Intel Edison is small and compact and is an ideal solution for Internet of Things applications.

Back in December our colleagues at RS Components ran a Twitter competition asking people to tell them what wearable tech they would create with the new Intel Edison Arduino Kit. There were plenty of interesting ideas ranging from environmental devices to health.

What would you create? Here are some of their favourite ideas that they received:

Have you purchased an Arduino Intel Edison Kit, what did you make with it? If you are thinking about buying one, what would you create with it? Let us know in the comments below!

Related Intek Edison Articles:

Read more about this awesome piece of tech! -

-  Intel Edison Lands and Does Not Disapoint 
-  Developing Applications for the Intel Edison
-  How to Connect to the Internet of Things

BUY EDISON KIT

7.0V～36V入力、2.5A MOSFET 内蔵 1ch同期整流降圧DC/DCコンバータ「BD9E300EFJ」（ローム）のDesignspark PCB形式のリファレンスデザイン(回路図・PCBパターン）を無償で提供致します。そのままのデザインをご利用いただくこともできますし、デザインを追加・変更して独自の基板を作成していただくことも可能です。

[ファイルのダウンロードは記事の一番下にあるDownloads欄のリンクから可能です]

プリント基板レイアウト

BD9E300EFJについて

本製品は産業機器市場へ向けた、長期の供給を保証するランクの製品です。これらのアプリケーションとして、ご使用される場合に最適な商品です。BD9E300EFJ-LB は低ON 抵抗のパワーMOSFET を内蔵した同期整流降圧型スイッチングレギュレータです。広い入力電圧範囲 (7V～36V)をもち、5.0V などの低電圧を作る電源です。発振周波数が1MHz と高速なため、小型インダクタンスの使用が可能です。電流モード制御DC/DC コンバータのため高速な過渡応答性能を持ち、位相補償についても容易に設定することが可能です。

その他のリファレンスデザイン

本リファレンスデザインについて

回路図の設計ファイル(.sch)、プリント基板設計ファイル（.pcb）、部品ライブラリから構成されます。部品ライブラリには、RS品番や部品サイズのデータが含まれており、部品を直接発注したり、Designspark Mechanicalに出力し、筐体を設計したりすることができるようになっています。もちろん、ライブラリを他の回路基板の設計に利用していただくこともできます。

回路図

部品ライブラリ

Designspark PCBの基板設計データをDesignspark Mechanicalに取り込むことも可能

DesignSpark PCBをダウンロード

Designspark PCBはフル機能を商用利用を含め、完全無料でご利用いただける基板設計ソフトウェアです。多数のチュートリアル等を公開しております→Designspark PCBの使い方一覧

リファレンスデザインカタログでは他にも多数のリファレンスデザインをご用意しております。

免責：本リファレンスデザインの各種設計データ（本設計データ）のご使用は自己責任でお願いいたします。

The design of BPSK communication LSI MN101EF69D Evaluation Board R51BRD (Panasonic) was converted into Designspark PCB format. The MN101EF69D provides low-speed power line communication with built-in flash microcomputer.

Download MN101EF69D DESIGN FILES

3D View

BPSK communication LSI MN101EF69D

The MN101EF69D is single chip communication LSI with the BPSK communication facility. By the BPSK communication facility, many (up to 32) MN101EF69Ds share one transmission medium and can communicate directly. In addition, MN101EF69D includes the function as the 8-bit controller because MN101EF69D has 8-bit CPU ( MN101E:With Flash EEPROM 64KB, RAM 4KB ) and various peripheral functions ( 26 I/O port, 5 external interrupts, 20 internal interrupts including NMI, 8 timer counters, 2 serial interfaces, D/A converter, A/D converter, 2 watch dog timers, etc ) built-in.

More Reference Designs

What are included in the reference design file?

A Schematics design file (.sch), a PCB layout design file(.pcb), and parts library files for the design are provided. A RS part number and size information of parts are already linked to each part in the library. So you can directly order parts to RS by using the BOM quote feature, or can convert PCB files into 3D CAD data to design and simulate cases of boards. Of course, parts in the library would be used in another design. 

PCB Layout

Schematics

Parts Library

Possible to convert Designspark PCB designs into Designspark Mechanical 3D models

What is DesignSpark PCB format?

DesignSpark PCB is an award-winning software package for schematic capture and PCB layout, available for FREE from RS Components. Our software is easy to learn and use yet surprisingly powerful. DesignSpark PCB is now widely adopted in the industry as a standard format for design file sharing and collaboration. This is especially useful in the prototyping phase where most of the innovation takes place. Not yet a DesignSpark PCB user? 

Download DesignSpark PCB NOW

More Reference Designs

A collection of Raspberry Pi Projects created for teachers to use in the classroom

All these execises created by DesignSpark are complete with teachers notes and 3 levels of ability. All exercises use Python Code to control basic circuits that are constructed by the students.  The exercises are presented in a format for novice and intermediate users.  All exercises are Open Source and the components required for these exercises are listed in the projects and are availible from RS Components.

All these projects listed below can be found in our DesignShare Section and work with all Raspberry Pi Model A's and B's.

RASPBERRY PI CONTROLLING LED'S VIA GPIO

The aim of this exercise is to instruct students how to program the GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi as digital outputs. The GPIO pins will be used to control some LEDs and a seven segment LED display.

RASPBERRY PI GPIO ANALOGUE I/0 EXERCISES

The aim of this exercise is to show students how to program the Raspberry Pi to “measure” the state of one of its GPIO pins as a digital input, how the Raspberry Pi may be used in conjunction with an Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) to measure an analogue voltage, and how the Raspberry Pi may be used in conjunction with a Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) to generate an analogue signal. 

RASPBERRY PI GPIO DIGITAL I/0 EXERCISES

The aim of this exercise is to show students how to program the Raspberry Pi to measure temperature using a digital “1-wire” sensor connected directly to one of its GPIO pins, how the measured temperature may be used to control a digital output, and how the Raspberry Pi may be used in conjunction with a LED driver chip to display the measured temperature on a multiple digit LED display.

RASPBERRY PI CONTROLLING A MOTOR VIA GPIO

The aim of this exercise is to show students how to the Raspberry Pi may be used in conjunction with a L293D chip to control the direction of rotation a DC motor, and how the speed of a DC motor may be controlled using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). The exercise will also demonstrate how a simple human machine interface can be programmed to control the system in various different ways.

DesignSpark PCB changes, features & enhancements are a direct result of your feedback, suggestions and requests. Please contribute to the discussions to help us make DSPCB even better!

>>> Below you can also download previous versions of DesignSpark PCB software (for compatibility reasons), as requested by the community  <<<

IMPORTANT: Installation/upgrade instructions

Get the latest download from theDesignSpark PCB Home Page

28/01/2015 – Version 7.0.1 resolves the following issues:

1. Thermals on pads

• Correct function of thermal spokes in PCB layout is now restored

2. Registration

• Authorisation Server Error addressed thanks to substantial investigations performed by a number of users. Note: the issue is largely eradicated although some very specific network setups may block the server communications
• DesignSpark PCB was by mistake not able to start when not connected to the internet. This is now rectified and the software can be run off-line

3. Help

• Selected topics of the system help are now updated as per customer feedback received

24/11/2014 – Version 7.0.0

Version 7.0.0 not available for download - please use the stable version 7.0.1

New features:

1. Sketch Routes– for faster schematic entry and faster PCB layout

2. ODB++ export– a new alternative export file format

3. Enhanced handling of RS and Allied Part Numbers – one of the keys to quickly finalise a completed design is to have a complete Bill of Materials with all parts known and ready to order. No engineer likes spending hours cross referencing and identifying parts at the end of a design. No engineer likes surprises of long lead times or no stock when about to getting the bits ordered – especially when wanting to quickly test that prototype of a new idea or new solution. As requested by the community we’ve made it easier to add RS and Allied part numbers when creating new parts. Each part in your design is now linked to its RS product page where you can check pricing, stock & availability and view a datasheet at any time.

Other enhancements:

1. Branding – DSPCB is now aligned with the new DesignSpark website look & feel, new logos, alignment with the colours of the RS Components and Allied Electronics websites. We hope you like the new looks as much as we do!

