New Online Design Centre From RS Components Supports Collaboration In Open Source Design

Open Source Design Centre provides reliable information and connection point for engineers designing with open source hardware

JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 10, 2013 (ANTARA/PRNewswire) -- RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world's leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has announced the launch of its 'Open Source Design Centre', a comprehensive free guide to open source electronics design hosted on designspark.com, the company's online resource for electronics design engineers.

     The Open Source Design Centre brings together all of the elements involved in open source design in a single, easy-to-access reference point. It provides reliable information on matters ranging from open source licensing guidelines to advice on hardware and software management. Its aim is to educate engineers in open source design, and to aid and encourage their active participation in open source design projects.

     RS Components has developed the Open Source Design Centre in cooperation with Andrew Back, a leading industry expert in open source hardware and founding member of the Open Source Hardware User Group (OSHUG), the UK's leading open source hardware group established in 2010.

    "While open source hardware has until recently been at the low end of the electronics design spectrum, it is steadily increasing in interest as the opportunities for industry, education and experimentation become apparent," commented Back. "By working with RS Components, we are tapping into a vast global base of engineers on designspark.com, many of whom will be the key players in taking forward open source hardware into mainstream electronics design."

     "The growing popularity of open source hardware design has become self-evident over the past twelve months with the release of new versions of low-cost development boards such as Arduino and BeagleBone, and the launch of Raspberry Pi has created extraordinary demand around the world," said David Tarrant, Head of Community Development at RS Components. "RS Components is a trusted source of information on new designs and new technologies for engineers. Our new Open Source Design Centre brings together essential information our users can rely on to support them throughout the research, development and design cycle."

About RS Components

     RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc, the world's leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products. With operations in 32 countries, we offer more than 550,000 products through the internet, catalogues and at trade counters to over one million customers, shipping around 44,000 parcels a day. Our products, sourced from 2,500 leading suppliers, include electronics, automation and control, test and measurement, electrical and mechanical components.

Electrocomponents is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the last financial year ended 31 March 2013 had revenues of GBP1.24bn.

For more information, please visit the website at www.rs-components.com.

Further information is available via these links:
Twitter: @RSElectronics; @alliedelec; @designsparkRS

RS Components on Linkedin
http://www.linkedin.com/company/rs-components

Relevant Links:
Electrocomponents plc
www.electrocomponents.com

RS Components
www.rs-components.com

DesignSpark
http://www.designspark.com

RS Components
Tan Soo Chun
Public Relations Manager - Asia Pacific
E: [email protected]
T: +65-6391-5745

Edelman Public Relations
Crystal Goh
Senior Client Executive
E: [email protected]
T: +65-6347-2314