RS Components today announced that the revolutionary credit card sized single-board computer from the Raspberry Pi Foundation is now available to pre-order from RS websites around the world. Created for educators, programmers, developers and IT enthusiasts, the kits can be pre-ordered at rswww.com.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity established to promote the development of computer development skills in education across the globe. Its vision is for Raspberry Pi to provide budding IT developers and programmers with a base platform to exploit the full power and potential of computing within the Linux environment, at a remarkably low cost. As such, Raspberry Pi computers act as an enabler for the next generation of programmers to enter the IT industry.

RS was selected as a distribution partner for Raspberry Pi because, in the eyes of the Foundation, it connects with engineers across the globe throughout their careers. As such, the company is well positioned to provide Raspberry Pi adopters with support, advice and access to additional resources as they embark on new development activities. It was particularly impressed with the DesignSpark community and resources provided for new developers working on Open Source designs.

“RS has always been a trusted and reliable partner for engineers across the globe. The RS DesignSpark community and their free PCB design software connects with engineers throughout their career, and is being adopted by many universities around the world,” said Eben Upton, founder and trustee of Raspberry Pi. “This ethos of providing resources for engineers, along with the company’s support for open source design, makes RS the ideal distribution partner for Raspberry Pi.”

Glenn Jarrett, Head of Marketing, Electronics, at RS Components, added, “Raspberry Pi provides a revolutionary low cost platform, which opens up programming to a whole new audience. We are very honoured to have been chosen to work with the Foundation as a distribution partner at the launch of this exciting new tool.”

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RS Components has announced the first of two Community Choice Award winners as part of its ongoing DesignSpark chipKIT™ Challenge, an online competition to promote energy-efficient electronics design for embedded applications, which is due to close at the end of March.

Using the award-winning free DesignSpark PCB software tool from RS and the Digilent chipKIT Max32 development platform featuring the 32-bit PIC32 microcontroller from Microchip Technology, engineers, students and hobbyists are encouraged to create designs that will increase energy-efficiency in electronic systems while maintaining an eco-friendly footprint.

The panel of judges, comprising design engineers and experts, combed the DesignSpark website to evaluate the chipKIT Challenge Community Choice Award for the Most Creative Project Proposal. Brian Connell from South Africa was selected as the winner with his project for a ‘Hydroponics Water and Nutrient Control System.’ To win this accolade, the participant was required to submit a creative project proposal, provide progress updates and use tools within DesignSpark to support the design. He will receive a voucher worth $100 exchangeable for products ordered from RS Components/Allied Electronics, plus a one-year digital subscription to Circuit Cellar and Elektor magazine, media partners for the competition.

“Since we launched the competition in late November last year, over 1,800 participants have entered the competition globally and the quality of entries has been outstanding, covering a vast array of technology areas, from Data Acquisition and Robotics to Energy Harvesting, Automation and Control/Smart Home,” said Mark Cundle, Technical Marketing Manager at RS Components. “We congratulate Brian on his innovative project and encourage engineers to join the challenge and create original, useful designs for reduced energy consumption in embedded system applications.”

The winner of the second Community Choice Award for the Most Popular Project will be announced during March and the final winners of the $10,000 total cash prize, including a $5,000 first prize, will be revealed in May 2012. The closing date for entries is 27 March 2012.

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RS Components today announced the launch of a new family of ‘DesignSpark Synergy’ boards. The boards are part of its ongoing collaboration with ARM for advanced mbed microcontroller module-based embedded development, with the first three members in the new DesignSpark Synergy family being the AnimatronicLab, the AudioCODEC and the DisplayBoard.

Engineers can pre-register their interest at www.designspark.com, with the full range of boards being stocked and available on RS websites during Q2 2012.

Embedded system developers can simply plug their mbed microcontroller module into these ready-made application-specific breakout boards and take full advantage of the interface features available via the NXP LPC1768 Cortex-M3 mbed microcontroller module, providing easy access to peripherals such as I2S, USB and Ethernet. The board hardware designs are also available in DesignSpark PCB, at www.designspark.com, which is fast becoming the preferred choice of PCB design software for the open-source community. Embedded developers can take the existing Synergy breakout board designs, modify, add and remove sections and re-publish their designs for the DesignSpark community.