2. DesignSpark Mechanical Export – enhanced the interface to our 3D design software by enabling it to find any newly created IDF files without having to browse your hard drive (available in DSM version 2)

3. BOM Quote – parts with no pins assigned no longer show up in the BOM Quote website as they are unlikely to be purchasable components

4. Tutorials – links to tutorial websites are now geo-targeted so that users in non-English speaking markets see their localised versions without the need to switch from English to the local languages (subject to local versions availability)

5. User Registration – user registration is now built-in to the software and you no longer need to go to the DesignSpark website to edit your customer information or for new users to register a new account. No more software activation emails and no more manual entry of activation codes. This is a major simplification that allows you to get started with the software much quicker

6. Library Manager – information about the built-in libraries is now added making it simpler to find the 30,000+ parts that come within the installer and giving clarity as to how these libraries differ from the on-line ModelSource libraries

7. ModelSource – Login in now automatic driven by the new built-in registration details you provide on the first start, saving you from having to re-enter the credentials

Installation Status:

Status Document

 >>> Download DesignSparkPCB Version 6.1 <<<

01/09/2014 - Version 6.1 resolves the following issues:

1. 3D View

• Prism shapes in user-defined packages were not being inverted for a component that had been placed on the back of the board.

• When package type is set to DILSwitch, if it happened to match with a PCB symbol containing only a single pin, the application would quit while attempting to generate the 3D impression.

• When creating a new 3D package, sometimes the details would not be saved the first time round, requiring the details to be entered a second time before the new package would be saved to the library.
• Each successive redraw would increase memory usage.

2. Change Style

• Changing the track style of a zero-length track between a via and a pad at the same location could cause the application to quit as the track is tidied out after making the style change.

3. Design Rule Check

• Component-to-Component checking was being done using the ‘edges’ of the component bounds, rather than treating the bounds as a ‘solid’ box, thus leading to fewer errors being reported than should have been the case.

4. DXF Import

• Certain commands were not being interpreted correctly in DXF files in recent formats, potentially leading to nothing appearing in the design after import.

5. DXF Output

• Long layer names could cause the DXF file to be unreadable in other software such as AutoCAD and TrueView, despite the published length limit of layer names being 255 characters.

• Text items could be misplaced from their proper locations.

6. Gerber Import

• The holes defined by drill files were not always being matched to the corresponding pads during Intelligent Gerber Import, resulting in pads without holes.

• If the folder where the import process tried to write its report file was not writeable, the application would quit.

7. Goto

• The Goto bar would sometimes retain information (such as Component names) from a design that had been closed or reloaded, which would cause the application to quit if you clicked on any of those items.

8. Library Manager

• The presence of a comma in the name of a 3D package could cause the application to quit as it encountered that name when reading the 3D library.

9. Forward Design Changes

• In designs containing some types of PCB-only component, running Forward Design Changes or Integrity Check could cause the application to quit as it attempted to generate the report.

10. Startup

• On a tiny number of machines, usually running Windows 7, the application would ‘block’ on startup after a Windows API function call failed to return. The application process would be visible in Task Manager but nothing would be displayed on the screen.

11. Update Component

• In some circumstances when more than one package of the same component is used in the same design, updating one of those components would result in an internal fault in the design data, potentially leading to the design file becoming unreadable.

12. Back Annotation

• Processing back annotation data was causing the application to lock up for one particular design.

13. Duplicate

• A net with a name of “N” was erroneously recognised as a default (unnamed) net, causing the joining of nets during duplicate to leave the net as unmerged with the original.
• Duplicate didn't copy pad style exceptions from the original component instances.

14. Edit Track

• Using backspace to delete previous segments was not changing the current active layer when backspacing through a Via.

15. SCM/PCB Check

• A malformed warning message was being output to the report when ignoring PCB-only component pads.

16. Plotting

• The preview on the Plotting dialog did not include Vias.

17. Projects

• If the procedure to add a PCB design to a Project was cancelled partway through (for example at a prompt to save an older format design file), the file could be only partially linked to the project and would then cause the application to quit.

18. Rename

• Attempting to rename nets across a Project was locking up if it encountered a name change that differed only in the case (e.g. renaming mux25 to MUX25).

19. Reports

• The Layers report contained error messages in place of the expected information about Layer Types.

20. Frame Select

• Multiple uses of Frame Select would lose the previous selection, and became stuck in Deselect mode.

21. Next Error

• While moving a component dragged from the Component Bin, pressing the hotkey for Next Error can cause the application to quit on releasing the moving component.

22. Paste

• It was not possible to Copy/Paste between Schematic Symbol and Schematic Design.

23. PDF Output

• Missing fonts were causing PDF output to fail.

24. Pour Copper

• Thermal spokes were being added even when inside a copper keepout area.

25. Styles

• Unhelpful error message given if corner radius is too large for pad width in Pad Properties.

26. Translate to PCB

• There were some issues with Schematic-only and PCB-only components following an earlier fix.

 >>> Download DesignSparkPCB Version 6.0 <<<

21/01/2014 - Version 6.0

Overview video for the new features in Version 6:

1. Simplified DesignSpark Mechanical IDF export - for easier exporting to DS Mechanical 3D design tool

2. Cross-Probe - for faster hardware debugging and navigation around designs

3. Custom Shortcuts - add user-defined keyboard shortcuts for personalisation of UI

4. Start Page - lists useful highlights, reference designs, getting started links and the handy list of recent projects/files

IMPORTANT: Installation/upgrade instructions

 >>> Download DesignSparkPCB Version 5.1 <<<

06/11/2013 - Version 5.1

1. ModelSource Component Reference error - this fixes incorrect RefDes or Component ID issue

2. ModelSource Fails to read XML with “>” character in a value - this fixes display of some of the library families previously resulting in a 'communication error'

3. Component Edit: Name Pins by Row/Col can sometimes fail to apply new names

4. Librariy Manager: a malformed unnamed library item could cause the application to quit

5. PDF Outputs: mirrored text on PDF plots was slightly undersized

6. Layout: Add shape using "=" to type in start & corners does not work if orthogonal segment mode

7. Opening files: Reloading a design can sometimes cause the application to quit if Interaction Bar has been closed

>>> Version 5.0 no longer available for download <<<

16/04/2013 - Version 5.0

• dedicated (version-dependent) folders
• preserving Library folders when uninstalling
• preserving registry settings when uninstalling (for automatic activation of new version)
• improved messaging

4. Reorganised Tutorial links and Start Menu shortcuts

>>> Version 4.1 no longer available for download <<<

04/03/2013 - Version 4.1 Bug fixes:

>>> Version 4.0 no longer available for download <<<

Version 4.0 New features:

1. ModelSource interface - access to an on-line database of over 80,000 components and associated product data. The components can be searched via Part Number Quick Search or category browsing and attribute selection (Parametric Search)

2. BOM Quote - integration with RS Components eCommerce website for instant Bill of Materials quoting and component purchase

3. PCB Quote - inferface to PCB manufacturers' on-line quoting websites with instant design parameters transfer

4. PCB Symbol – Placement Origin – this is a new type of origin that can be used to define where the pick-and-place origin of the footprint is positioned. This is then available in the Reports output, as the Place X and Y fields to use in place of the existing Centre X/Y or Position X/Y. If you specify PlaceX/Y in the report and a footprint doesn’t have a placement origin, it will use the CentreX/Y instead.

5. Reports – schematic-only components – you can now exclude these from reports by changing ‘Components to Include’ from ‘All’ to ‘Only items matching Schematic-only is false’.

6. Update Components – there are now separate checkboxes for component values (the actual values and their text strings) and value positions (the visible instances of values). This means you can tell it to update existing or add new values when updating the component without disturbing where the value positions are displayed on the drawing.

7. Reports - Bill Of Materials report now adjusted to show RS Part Numbers and other additional details

8. Updated Eagle import ULPs

Version 4.0 Bug fixes:

1. Changes to handling of Components with no pins

2. Apply to row/column on right-click menu in dialog grids

3. DRC now detects SMT pad with drill hole going through other layers

4. Pressing Enter when editing cell in a grid now goes to next line (like Excel)

5. Improved drawing for coloured cells (e.g. on Colours dialog)

6. Better retention of pin name/number positioning when updating components

7. Adds missing menu option "Disconnect From Net" for copper that has been assigned to a net

8. Some PCB nets had odd colour and/or hidden connections after translating from Schematic

9. NC Drill files now include G81 ("drill mode") command at start, required by some viewers/readers (e.g. GC-Prevue)

10. Dotted or dashed line styles no longer output to DXF as solid lines

11. Uses height from component even if over-ridden on the instance

>>> Version 3.0 no longer available for download <<<

Version 3.0 New Features:

1. Spice Simulation Interface - DesignSpark PCB software can now be interfaced to free industry standard Spice simulators to carry out circuit simulation. DesignSpark PCB Circuit Design Software currently supports four simulators: LTSpice, LSSpice, B2Spice and TINA.

