RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the global distributor for engineers, has unveiled the latest release of DesignSpark PCB, the company's award-winningrapid prototyping software for electronics.
Supporting engineers in the design phase, DesignSpark PCB Version 7.0 adds three of the most popular requests for new features, thereby further enhancing ease-of-use for designers: Enhanced Part Number handling that ensures designers' Bill of Material (BoM) is complete at any stage of the design; Sketch Routes that draw the approximate routing path and allow algorithms to draw the best tracks, enabling faster time-to-market in new designs, both in schematics and PCB layout; and an additional ODB++ export format, regularly requested by DesignSpark's user community and increasingly supported by PCB manufacturing houses.
Due to its advanced project design and production capabilities, DesignSpark PCB has gained extraordinarily high adoption, with more than 350,000 users globally, and has become the tool of choice for sharing and collaborating on open-source hardware designs and projects. This latest edition of DesignSpark PCB builds upon the previous version of the tool, which was announced inJanuary 2014 with simplified export functionality to DesignSpark Mechanical, Cross Probe and Custom Shortcuts features. With the Enhanced Part Number handling feature designers can focus on innovation, research and development rather than spending time manually compiling purchasing information into a parts list.
"Our aim has always been to allow the creation of rapid PCB prototypes by removing the barriers to innovation in electronics design and to assist our customers to focus on their creativity instead," saidMark Cundle, Head of Technical Marketing at RS Components. "DesignSpark PCB continues to evolve on the basis of the significant feedback received by our DesignSpark community and this new version of the software is a reflection of our ongoing support to enhance their design journey."
The DesignSpark PCB Timeline:
November 2014 - Addition of Enhanced Part Number handling, Sketch Routes and ODB++ export.
January 2014 - Simplified export to DesignSpark Mechanical, addition of Cross Probe and Custom Shortcuts functionalities.
April 2013 - Integration of online Design Rule Check and buses.
October 2012 - Enhanced library manager with access to 80,000 part numbers in ModelSource component library, and addition of Bill-Of-Materials quote and PCB manufacturing quote functionality.
November 2011 - Addition of simulation interface, design calculators and component-grouping functionality.
March 2011 - Addition of 3D visualisation of PCB layouts and increased library management functionality.
July 2010 - First Release of DesignSpark PCB.