“The DesignSpark Synergy boards represent a key milestone in the creation of an innovative mbed microcontroller based hardware prototyping ecosystem,” said Mark Cundle, Technical Marketing Manager, RS Components. “This new family enables embedded engineers to use DesignSpark PCB and quickly develop and prototype their designs in a myriad of exciting applications.”

Particularly useful for experimenting with Animatronics applications, the AnimatronicLab board opens up the mbed module to a whole range of functions by allowing quick and easy access to its features via the I2S, I2C, SPI, Ethernet and USB pin headers. Primarily aimed at rapid prototyping, its feature set makes this a highly functional platform for a wide variety of applications. The inclusion of convenient test points for probes, oscilloscopes and even protocol analysers brings a new dimension of visibility in the lab environment. The on-board half bridge driver allows the easy control of stepper motors, actuators or even LEDs. The board also allows engineers to plug in the AudioCODEC board for high-quality audio via I2S. Based on the highly popular TLV320AIC23B audio codec from Texas Instruments, the AudioCODEC board allows audio playback and recording at a range of resolutions and sample rates. Together the boards allow experimentation with movement, light and audio all on the same platform.

Using a separately plugged in mbed microcontroller module, the DisplayBoard provides users with a wide range of experimentation options. Offering an array of six large seven-segment display modules and associated drivers, the board’s flexible design means it can display a wide range of data types. The board is ideal for displaying clocks, timers and counters, either stand-alone or via a network.

All the necessary source code and software drivers for the three DesignSpark Synergy boards are available via the mbed Cookbook at mbed.org, which offers user-contributed libraries and further development resources. Example applications programs for all the boards are also available.

RS will be previewing its DesignSpark Synergy boards at Embedded World, Nuremburg, Germany from 28 February to 1 March 2012. To see them in action and be in with a chance of winning one, visit the RS stand in Hall 1, Stand 156.

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RS Components has launched a new digital catalogue in the UK. The RS digital catalogue offers an enhanced virtual browsing experience of 80,000 of the company’s most popular products, including cable connectors and batteries, while also providing a window to the full RS range of 550,000 products available online.

Available in six languages across 23 markets as a customisable PDF download, the new digital catalogue offers enhanced functionality that enables customers to view full product ranges, accessories and associated products, to select product ranges that are of interest to them, and to find, compare and filter products. For example, customers can search the broad range of ‘connectors’ to find exact products like coaxial connectors. Searches can also be performed by stock number, manufacturer part number, product type or page number.

The digital catalogue allows for easy navigation, either page-by-page or across complete sections at a time. Pages can be bookmarked, recently viewed pages are stored, and notes can be created and saved for future reference. When connected to the internet, the catalogue links seamlessly to the RS website, providing customers with all of the latest product information and pricing. This also provides access to additional online information, such as the latest data sheets, and to fast and convenient online ordering.

Paul Quested, UK General Manager commented: “Our customers’ needs are at the heart of our business. We carried out extensive research into how we could optimise the browsing experience for them and have designed this new digital catalogue to help them to more easily find their chosen products. This is another example of how we are working to make our customers’ lives easier.”

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RS Components has announced that it is now stocking a range of ARM® Cortex™-M4 processor-based 32-bit Kinetis microcontrollers (MCUs) from Freescale Semiconductor.

Kinetis MCUs are built using Freescale’s 90nm Thin Film Storage (TFS) technology with FlexMemory capability – configurable electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) – and feature the latest low-power innovations and high performance, high precision mixed-signal capability. The devices are supported by market-leading development tools from Freescale and ARM 3rd party ecosystem partners.

The five first-phase Kinetis families include a rich suite of analogue, communication and timing and control peripherals with the level of feature integration increasing with flash memory size and the number of inputs/outputs. Features common to all Kinetis families include:

• High-speed 16-bit analogue-to-digital converters
• 12-bit digital to analogue converters with on-chip analogue voltage reference
• Multiple high speed comparators and programmable gain amplifiers
• Low-power touch sensing with device wake-up on touch from reduced power states
• Multiple serial interfaces including UARTs with ISO7816 support and Inter-IC Sound
• Powerful, flexible timers for a broad range of applications including motor control
• Off-chip system expansion and data storage options via SD host, NAND Flash, and DRAM controllers and Freescale’s FlexBus interconnect scheme

RS is also stocking a range of development tools to support the Kinetis MCU families, including the Freescale Tower System, and the Kinetis KwikStik K40 development board.