2. Design Calculators - You can select tracks or vias (vertical electrical connection between different layers of conductors in a PCB) in your design and perform basic electrical calculations such as:

• Width of a track required for a given current.
• Impedance of a selected track.
• Optimum copper density to use.        
• Approximate temperature rise on a track.
• Resistance of a via given its physical characteristics.

These useful calculators produce approximations of actual circuit performance to aid the decision process in completing a successful PCB layout. Also available is a standard scientific calculator.

3. Grouping - This feature allows multiple items in your circuit diagram to be associated together so that they act as one ‘unit’. Once defined, groups can be used to assist in selecting related portions of your circuit. Perform group functions from the Schematic to the PCB to enable simpler identification and handling of specific elements of your design.

Version 3.0 Bug Fixes:

1. Component Editor - Change Terminal Name no longer automatically replicates the name change across similar gates. Instead the name change only applies to the selected terminal, and a new command is provided to explicitly copy the selected name to the other gates.

The Packages dialog now allows the deletion of the last Package of  a Component to make it into a Schematic-only Component.

2. Technology - The ‘table’ (grid) used on this dialog and others has been upgraded. This allows some additional functionality, as well as removing the installation problems on someVistaand Windows 7 systems. Such tables can now be scrolled with the mouse wheel. The ‘Apply To Column’ function is now available in Net Classes, Track Styles, Line Styles and Text Styles. When adding or editing tracks, the context menu option called Autoroute is now more correctly called Auto Complete.

3. Preferences - The Display Preferences page has been laid out differently.

4. Projects - Paste now displays the ‘Paste Net’ dialog if net(s) exist in other sheets in the Project. A pasted Net receives the Net Class of an existing project net. A new Net will copy the net class from this net if defined in another sheet in the project. A new Net Class will copy parameters from this net class if defined in another sheet in the project.

5. Optimise Nets - Where a connection is required to connect an item to its powerplane a ‘zero length’ connection will be drawn as a ‘butterfly’ shape.

6. 3D View - New shapes BEAD, DILSwitch and LEDdisplay have been added.

>>> Version 2.0 no longer available for download <<< 

Version 2.0 New Features:

1. 3D viewer

2. Enhanced library features

Version 2.0 Bug Fixes:

1. Add Component - Cancel Mode on context menu

2. Values in component edit are now a tab on properties dialog (was separate dialog)

3. Grids - Control G - Grid Snap menu is now proper menu now has "Grids" option at bottom

4. Grids on context menu when something selected in design

5. Export to Bitmap/EMF on the File menu

6. new LPKF menu option (simply goes to same place as Manufacturing Plots in this release)

7. value position on a component can display the part (component) description field

8. project view has Rename and Duplicate functions to help manage sheets in project

9. Change Component shows both schematic and PCB previews

10. Reports - Component List - new column type 'Text' for inserting text strings into report

11. Add Component can now return to the dialog on Escape (switchable by option on Preferences)

12. When pasting copied design data, new Cancel Move option allows it to be dropped in original position (same position it was when you copied the data)

13. In component editing, values can be added or copied to all packages in the component by click of button instead of having to add them by hand to each package

14. When saving library items (symbols etc), the Save dialog includes <New Library> in the list of available libraries, allowing you to create a new library 'on the fly' to contain your library item.

15. library manager dialog : has 'ok all' and 'cancel all' buttons when doing 'Copy To'; now has 'Move To' button (like 'Copy To' then delete from source library afterwards); Components page has 'Save To Lib' button to save set of data for selected items to another library (see 10).

16. angular resolution increased to 2 decimal places for finer placement

17. right click on selected components in design, new option 'Save Selected Items to Library' allows you to save components and all their symbols/footprints to library files. Useful for building project libraries from a design, 'exporting' components and related symbols to a new library to give to someone else, etc.

18. Excellon setup dialog now provides ability to keep tool numbers unique across all drill files generated in one 'run'. Used for example to get unique tool numbers when you generate two separate files for plated and unplated holes.

19. Separation of plated and unplated holes on drill ident plots.

Note: Also included are several fixes including for eagle import (not bringing through all values) and mouse wheel scrolling

>>> Version 1.3 no longer available for download <<<

Version 1.3 Bug fixes:

Minor update, fixes added for the following:

1. import of EIL (component library) file was not always reading Description field correctly
 
2. IDF generation, suppress empty value fields in IDF output
 
3. Eagle import was not always handling mounting holes correctly

4. Program hang in New Component dialog if you select neither Scm nor Pcb
 
5. PDF plotting, drill holes missing on some pads shapes in PDF output

6. Discrete library had values missing, added in for consistency with tutorial documentation

>>> Version 1.0 no longer available for download <<<

Version 1.0 - First release (June 2010)

Wolrd's first fully featured FREE electronics design software is released to put the power to innovate in hands of EVERY engineer. RS Components and Allied Electronics are committed to fully support this excellent design resource. We will be gathering feedback from user community and respond to your needs/suggestions/feedback with enhancements and new features which will continue reinforcing DesignSpark PCB as an important part of your rapid prototyping and design toolchain.

>>> NEW: Version 7 now available for download! <<<

Download DesignSpark PCBActivate DesignSpark PCB

*Free for commercial or non-commercial use, no limitations or licensing.

Watch our FAQ video to find out why RS/Allied provide DesignSpark PCB to you at no cost and what sort of problems our software can help you with:

DesignSpark PCB is the world’s most accessible electronics design software, specially designed for Rapid Prototyping and turning your circuit ideas into testable boards faster. Easy to learn and easy to use, DesignSpark PCB is here to help your company explore more design options - leading to increased innovation. At the core of this unique software is a powerful EDA engine that enables you to capture Schematics and design PCB boards and layouts. Access to on-line libraries of 80,000+ parts, instant Bill of Materials quoting and links to fast turnaround PCB vendors through unrestricted Gerber and ODB++ outputs, along with ample of prototype design functionality make this software indispensible for the impressive user base of over quarter of a million engineers.

Quick links:

>> installation/upgrade instructions

>> Product Brochure (PDF) in multiple languages

>> On-line Tutorials to help you getting started

>> List of input/output file formats

>> Supported Operating Systems

>> Change Log: Version 7.0.1 Update!

>> Example Reference Designs

>> Rapid Prototyping

Find Support on our Forums

Click here to read about typical uses of DSPCB depending on various user needs. Also see the DesignSpark PCB Customer Promise to learn about what we are committed to in terms of the software and supporting our users.

Want to know more? See a high level overview of the core functionality of DesignSpark PCB:

User Testimonials

We're always telling everyone just how great our free tools are! Don't just take our word for it, here are comments from some of our DesignSpark PCB and DesignSpark Mechanical users. Read more...

Engineers are at the heart of evolution of DesignSpark PCB. Being Customer Focused is one of the key values here at RS Components and as such we listen closely to your needs:

Latest PCB design tutorials preview:

The topic of editing and re-using the ModelSource PCB library components is covered by our Expert in a series of 3 new tutorial videos View this tutorial | View all tutorials

A set of 12 'Getting Started' video tutorials from Eugene Tham @Republic Polytechnic in Singapore View this tutorial | View all tutorials

Power plane and Ground plane design in DesignSpark PCB (re-visited) View this tutorial | View all tutorials

DesignSpark PCB Software overview:

World’s first truly FREE and unrestricted electronics design software. Developed by RS Components/Allied Electronics to enable engineers rapidly design great products, DesignSpark PCB had won multiple awards since 2010 while attracting over 250,000 activations. This breakthrough in accessibility, backed by powerful features enabled engineers to share designs within teams and externally - bringing collaborative hardware design to a whole new level.

DesignSpark PCB is offered completely Free of Charge and fully featured. This is not a cut down version of an expensive product or one with a time limitation on license. (There are no intentional restrictions on designs). There are unlimited schematic sheets per project, up to 1m squared of board size and no limits on layers, which allow you to get your creativity flowing without restraints. DesignSpark PCB circuit design software can be used for schematic capture, PCB board design & layout, generating impressive 3D View to visualise your design in real time, and generating manufacturing files.

