RS Components is placing a bet on the forecast growth of 3D printing with the introduction of an array of 3D printers and print technologies to its product offering. The new introductions are from 3D Systems, a provider of 3D content-to-print solutions including 3D printers and print materials designed for professional, educational, and personal use.

RS Components now has available Silicon Labs' EFM32 Zero Gecko Starter Kit, a tool for engineers using the EFM32 Zero Gecko 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), the energy-friendly MCUs based on the ARM Cortex-M0+ processor. The starter kit contains sensors and peripherals demonstrating some of the MCU's many capabilities and can serve as a starting point for application development.

RS Components (RS) is stocking the new ED-588 industrial specification input/output (I/O) module from Brainboxes. The ED-588 is a remote Ethernet to digital I/O (DIO) device featuring eight non-isolated digital input channels and eight digital output channels, with an integral DIN rail mount and slim shape (22.6mm wide) that uses minimal space.

RS Components is stocking the EXD beacon range of explosion proof beacons from Moflash Signalling, a major UK-based manufacturer of signalling devices.  The BC125 stainless steel beacon series and the BC150 glass reinforced plastic (GRP) beacon series are designed to provide clear visual warning signals in potentially explosive or harsh environmental conditions such as those found in the oil and gas (on-shore and off-shore), chemical, petroc...

RS Components is stocking the industry’s smallest isolated DC-to-DC converters from Analog Devices (ADI). The ADuM5010, ADuM6010, ADuM521x and ADuM621x use ADI’s proprietary isoPower isolated DC-to-DC converter technology to deliver 150 mW of output power while using less board space than competing module-based solutions.

RS Components is stocking the CamRack QX series of 19in. wall-mounted cabinets from CamdenBoss. Designed to house rack mount equipment for cabling, telecommunications, IT, industrial and home installations, CamRack QX cabinets are supplied flat-packed, which eases access to the installation site while reducing logistics costs and providing greater protection during transit.

This video shows you how to use the screen and play sounds on the Arduino Robot's speaker. David and Xun upload the DiscoBot example to show how to navigate through the different sounds using the keypad and the Slideshow example to load different images. Songs and images can be stored on a uSD card.

In this video the IR-array sensor at the bottom of the motor board is used to get the robot to follow a line. The Arduino Robot comes with five infrared sensors that enable it to measure the reflection of infrared light and detect the different qualities of the material underneath.

RS Components has announced availability of a new family of automotive-qualified COOLiRFET MOSFETs from International Rectifier.  The new devices deliver benchmark on-state resistance (Rds(on)) for heavy load applications including electric power steering (EPS), braking systems and other heavy loads on internal combustion engine (ICE) and micro hybrid vehicle platforms.

In this video the Arduino team will explore how to use different technologies to detect obstacles in the way of the Arduino Robot. The three technologies being tested are: ultrasonic range finders, infrared range finders and a trick using ultrabright white LEDs and LDR sensors.

In this video you will see where to find code examples on the IDE. The first one, LOGO, invites users to interact with the Arduino Robot using the keypad to tell it whether to move forwards/backwards or turn left/right. Users will have to configure the robot's movement using the Calibration example.

In this video you will see how to unbox the Arduino Robot and mount it, and how to use the Arduino IDE to program the robot. After an introduction by Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, assisted by Xun Yang, explains how the robot can be used to make learning about electronics and mechanics easy.

RS Components’ DesignSpark Mechanical, a free 3D design tool downloadable from the DesignSpark website goes live today (September 16). The newly minted software package overcomes two big hurdles for companies looking to embrace 3D design – the prohibitive cost of traditional 3D design tools and the investment in training

RS Components has introduced the ISO-TECH IDS-6000A-U Series of general purpose 2-channel digital storage oscilloscopes. With bandwidths ranging from 70MHz to 150MHz, the oscilloscopes offer a 5.7in. colour TFT LCD display to enhance the measurement experience of the user. The scopes boast a compact and ergonomic design, and weigh 2.5 kg.

Pete Wood from RS Components introduces Raspberry Pi. Watch and Enjoy.

Massimo Banzi is back for the final Arduino tutorial video, and this time, he will be using a Wi-Fi shield module to connect his Arduino unit to the Internet. This obviously opens up a whole range of new possibilities, which Banzi explores in the video.

Good news... it's time for another Arduino instructional video with Massimo Banzi! And this time, our favourite Italian hardware hacker will be using the Arduino to control software running on your computer.

RS Components has launched a new, dedicated 3D-CAD microsite, which gives customers faster, easier access to its extensive library of more than 30,000 3D CAD models from over 40 manufacturers, downloadable free-of-charge from the RS website.

RS Components is showcasing the only working demonstration of the upcoming Raspberry Pi camera module at Electronica 2012, Munich, November 13-16, 2012. Visitors to the RS stand can view the world’s first public demonstration of the Raspberry Pi camera module, which contains a 5 megapixel camera phone sensor.

The increased use of embedded microcontrollers in electronic equipment coupled with a world energy crisis will force electronics engineers to look at hitherto ignored power-saving features of these devices. Dr. William Marshall, Semiconductors Content Editor at RS Components discusses energy-efficent and power-saving features of embedded microcontrollers in this article from ES Design Magazine.