The Tower System is a modular, reusable development platform that provides rapid prototyping capabilities. It offers multiple system expansion options and delivers outstanding flexibility and value for designers of industrial and consumer end products. Modules can be purchased individually or as part of a complete Tower System Kit.

The new KwikStik development board is a small, low-cost, all-in-one tool for evaluating, developing and debugging Kinetis MCUs. It features low-power touch sensing, a segment LCD user interface and a suite of development and run-time software, as well as an on-board Segger™ J-Link™ debug probe. It can be used standalone or integrated with the Tower System.

Fred Knowles, Head of Product Management – Electronics at RS Components, said: “By adding Freescale Kinetis MCUs to our rapidly expanding electronics offering, we are bringing even greater choice to engineers who are increasingly seeking lower power and higher performance capabilities for their embedded designs. The supporting range of development tools also available direct-from-stock enable engineers to find and design-in the right MCU for their application, knowing they can buy the quantities they need at a competitive price from RS.”

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RS Components is now stocking more than 10,000 product lines for industrial applications from Panasonic Electronic Components, an industry-leading manufacturer of standard and custom electronic components.

The extensive range of Panasonic products now offered by RS includes the AN30/32xx advanced drivers for LED matrix and LED lighting applications, which have been introduced first to the market by RS, and the new series of ENW8981xx Bluetooth HCI Class 1 modem modules. A comprehensive range of semiconductors and passive components, including capacitors, resistors and inductors, is also available, targeted at the industrial sector.

“The expansion of the Panasonic electronic components range available from RS to more than 10,000 lines is a significant milestone that supports our ongoing strategy to increase our electronics offering,” said Fred Knowles, Head of Product Management – Electronics at RS. “Design engineers are under increasing pressure to bring products to market more quickly, so fast and easy access to the widest possible range of technologies from leading global suppliers such as Panasonic is paramount, enabling our customers to find, design-in and buy the components they need for their application.”

Ian Needham, Key Account Manager – Distribution, at Panasonic added, “RS has many important strengths as a multi-channel distributor, not least in its commitment to the new product introduction process. Its ability to stock a virtually unlimited range of electronics products designed for use in industrial applications from Panasonic, and offer them for same-day despatch, is extremely valuable to our business and means shorter design cycles and faster time-to-market for our customers. Our partnership with RS enables us to deliver exceptional choice, support and service excellence.”

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- RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has triumphed in two categories at the 2011 Elektra European Electronics Industry awards. At an awards dinner held at the Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge in London, RS was named ‘Distributor of the Year’ as well as garnering the prestigious ‘Company of the Year’ award.

An annual highpoint of the electronics industry calendar, the Elektra Awards recognise the achievements of individuals and companies throughout Europe and are designed to promote best practice in innovation, sales growth and employee motivation. RS was selected as ‘Distributor of the Year’ by an independent panel of industry judges and went on to be singled out from the winners as the ‘Company of the Year’.

The judges chose to award RS in both categories for its outstanding achievement in technology innovation and business success. They were particularly impressed with the way the company has not only transformed its approach to the distribution market, increasing its online presence and dramatically growing its new product introductions, but also the impact that RS has made on the design community. Key to this process has been the launch of advanced design tools and resources, all of which have been made available free-of-charge. Its DesignSpark PCB design tool is an award-winning, fully integrated, powerful and easy-to-use PCB-design package that has recorded more than 100,000 downloads since its launch.

Commenting on the double success, Glenn Jarrett, Head of Electronics Marketing at RS Components, said, “We are extremely honoured to receive these two awards at Elektra. Over the past year we have strengthened our position as a truly world-class multi-channel distributor with the addition of tens of thousands of new products to our range, and we have placed strong emphasis on delivery excellence and value-for-money. These initiatives, together with our industry-leading free design tools and eCommerce capabilities, have significantly enriched the customer experience.”

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RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has announced availability of the new NXP LPC11U24 32-bit ARM® Cortex-M0 based mbed embedded development board for low-risk and rapid professional prototyping of microcontroller-based systems.