DesignSpark PCB supports importing of CadSoft EAGLE PCB CAD design files, circuit diagrams and libraries (See the Eagle import tutorial). In addition to extensive libraries, sophisticated part creation wizards make it easy to design new parts from scratch or by amending downloaded symbols and footprints. Bill of Materials (BOM) report can also be generated at any time; these give RS Components order numbers where appropriate.

DesignSpark PCB allows you to generate all the files required to take your project from circuit diagram to layout schematic to a circuit board built project. Gerbers (Extended RS-274-X), Excellons, component positions report are available to make your design compatible with pick and place machines ready for automated PCB assembly (reflow oven process). Other output formats include DXF (import and export) and IDF for interfacing to mechanical CAD software tools.
Whether you are a professional designer making money from your designs, an electronics education professional, a student or a hobbyist seeking an easy to use, professional standard, unrestricted schematic capture and PCB layout tool, then DesignSpark PCB is right for you!

DesignSpark PCB is based on community feedback and all software development, enhancements and new features derive from your comments, design work and experiences you share with other members.

To learn more watch our series of introductory videos:

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Raspberry Piにある程度慣れてくると、普段使用しているPCからRaspberry Piをリモート操作したいと思うようになると思います。そこで登場するのがVNC （Virtual Network Computing）です。 VNCは、ネットワーク上の別のPCにログインしGUI操作できるソフトで、異なるOSやPC以外の端末でも使用することができます。これを応用するとタブレットからRaspberry Piを操作したり出来るようになります。

以下にPCからRaspberry PiをGUI操作する方法をご紹介します。まず、PCとRaspberry Pi、双方がネットワークにつながっていることを確認してください。VNCではサーバ側とクライアント（ビューワー）型の２種類のツールを使用します。Raspberry　Pi側にサーバソフト（X11VNC）を、PC側にクライアントソフトを、それぞれセットアップします。方法は以下の通りです。

・Raspberry Pi側での作業

まずX11VNCをRaspberry Piにインストールします。以下のコマンドを入力してください。

% sudo apt-get install x11vnc

いくつかの質問でYes/Noを聞かれるので「y」を選択。インストールが開始されます。少し時間がかかるかもしれません。インストールが完了したら、x11vncを起動する際のパスワードを設定します。以下のコマンドを入力します。

% x11vnc -storepasswd

「Enter VNC password」と出るので、任意のパスワードを入力してください。その後、このパスワードを保存していいか聞かれるので「y」を選択します。パスワードが設定されたら以下のコマンドでvncを起動してみましょう。

% x11vnc -usepw

英語のメッセージが表示された後、

The VNC desktop is:      raspverrypi:0
PORT=5900

と表示されるはずです。これは、Raspberry Piアクセス用のポートを5900番で開いていることを示しています。次にRaspberry Piが使用しているIPアドレスを確認しましょう。Raspberry Piのコマンドプロンプトで

% ifconfig

しましょう。必要なのは「inet」のアドレスです。イーサネットで接続している場合は「eth0」を、無線lanで接続している場合は、「wlan0」を、それぞれ確認してください。「inetアドレス」が記載されています。  192.xxx.xxx.xxxのようなアドレスだと思います。これをどこかにメモしておいてください。

・PC側での操作
VNCクライアントソフトをインストールします。今回は「ultra VNC」というツールを使用します。起動すると以下のような画面がでます。"VNC Server:"に先ほどメモしたIPアドレスとポート番号を、"192.xxx.xxx.xxx:5900"のように入力して、"Connect"をクリックしてください。


Passwordをきかれますので、先ほど設定したパスワードを入力して"Log On"をクリック。


これで接続完了です。PC上からRaspberry Piを操作することができます。

■詳細設定

①起動方法
先ほどの起動方法の場合、一度PC側を落とすと、Raspberry pi側のサーバーまでダウンしてしまいます。なので再度接続させたい場合、Raspberry Pi側でもう一度x11vncを起動する必要があります。これは非常に不便ですので、最初に以下のコマンドでサーバを起動することで、PC側で接続を終了させても、サーバを待機状態にしておくことができます。

% x11vnc -usepw -forever

②自動起動
Raspberry Piの起動時に自動でvncサーバーを立ち上げるようにしてみましょう。「/home/pi/.config/autostart」に「x11vnc.desktop」というファイルを作成してください。ファイルの内容は以下を記載してください。

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Name=X11VNC
Comment=
Exec=x11vnc -forever -display :0 -ultrafilexfer
StartupNotify=false
Terminal=false
Hidden=false

またRaspberry Piでxの自動起動をするように設定します。コマンドプロンプトで以下のコードを入力すると、設定画面が出ます。

% sudo raspi-config

"3 Enable Boot to Desktop/Scratch"を選択。

"Desktop Log in as user 'pi' at the graphical desktop"を選択。

これでRaspberry Pi起動時にVNCサーバーが自動で起動します。Raspberry Piにモニターを繋げる必要がなくなるので非常に便利です。

③無線LAN自動接続設定
Raspberry Piは初期設定では無線LANに自動接続しません。毎回接続のためのコマンドを入力する必要があります。でもせっかくVNCサーバーを自動起動するようにしので、無線にも自動接続するようにしましょう。こうすることで、専用モニタやキーボードを用意しなくても、外部PCから直接Raspberry Piを操作できるようになります。

% sudo vi /etc/network/interface

※「vi」の使い方がよくわからないという方は、「vi」の部分を「leafpad」に置き換えてください。leafpadであればメモ帳と同じように扱えるので戸惑うことはないと思います。
以下のように修正してください。

auto lo

iface lo inet loopback
iface eth0 inet dhcp

auto wlan0
allow-hotplug wlan0
#iface wlan0 inet manual
#wpa-roam /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
iface default inet dhcp

設定が完了したら再起動してください。再起動後に"ifconfig"で"wlan0"にIPアドレスが振られていたら成功です。

無線LANアダプタは電力消費が大きいため、動作が安定しないことがあります。セルフパワーUSBハブなどを購入するなどして対策することをおすすめします。

※リモートアクセスした際に画面サイズが小さい場合

% sudo vi /boot/config.txt

で以下の部分の#を外して有効化してください。

#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

これで再起動すれば画面サイズが大きくなるはずです。

以上です。

こちらの記事の翻訳になります。

このプロジェクトは、宇宙に打ち上げたスーパーマンの人形が宇宙から地上に戻るまでを、HDムービーとして記録しようという試みです。またその過程で作成した人形撮影システムの設計データをDESIGN SPARK上でシェアします。

ミッション

スーパーマン人形とカメラを設置したミニ宇宙カプセルを作成し、気象観測用気球で地上３９,０００メートルまで運びます。上空到達後、気球からカプセルを切り離さします。カプセルと同時に地上に戻ってくるスーアーマンの様子をHDムービーとして撮影します。スーパーマンとカプセルの場所を追尾できるよう、低電源無線GPSを搭載しています。このミッション終了後、撮影されたビデオと全てのデザインファイルをDesignSpark内のDesignShareにて公開します。

メンバー

RLab

Dave Akerman

Jude Pullen 

課題

バルーン打ち上げ（HAB)には多くの課題があります。

打上げ許可 - 英国では高高度への打ち上げには航空管制当局の許可が必要です。

天気 -ご存じの通りイギリスの天候予測、特に晴天予測はとても難しいです。よって事前に打ち上げ日を指定することはできません。また場所に関しても天候がベストになった場所で打ち上げなければならないため、事前に決定できるかはわかりません。もしかしたら高速道路上や空軍基地、もしくは知らない誰かの家のドアを叩くことになるかもしれません。

ミニ宇宙カプセル設計

軽量化 - 可能な限り軽くする必要があります。重すぎると打ち上げに大きなバルーンが必要になってしまいます。約2.5k以内をターゲットにします。

電子設計 - 高高度の気温は摂氏-60℃を想定しています。電子部品には非常に厳しい温度環境になります。なので電子部品の自己発熱をうまく閉じ込め、システムが動作するようカプセルのハウジングを設計します。

長時間安定駆動するバッテリーを用意する必要があります。

またパナソニックのHDビデオカメラを複数使用し、すべてを映像化します。

追跡/ライブデータ- 車を使用してスーパーマンとカプセルを追跡することになります。アマチュア無線を使って追跡します。イギリスの電波法では私たちがライブ映像を放送することはできません。そこで私たちは写真を配信することにしました。非常に遅い速度で映像を切り換えることで疑似的なライブ映像となります。

このミッションについて詳しく見る

A closer look at the postage stamp-sized platform for plumbing the Internet of Things.

