, design and share engineering resources for free.

The 3D Zone at the RS stand will bring to life the distributor's 3D Printing offering, showcasing the latest in the range including the RepRapPro Ormerod and CubePro by 3D Systems. Adrian Bowyer, the founder of the RepRap Project, will be based on the RS stand, providing visitors the opportunity to meet a true industry pioneer. There will also be DesignSpark Mechanical Version 2 demonstrations showing how engineers can utilise the tool to quickly edit and create concept models through the highly intuitive direct modelling methodology. RS will offer an opportunity for visitors to get their heads scanned and converted to a 3D printable file.

Building on the DesignSpark Mechanical message of the "Gift of Invention" RS will be demonstrating how the rapid concept tool has been employed to deliver a truly life-changing product. A 48-hour design challenge will result in the creation of a 3D printable water filter that can be quickly and inexpensively provided to millions of people around the world. RS has partnered with one of the world's largest humanitarian aid charities to take the filter to people desperately needing help.

The Product Innovation Zone at the stand will see the Raspberry Pi Model B+ and Compute Module, Arduino, SparqEE and Red Pitaya in action, along with the latest energy-efficient open-source Parallella board from Adapteva. Visitors will also have the opportunity to interact with the founders and learn more about the latest product offerings.

The Projects Zone will feature the distributor's growing collection of open source designs from the DesignShare portal, with a specific focus on the launch of an Internet of Things (IoT) themed area.

Visitors with a competitive or adventurous disposition will have an opportunity to try the RS interactive Oculus Rift VR 3D game at the stand.

Regular speaker slots will feature industry heavy-weights and experts in their area, who will give the benefit of their wisdom and experience to visitors.

Throughout the week, experts from the RS technical marketing team will be on hand to assist and to explain the various technologies on display.

-Ends-

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
Aakriti Kaushik
Product Marketing PR Manager
RS Components
Aakriti.kaushik@rs-components.com
+44 (0)1865 207546

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
http://www.linkedin.com/company/rs-components

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