The NXP LPC11U24 microcontroller is particularly suitable for prototyping low-cost USB devices, battery-powered applications and 32-bit ARM® Cortex-M0 based designs. It is packaged as a small DIP form-factor convenient for prototyping with through-hole PCBs, stripboards and breadboards, and includes a built-in USB drag ‘n’ drop flash programmer. The mbed microcontrollers are supported with an online tools platform available at both mbed.org and designspark.com that provides experienced embedded developers with a productive environment for building proof-of-concepts.

For developers new to 32-bit, mbed is an accessible way to build projects with the backing of libraries, resources and support shared in the mbed.org developer community, including: a lightweight online compiler for instant access to a working environment on Windows, Linux or Mac OS X; a C/C++ SDK (Software Development Kit) for high-level programming of peripherals; in addition to a wealth of libraries and code examples.

The NXP LPC11U24 MCU runs at 48MHz and device peripherals include 32KB of flash memory, up to 8kB of SRAM data memory, configurable Full-Speed USB 2.0 device controller; one Fast-mode Plus I2C-bus interface, two SPI interfaces, UART, six ADCs (Analogue-to-Digital Converters) and 54 GPIO (General-Purpose I/O) pins.

“Now available at RS, this new NXP MCU based mbed board delivers rapid prototyping for USB devices and battery-based applications”, said Mark Cundle, Technical Marketing Manager for RS Components. “In conjunction with the support available via the mbed community, the package provides beginners and experienced embedded developers alike with everything they need to start a low-cost 32-bit design based around the ARM Cortex-M0 core.”

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RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has received the award for ‘Outstanding Performance in High Service Level Distribution within Europe’ from FCI, a leading supplier of connectors and interconnect systems. Cooperating in strategic partnership with FCI, RS has delivered unmatched service levels during the year, while more than doubling its FCI offering to provide customers with a substantially broader range of products from the connector manufacturer.

RS customers now have access to more than 1,000 parts from FCI’s established core ranges, including the Basics+ range of standard connectors for board-to-board and wire/cable-to-board applications, in addition to the latest FCI product releases such as the APEX family of automotive-class wire-to-wire and wire-to-device connectors and terminal products.

Ronald Velda, Sales Director, EMEA Distribution, FCI, said, “The exceptional level of service provided by RS over the past year has enabled us to accelerate our sales growth worldwide and complements perfectly our key strategic initiative to ensure customer satisfaction at all times and at all levels through a culture of responsiveness, availability and flexibility.”

Receiving the award, Fred Knowles, Head of Product Management, Electronics at RS Components, said, “We are delighted to be recognised for our work with FCI and are continuing to expand the number of lines available to bring the most comprehensive FCI product offering to customers.”

“Our advanced online resources give customers greater flexibility and convenience in the way they find, design and buy-in their products and allow us to offer competitive pricing on our entire range.”

In addition to new product introductions, 3D models for individual product ranges and comprehensive product information is available online.

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RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has expanded its comprehensive online library of free 3D CAD product models.  The latest update includes more than 2000 new models from Molex, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of interconnect products, and Omron, a global leader in the production of electronic components. The 3D CAD models from both suppliers are now available to download free-of-charge from the RS website at www.rs-components.com/3D, offering electronics design engineers a simpler, faster route to complete their designs on time.

With the release of an additional 1000 3D models of Molex connectors, encompassing the latest technologies, the range of Molex 3D models available from RS now covers more than 7000 products. Over 1000 3D models of Omron parts have also been added to the RS library, including tactile, pushbutton and DIP switches, as well as flow sensors, micro switches and relays.

The extensive scope of product models available today from the RS library is unrivalled in the industry, with users now having access to over 30,000 certified 3D CAD models of electronic and mechanical components.  Registered users can download a model from the RS website in up to 23 neutral and native CAD file formats, enabling engineers to select the model in their preferred CAD package for mechanical design.  Each model has part number and ordering information attached, aiding the purchasing process and allowing for quick completion of new designs.

Mark Cundle, Technical Marketing Manager for RS Components said, “Producing 3D CAD models can be a time-consuming effort for engineers involved in electronics design. Extending our 3D CAD model range provides our customers with access to the most comprehensive library of online downloadable models in all major CAD file formats, in one place and at no extra cost.  This is an essential part of our support for engineers with reliable technical information and online resources that enables them to find, design-in and buy from one source.”

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