When the Intel Edison prototype was unveiled at CES back in January it caused quite a splash and received a great deal of positive media coverage, with its promise of a tiny SD card form factor that packs a dual-core Pentium class SoC running Linux and equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth.

Since then the SD card form factor has been dropped in favour of one which features a less familiar albeit much more practical higher density connector, but while still retaining a truly compact size and some undeniably impressive specifications:

• Dual-core Intel Atom at 500MHz

• Intel Quark microcontroller at 100MHz (running the ViperOS RTOS)

• 1GB RAM

• 4GB flash

• WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0

• 70-pin Hirose DF40 connector with USB, SD, UARTs and GPIOs.

This post takes a first look at the Intel Edison Kit for Arduino, which comprises of an Edison module plus a baseboard which adds Arduino compatibility.

Note that Intel provide a Maker portal for products such as this and the Edison Getting Started Guide for Linux was followed for basic setting up and testing.

Hardware setup

Inside the packaging could be found an Edison module, Arduino baseboard and a small bag of hardware. It was great to see that the mounting holes had been provided on the baseboard — these are all too often omitted with development boards! — and that stand-offs were included.

After the module had been secured in place with two tiny nuts and the spacers affixed to the underside of the baseboard, it was connected up to a laptop via 2x USB cables.

Once the board was plugged in I discovered that my laptop had a new USB storage device providing a volume called “Edison”, along with a new network interface, “usb0”.

Interesting! More on these later...

Compiling and downloading an Arduino sketch

There is an Intel edition of the Arduino IDE that provides support for Edison and also the Galileo board, and installing and running this is just the same as with the original Arduino IDE that is used with AVR and ARM-based Arduino boards.

With the IDE installed it was simply a matter of selecting the correct board and correct serial port (ttyACM0 when using a Linux computer), before selecting the trusty blink example to compile and download.

Upon this completing a second LED illuminated on the board and then started to cycle off and on.

So, now we have a system that is compatible with an Arduino Uno, except that it has only 4 PWM outputs instead of 6. Is this something we should be excited by? Well, perhaps in and of itself, no, but this is only part of the story and, of course, we do also have a full blown Linux system here.

Logging in to Linux and network configuration

You may have wondered why the need for 2x USB connections and the OTG one does simultaneously provide mass storage and a network interface. As it happens the other is connected to a USB-UART bridge and in turn to a UART on the SoC, which is used to provide a console.

Step 5 in the Getting Started guide suggests using the Linux utility, screen, to connect to the UART — you could use pretty much any terminal emulator of choice — in order to next configure WiFi.

Now it looks as though there may be a bug in the documentation, as the configure_edison command didn't seem to understand the --setup option. However, the --wifi option worked for me and I later discovered that running the command without an option would run through setup.

At this point I could ping my Edison from the laptop, but I could not load a web page from it as described in the guide, and it didn't actually look as though a web server was listening on port 80.

The Edison Yocto Linux system uses a package manager called OPKG to maintain the installed software, and so I thought I'd see if I could identify any installed web server software.

From a quick search I didn't spot anything immediately obvious, other than libwebsockets, which amongst other things could be used to create a lightweight web server. However, I could SSH into the Edison from a desktop and, if required, installing a web server should be simple enough.

Of course, if you need network access to your Edison and don't have or don't want to use WiFi, don't forget that there is also a USB network interface that can be configured.

(Re-)flashing

The package manager will allow you to upgrade installed software as new releases are made available via the OPKG repositories. But what about completely re-flashing the device? This is as simple as first downloading the latest Yocto system image and extracting it to the USB storage presented by Edison, before executing “reboot ota” from from the console.

Flashing is often a concern for fear of “bricking” hardware if it does not successfully complete. Fortunately, there is a backup mechanism provided in the form of Device Firmware Update (DFU), whereby you simply install the dfu-utils software (e.g. via apt-get install), before extracting the firmware update locally and then running the flashall.sh script contained therein.

Building the Linux kernel and Linux applications

Image source: www.yoctoproject.org

The Edison Linux system is built using the Yocto build environment, which allows you to create custom Linux systems in a modular manner, with support for handy things such as cross-compilation. Custom kernels and applications are built using this system, which is provided via the Edison SDK that is made available for Linux, Mac and Windows.

For an example of how this used to enable audio and video capture, see a blog post over on Richard Barnett's website.

Developer options

Intel have provided various libraries, plug-ins and examples to make it easier to write applications for the Internet of Things. I haven't spent a great deal of time looking into these, but from what I can tell at the present time they are roughly split into three groups:

• Arduino

• JavaScript (node.js)

• Embedded (e.g. native C/C++)

A library and samples are provided for Arduino development. There a C tutorials, which include some for using the popular MQTT and Zero MQ messaging platforms, along with Intel's own IoT Kit. And a selection of examples are provided for node.js.

First thoughts

It might sound like stating the obvious, but the Edison module is tiny and feels ever more so as you stop for a moment to consider what it provides. And it's clear that a lot of thought and a lot of hard work has gone into creating the platform, with careful attention to processes such as configuration and upgrading, and making it easier for developers to get started.

The words Yocto and Poky may be alien to many and while a minimal Ubuntu or Debian install may at first seem like it would have been a better choice, it really makes sense when you consider that the Yocto environment allows you to build a truly bespoke system that does only what it needs to. It is for this reason that it's favoured by consumer electronics companies, many of which are involved in the work group which develops Poky under the auspices of the Linux Foundation.

As an Arduino the kit is not that compact, nor is it that cheap. And writing applications in the Arduino environment may well not result in the most efficient embedded code. However, a great many people are familiar with the Arduino platform, it is eminently friendly to novices and what it provides here is an on-ramp for a tiny, powerful compute platform.

So, once you have you validated your application via a rapidly developed prototype utilising Arduino shields and breadboarded components, you could perhaps next move on to using a much more compact breakout and perfboard, before taking the plunge and getting a PCB made with a 70-pin Hirose connector. And maybe, one day, a fully custom Atom-based board for mass market.

I must say that so far I'm impressed, even though I haven't actually done anything particularly exciting with the kit yet!

— Andrew Back

Intel Edison - is availible from RS Components

This blog is explaining the procedures to assemble different modules of a RepRap Pro Ormerod 3D printer. At the same time, we will share the points that you should take note of during the process.

In this blog, we start off with assembled modules, X- axis, Y- axis, Z-axis and heated bed.  The finished X- axis, Y- axis, Z-axis and heated bed are shown in the picture below. You can find the steps of assembling individual modules from this link from manufacturer website. Recommend using Google Chrome to open the following link. Explorer might take a longer time to load.

https://reprappro.com/documentation/ormerod/

X-axis:

Some problem that you might face during x-axis assembly based on the guide provided by manufacturer.

1.    It might be difficult for you to insert the belt when the X- motor is already in its position.

Solution: Fix the X-motor only after inserting the belt. You can pull out the belt so that it can fit into the bearing located on the X-motor.

2.    You need to twist the top side of belt so that the grooves of the belt will be facing each other when joining together. 

Y-axis:

1.    After you put in the belt, you might find that the wooden bed does not move with the belt. 

Solution: You can use a cable tie on both sides to make sure that the belt does not move freely.

2.    You need to twist the button side of belt so that the grooves of the belt will be facing each other when joining together. So that the end of the belt for y-axis should be like: 

Z-axis:

1.    Sometimes the plastic parts do not fit perfectly at its position. Therefore, you need to adjust the size of the parts by filing and trimming. 

Please watch the videos below to get our expert's perspective on assembling modules of RepRap Pro Ormerod 3D printer. Please follow the steps and trick to assemble the modules of Ormerod 3D printer.

Part I: Mechanical Assembly

Part II: Wiring of 3D printer

Congratulation, you have successfully assembled a RepRap Pro Oremerod 3D printer. Now, it is time to do some calibrations.

Steps for calibration

This calibration process is different from manufacturer. From experience, we found that this method is easier and takes less time. The calibration is to make sure that the heated bed is flat to the nozzle, NOT YOUR EYES. 

