DesignSpark becomes the electronics industry’s fastest growing online community

Over 20,000 engineers have joined DesignSpark, and downloads and activations of DesignSpark PCB, the world’s most powerful free schematic and PCB design tool stand at 30,000, with a further 5,000 downloads every month. These DesignSpark registration figures were achieved without any automatic registration of RS account holders, and there is no requirement to have an RS account to register. Visitors to Electronica can experience the latest of DesignSpark and DesignSpark PCB on the RS stand A4.117.

According to Glenn Jarrett, Head of Electronics Marketing at RS Components, “Designers are voting with their mice. Usage figures for the site clearly demonstrate that less than six months after its launch, DesignSpark is accelerating the trend for engineers to carry out more of their design online., Customers are recognising its value as a trustworthy online environment offering information, tools and services that simplify and speed up their design process. Together with Component Chooser and 3D CAD, DesignSpark provides a complete design solution for engineers from RS.”

DesignSpark offers members free-of charge access to a range of design tools, hosted in the Spark Store. Included in the store is DesignSpark PCB; the free, fully featured PCB design tool launched by RS in July, which has also generated over 150,000 views from visitors to DesignSpark. Sparkstore now features over 200 free to download applications including many selected by members of the community.

Jarrett added, “SparkStore has captured the imagination of the industry and become a rich and diverse source of free design solutions. Contributors range from component vendors and commercial software developers to individuals with a useful utility that they’re keen to share. The tools on offer extend from simple converters to full FPGA design tools, microprocessor development kits, power

optimisation solutions and even LED design utilities. Using the review facility, users can readily assess the value of each potential download.”

DesignSpark is available in English, German, Japanese and Chinese at www.designspark.com. There is no obligation to have an RS account to use the site.

RS online design resources for engineers also include Component Chooser and 3D CAD models. Component Chooser classifies components according to 5 million attributes, each of which is searchable. RS offers free downloadable and verified 3D CAD models of electromechanical components in over 20 different file formats. Over 10,000 engineers have already downloaded models already.