1.    Take five points on the heated bed.

2.    Place a piece of thin paper between the nozzle and the heated bed. (Thickness of the paper should be within 0.06 to 0.07 mm)

3.    Using the software- Pronterface to move the axis and make measurement.

4.    Start off with the middle point on the heated bed. Move the nozzle down along the z-axis until that you can feel the some friction between the paper and nozzle. (But the paper still can move)

5.    Set this position as Z-home by entering G92 Z0 at the command window.

6.    Move the nozzle to the point at the corner. Move the nozzle down along the z-axis until that you can feel the paper becomes difficult to move. Click Get Position to see the location for Z axis. Record down the locations values. 

7.    Do the same for the other 3 points.

8.    Based on the location values recorded, you should move the heated bed so that it can be flat to the nozzle. You can move the nuts to achieve the objectives. Positive indicates that it is higher than the reference (centre) point and negative indicates the opposite.

9.    After adjusting the heated bed. Recheck the new locations values of the points. Start off with the middle point on the heated bed. Move the nozzle down along the z-axis until that you can feel the friction between the paper and the nozzle.

10.    Set this position as Z-home by entering G92 Z0 at the command window.

11.    Move the nozzle to the point at the corner. Move the nozzle down along the z-axis until that you can feel the paper becomes difficult to move. Click Check Position to see the location value for Z. The reading should be in the range of   -0.1 to 0.1.

12.    Repeat the previous step for the rest 3 points.

13.    When all the readings are within the range of -0.1 to 0.1, the calibration is now done.

Preparation before printing

1.    You need to convert the 3D design file into gcode file in order to print. This is because that the 3D printer only recognises the gcode file.

2.    Manually set the Z home location—It will give you a better quality when printing:

Move the nozzle down along the z-axis until that you can feel the paper becomes difficult to move. Entering G92 Z0 to confirm the position for Z home

3.    Click on X Home to ensure X axis is homed.

4.    Click on Y Home to ensure Y axis is homed.

5.    Insert the filament by clicking extrude button. The length and speed of inserting of filament can be adjusted.

6.    Set the nozzle and heated bed temperature for printing.

7.    You can either choose load file or SD to start printing. The file from SD card will have a better quality as compared to file from PC.

8.    Now the printing is in progress.

Common Problems and troubleshooting

1.    The fan is not turning when power supply is on.

Check the Connection between the power board and Duel Board. The connection might not be made properly.

2.    The printed object is not in its right shape.

The belt for both X-axis and Y-axis might not be tight enough. Please adjust the belt and observe that the heated bed and the hot end nozzle are moving smoothly

3.    When removing the filament, it might be difficult to take out.

The nozzle’s heater should not be turn off when removing the filament. This ensures that the filament is still soft when removing.

During assembly, it might take a very long time for some steps. Please be patient during the processes. Have Fun!

Purchase the RepRapPro 3D Printer from RS Components.

BUY NOW

A walk through some of the different ways you can program the feature packed platform.

In a previous post I covered in brief how the Intel Edison can be programmed via the Arduino IDE, with other options including writing JavaScript and native C/C++ applications. This post explores those options in a little more detail and takes a look at the Intel strategy for peripheral device support.

Intel IoT Developer Kit

The Intel IoT Developer Kit is based upon the popular open source Eclipse IDE, and is bundled with C and C++ examples for the classic hello world, and LED blink — the hardware hello world.

C and C++ examples are also included for sending data to the Intel IoT Analytics cloud via the IoT Kit Agent, software which also runs locally on the Edison. This service allows for the collection, storage and analysis of sensor data, with the ability to configure alerts. Intel state this as being provided free for “limited non-commercial use”, so it may not be suitable for all applications.

There are also C++ examples for reading an analogue input, and driving an I2C LCD and a buzzer.

The IDE provides a Remote System Explorer view where the IP address and login details for a connected board are entered. Once configured this allows for remote execution and debugging of programs from within the IDE, with both Edison and Galileo boards being supported.

Application portability is provided courtesy of the MRAA library, which offers a consistent API across different hardware for GPIO, UARTs and buses such as I2C and SPI, performing board detection at runtime. In addition to Edison and Galileo, the library also includes support for the Minnowboard and Raspberry Pi Model B.

The UPM libraries then build upon MRAA to provide APIs for sensors and actuators. At the time of writing this includes numerous temperature, pressure, gas, light and magnetometer sensors, along with various displays, LED controllers and servos. A guide to writing new modules is also provided, along with an Arduino library porting example, and Intel invite third party contributions to UPM.

Arduino compatibility

The Intel variant of the Arduino IDE has the same familiar look and feel as the classic version, and all the basic example sketches are there along with a healthy selection of libraries. However, it's important to note that sketches compile down to a binary that then executes on Edison as a Linux process. There is no microcontroller. This is not a real-time system.

What does this mean? Well, sketches that use AVR-specific features will obviously need to be modified, and some may not even work at all. A good example of where issues may be encountered is sketches that toggle pins to drive wireless and infrared etc. links and bit-banged I/O. These typically disable processor interrupts by calling cli() or nointerrupts() before doing the timing critical toggling of pins, and then re-enable them immediately afterwards with sei() or interrupts().

In testing, Arduino AVR code that used cli() and sei() would compile after these function calls were removed. However, as one might predict, it was then found that the timing of data being sent over a wireless link was out and the receiver simply discarded it. Which is hardly surprising when you consider that Linux probably serviced plenty of interrupts during the transmission period.

That said, it may be that a trick was missed and that there is some soft real-time capability that can be used. Failing which, an update to the Edison software is planned which will enable the onboard independent Intel Quark core, and one can only hope that when this happens it will become possible to target Arduino applications to it, instead of a Linux process on the main Atom processor.

Bridging two worlds

Reusing existing Arduino code and then integrating it with applications running under the Linux system — where there are greater resources and many more tools available — seemed like an obvious thing to want to do. As such, I had hoped that there would be a simple facility whereby data could be exchanged between a sketch and some other Linux application.

However, it turns out that while this is possible, it requires a fair amount of setup, with memory mapped interprocess communication (IPC) and mutexes for synchronisation. Although this situation may easily change and it presumably wouldn't take a competent programmer very long at all to come up with Arduino and Linux (C, C++ and/or Python etc.) libraries that greatly simplify this.

Intel XDK IoT Edition

The Intel XDK IoT Edition allows applications to be developed in JavaScript, via the increasingly popular node.js runtime environment, and provides templates for things such as digital read/write, analogue read and — of course — LED blink!

The XDK also provides support for creating mobile applications that are built using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, via the Apache Cordova set of device APIs.

The two sides to XDK development neatly complementing each other, enabling both IoT device behaviour and companion mobile app logic to be defined using the same language and IDE.

As with the IoT Developer Kit, the MRAA and UPM libraries are used for compatibility across IoT devices.

Conclusion

With three official SDKs — four if you count building native applications via Yocto! — it can be a little confusing when you first start exploring the available options for developing for Edison. A matter that is not helped by the similar naming of the Intel IoT Developer Kit and Intel XDK IoT Edition. However, once you familiarise yourself with the differences and understand what each of these development environments brings, it all makes perfect sense and there should be options to suit most tastes and needs.

Despite the present limitations of Arduino development on Edison, it's still an incredibly useful tool, if for no other reason than in providing a gentle on-ramp for the platform. Which is not to say that it won't also be improved upon in due course.

— Andrew Back

Intel Edison Module - is availible from RS Components

Intel Edison Development Kit - is availible from RS Components

Intel Edison Breakout Kit - is availible from RS Components

A collection of Raspberry Pi Projects created for teachers to use in the classroom

All these exercises have been created by DesignSpark and are complete with teachers notes and 3 levels of ability. All exercises use Python Code to control basic circuits that are constructed by the students.  The exercises are presented in a format for novice and intermediate users. All exercises are Open Source and the components required for these exercises are listed in the projects and are availible from RS Components.

All these projects listed below can be found in our DesignShare Section and work with all Raspberry Pi Model A's and B's.

RASPBERRY PI CONTROLLING LED'S VIA GPIO

The aim of this exercise is to instruct students how to program the GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi as digital outputs. The GPIO pins will be used to control some LEDs and a seven segment LED display.

RASPBERRY PI GPIO ANALOGUE I/0 EXERCISES

The aim of this exercise is to show students how to program the Raspberry Pi to “measure” the state of one of its GPIO pins as a digital input, how the Raspberry Pi may be used in conjunction with an Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) to measure an analogue voltage, and how the Raspberry Pi may be used in conjunction with a Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) to generate an analogue signal. 

RASPBERRY PI GPIO DIGITAL I/0 EXERCISES

The aim of this exercise is to show students how to program the Raspberry Pi to measure temperature using a digital “1-wire” sensor connected directly to one of its GPIO pins, how the measured temperature may be used to control a digital output, and how the Raspberry Pi may be used in conjunction with a LED driver chip to display the measured temperature on a multiple digit LED display.

RASPBERRY PI CONTROLLING A MOTOR VIA GPIO

The aim of this exercise is to show students how to the Raspberry Pi may be used in conjunction with a L293D chip to control the direction of rotation a DC motor, and how the speed of a DC motor may be controlled using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). The exercise will also demonstrate how a simple human machine interface can be programmed to control the system in various different ways.

More fantastic Raspberry Pi content can be found in our Raspberry Pi Design Centre

DesignSpark PCB changes, features & enhancements are a direct result of your feedback, suggestions and requests. Please contribute to the discussions to help us make DSPCB even better!

>>> Below you can also download previous versions of DesignSpark PCB software (for compatibility reasons), as requested by the community  <<<

IMPORTANT: Installation/upgrade instructions

Get the latest download from theDesignSpark PCB Home Page

28/01/2015 – Version 7.0.1 resolves the following issues:

1. Thermals on pads

• Correct function of thermal spokes in PCB layout is now restored

2. Registration

• Authorisation Server Error addressed thanks to substantial investigations performed by a number of users. Note: the issue is largely eradicated although some very specific network setups may block the server communications
• DesignSpark PCB was by mistake not able to start when not connected to the internet. This is now rectified and the software can be run off-line

3. Help

• Selected topics of the system help are now updated as per customer feedback received

24/11/2014 – Version 7.0.0

Version 7.0.0 not available for download - please use the stable version 7.0.1

New features:

1. Sketch Routes– for faster schematic entry and faster PCB layout

2. ODB++ export– a new alternative export file format

3. Enhanced handling of RS and Allied Part Numbers – one of the keys to quickly finalise a completed design is to have a complete Bill of Materials with all parts known and ready to order. No engineer likes spending hours cross referencing and identifying parts at the end of a design. No engineer likes surprises of long lead times or no stock when about to getting the bits ordered – especially when wanting to quickly test that prototype of a new idea or new solution. As requested by the community we’ve made it easier to add RS and Allied part numbers when creating new parts. Each part in your design is now linked to its RS product page where you can check pricing, stock & availability and view a datasheet at any time.

Other enhancements:

1. Branding – DSPCB is now aligned with the new DesignSpark website look & feel, new logos, alignment with the colours of the RS Components and Allied Electronics websites. We hope you like the new looks as much as we do!

2. DesignSpark Mechanical Export – enhanced the interface to our 3D design software by enabling it to find any newly created IDF files without having to browse your hard drive (available in DSM version 2)

3. BOM Quote – parts with no pins assigned no longer show up in the BOM Quote website as they are unlikely to be purchasable components

4. Tutorials – links to tutorial websites are now geo-targeted so that users in non-English speaking markets see their localised versions without the need to switch from English to the local languages (subject to local versions availability)

5. User Registration – user registration is now built-in to the software and you no longer need to go to the DesignSpark website to edit your customer information or for new users to register a new account. No more software activation emails and no more manual entry of activation codes. This is a major simplification that allows you to get started with the software much quicker

6. Library Manager – information about the built-in libraries is now added making it simpler to find the 30,000+ parts that come within the installer and giving clarity as to how these libraries differ from the on-line ModelSource libraries

7. ModelSource – Login in now automatic driven by the new built-in registration details you provide on the first start, saving you from having to re-enter the credentials

Installation Status:

Status Document

 >>> Download DesignSparkPCB Version 6.1 <<<

01/09/2014 - Version 6.1 resolves the following issues:

1. 3D View

• Prism shapes in user-defined packages were not being inverted for a component that had been placed on the back of the board.

• When package type is set to DILSwitch, if it happened to match with a PCB symbol containing only a single pin, the application would quit while attempting to generate the 3D impression.

• When creating a new 3D package, sometimes the details would not be saved the first time round, requiring the details to be entered a second time before the new package would be saved to the library.
• Each successive redraw would increase memory usage.

2. Change Style

• Changing the track style of a zero-length track between a via and a pad at the same location could cause the application to quit as the track is tidied out after making the style change.

3. Design Rule Check

• Component-to-Component checking was being done using the ‘edges’ of the component bounds, rather than treating the bounds as a ‘solid’ box, thus leading to fewer errors being reported than should have been the case.

4. DXF Import

• Certain commands were not being interpreted correctly in DXF files in recent formats, potentially leading to nothing appearing in the design after import.

5. DXF Output

• Long layer names could cause the DXF file to be unreadable in other software such as AutoCAD and TrueView, despite the published length limit of layer names being 255 characters.

• Text items could be misplaced from their proper locations.

6. Gerber Import

• The holes defined by drill files were not always being matched to the corresponding pads during Intelligent Gerber Import, resulting in pads without holes.

• If the folder where the import process tried to write its report file was not writeable, the application would quit.

7. Goto

• The Goto bar would sometimes retain information (such as Component names) from a design that had been closed or reloaded, which would cause the application to quit if you clicked on any of those items.

8. Library Manager

• The presence of a comma in the name of a 3D package could cause the application to quit as it encountered that name when reading the 3D library.

9. Forward Design Changes

• In designs containing some types of PCB-only component, running Forward Design Changes or Integrity Check could cause the application to quit as it attempted to generate the report.

10. Startup

• On a tiny number of machines, usually running Windows 7, the application would ‘block’ on startup after a Windows API function call failed to return. The application process would be visible in Task Manager but nothing would be displayed on the screen.

11. Update Component

• In some circumstances when more than one package of the same component is used in the same design, updating one of those components would result in an internal fault in the design data, potentially leading to the design file becoming unreadable.

12. Back Annotation

• Processing back annotation data was causing the application to lock up for one particular design.

13. Duplicate

• A net with a name of “N” was erroneously recognised as a default (unnamed) net, causing the joining of nets during duplicate to leave the net as unmerged with the original.
• Duplicate didn't copy pad style exceptions from the original component instances.

14. Edit Track

• Using backspace to delete previous segments was not changing the current active layer when backspacing through a Via.

15. SCM/PCB Check

• A malformed warning message was being output to the report when ignoring PCB-only component pads.

16. Plotting

• The preview on the Plotting dialog did not include Vias.

17. Projects

• If the procedure to add a PCB design to a Project was cancelled partway through (for example at a prompt to save an older format design file), the file could be only partially linked to the project and would then cause the application to quit.

18. Rename

• Attempting to rename nets across a Project was locking up if it encountered a name change that differed only in the case (e.g. renaming mux25 to MUX25).

19. Reports

• The Layers report contained error messages in place of the expected information about Layer Types.

20. Frame Select

• Multiple uses of Frame Select would lose the previous selection, and became stuck in Deselect mode.

21. Next Error

• While moving a component dragged from the Component Bin, pressing the hotkey for Next Error can cause the application to quit on releasing the moving component.

22. Paste

• It was not possible to Copy/Paste between Schematic Symbol and Schematic Design.

23. PDF Output

• Missing fonts were causing PDF output to fail.

24. Pour Copper

• Thermal spokes were being added even when inside a copper keepout area.

25. Styles

• Unhelpful error message given if corner radius is too large for pad width in Pad Properties.

26. Translate to PCB

• There were some issues with Schematic-only and PCB-only components following an earlier fix.

 >>> Download DesignSparkPCB Version 6.0 <<<

21/01/2014 - Version 6.0

Overview video for the new features in Version 6:

1. Simplified DesignSpark Mechanical IDF export - for easier exporting to DS Mechanical 3D design tool

2. Cross-Probe - for faster hardware debugging and navigation around designs

3. Custom Shortcuts - add user-defined keyboard shortcuts for personalisation of UI

4. Start Page - lists useful highlights, reference designs, getting started links and the handy list of recent projects/files

IMPORTANT: Installation/upgrade instructions

 >>> Download DesignSparkPCB Version 5.1 <<<

06/11/2013 - Version 5.1

1. ModelSource Component Reference error - this fixes incorrect RefDes or Component ID issue

2. ModelSource Fails to read XML with “>” character in a value - this fixes display of some of the library families previously resulting in a 'communication error'

3. Component Edit: Name Pins by Row/Col can sometimes fail to apply new names

4. Librariy Manager: a malformed unnamed library item could cause the application to quit

5. PDF Outputs: mirrored text on PDF plots was slightly undersized

6. Layout: Add shape using "=" to type in start & corners does not work if orthogonal segment mode

7. Opening files: Reloading a design can sometimes cause the application to quit if Interaction Bar has been closed

>>> Version 5.0 no longer available for download <<<

16/04/2013 - Version 5.0

• dedicated (version-dependent) folders
• preserving Library folders when uninstalling
• preserving registry settings when uninstalling (for automatic activation of new version)
• improved messaging

4. Reorganised Tutorial links and Start Menu shortcuts

>>> Version 4.1 no longer available for download <<<

04/03/2013 - Version 4.1 Bug fixes:

>>> Version 4.0 no longer available for download <<<

Version 4.0 New features:

1. ModelSource interface - access to an on-line database of over 80,000 components and associated product data. The components can be searched via Part Number Quick Search or category browsing and attribute selection (Parametric Search)

2. BOM Quote - integration with RS Components eCommerce website for instant Bill of Materials quoting and component purchase

3. PCB Quote - inferface to PCB manufacturers' on-line quoting websites with instant design parameters transfer

4. PCB Symbol – Placement Origin – this is a new type of origin that can be used to define where the pick-and-place origin of the footprint is positioned. This is then available in the Reports output, as the Place X and Y fields to use in place of the existing Centre X/Y or Position X/Y. If you specify PlaceX/Y in the report and a footprint doesn’t have a placement origin, it will use the CentreX/Y instead.

5. Reports – schematic-only components – you can now exclude these from reports by changing ‘Components to Include’ from ‘All’ to ‘Only items matching Schematic-only is false’.

6. Update Components – there are now separate checkboxes for component values (the actual values and their text strings) and value positions (the visible instances of values). This means you can tell it to update existing or add new values when updating the component without disturbing where the value positions are displayed on the drawing.

7. Reports - Bill Of Materials report now adjusted to show RS Part Numbers and other additional details

8. Updated Eagle import ULPs

Version 4.0 Bug fixes:

1. Changes to handling of Components with no pins

2. Apply to row/column on right-click menu in dialog grids

3. DRC now detects SMT pad with drill hole going through other layers

4. Pressing Enter when editing cell in a grid now goes to next line (like Excel)

5. Improved drawing for coloured cells (e.g. on Colours dialog)

6. Better retention of pin name/number positioning when updating components

7. Adds missing menu option "Disconnect From Net" for copper that has been assigned to a net

8. Some PCB nets had odd colour and/or hidden connections after translating from Schematic

9. NC Drill files now include G81 ("drill mode") command at start, required by some viewers/readers (e.g. GC-Prevue)

10. Dotted or dashed line styles no longer output to DXF as solid lines

11. Uses height from component even if over-ridden on the instance

>>> Version 3.0 no longer available for download <<<

Version 3.0 New Features:

1. Spice Simulation Interface - DesignSpark PCB software can now be interfaced to free industry standard Spice simulators to carry out circuit simulation. DesignSpark PCB Circuit Design Software currently supports four simulators: LTSpice, LSSpice, B2Spice and TINA.

2. Design Calculators - You can select tracks or vias (vertical electrical connection between different layers of conductors in a PCB) in your design and perform basic electrical calculations such as:

• Width of a track required for a given current.
• Impedance of a selected track.
• Optimum copper density to use.        
• Approximate temperature rise on a track.
• Resistance of a via given its physical characteristics.

These useful calculators produce approximations of actual circuit performance to aid the decision process in completing a successful PCB layout. Also available is a standard scientific calculator.

3. Grouping - This feature allows multiple items in your circuit diagram to be associated together so that they act as one ‘unit’. Once defined, groups can be used to assist in selecting related portions of your circuit. Perform group functions from the Schematic to the PCB to enable simpler identification and handling of specific elements of your design.

Version 3.0 Bug Fixes:

1. Component Editor - Change Terminal Name no longer automatically replicates the name change across similar gates. Instead the name change only applies to the selected terminal, and a new command is provided to explicitly copy the selected name to the other gates.

The Packages dialog now allows the deletion of the last Package of  a Component to make it into a Schematic-only Component.

2. Technology - The ‘table’ (grid) used on this dialog and others has been upgraded. This allows some additional functionality, as well as removing the installation problems on someVistaand Windows 7 systems. Such tables can now be scrolled with the mouse wheel. The ‘Apply To Column’ function is now available in Net Classes, Track Styles, Line Styles and Text Styles. When adding or editing tracks, the context menu option called Autoroute is now more correctly called Auto Complete.

3. Preferences - The Display Preferences page has been laid out differently.

4. Projects - Paste now displays the ‘Paste Net’ dialog if net(s) exist in other sheets in the Project. A pasted Net receives the Net Class of an existing project net. A new Net will copy the net class from this net if defined in another sheet in the project. A new Net Class will copy parameters from this net class if defined in another sheet in the project.

5. Optimise Nets - Where a connection is required to connect an item to its powerplane a ‘zero length’ connection will be drawn as a ‘butterfly’ shape.

6. 3D View - New shapes BEAD, DILSwitch and LEDdisplay have been added.

>>> Version 2.0 no longer available for download <<< 

Version 2.0 New Features:

1. 3D viewer

2. Enhanced library features

Version 2.0 Bug Fixes:

1. Add Component - Cancel Mode on context menu

2. Values in component edit are now a tab on properties dialog (was separate dialog)

3. Grids - Control G - Grid Snap menu is now proper menu now has "Grids" option at bottom

4. Grids on context menu when something selected in design

5. Export to Bitmap/EMF on the File menu

6. new LPKF menu option (simply goes to same place as Manufacturing Plots in this release)

7. value position on a component can display the part (component) description field

8. project view has Rename and Duplicate functions to help manage sheets in project

9. Change Component shows both schematic and PCB previews

10. Reports - Component List - new column type 'Text' for inserting text strings into report

11. Add Component can now return to the dialog on Escape (switchable by option on Preferences)

12. When pasting copied design data, new Cancel Move option allows it to be dropped in original position (same position it was when you copied the data)

13. In component editing, values can be added or copied to all packages in the component by click of button instead of having to add them by hand to each package

14. When saving library items (symbols etc), the Save dialog includes <New Library> in the list of available libraries, allowing you to create a new library 'on the fly' to contain your library item.

15. library manager dialog : has 'ok all' and 'cancel all' buttons when doing 'Copy To'; now has 'Move To' button (like 'Copy To' then delete from source library afterwards); Components page has 'Save To Lib' button to save set of data for selected items to another library (see 10).

16. angular resolution increased to 2 decimal places for finer placement

17. right click on selected components in design, new option 'Save Selected Items to Library' allows you to save components and all their symbols/footprints to library files. Useful for building project libraries from a design, 'exporting' components and related symbols to a new library to give to someone else, etc.

18. Excellon setup dialog now provides ability to keep tool numbers unique across all drill files generated in one 'run'. Used for example to get unique tool numbers when you generate two separate files for plated and unplated holes.

19. Separation of plated and unplated holes on drill ident plots.

Note: Also included are several fixes including for eagle import (not bringing through all values) and mouse wheel scrolling

>>> Version 1.3 no longer available for download <<<

Version 1.3 Bug fixes:

Minor update, fixes added for the following:

1. import of EIL (component library) file was not always reading Description field correctly
 
2. IDF generation, suppress empty value fields in IDF output
 
3. Eagle import was not always handling mounting holes correctly

4. Program hang in New Component dialog if you select neither Scm nor Pcb
 
5. PDF plotting, drill holes missing on some pads shapes in PDF output

6. Discrete library had values missing, added in for consistency with tutorial documentation

>>> Version 1.0 no longer available for download <<<

Version 1.0 - First release (June 2010)

Wolrd's first fully featured FREE electronics design software is released to put the power to innovate in hands of EVERY engineer. RS Components and Allied Electronics are committed to fully support this excellent design resource. We will be gathering feedback from user community and respond to your needs/suggestions/feedback with enhancements and new features which will continue reinforcing DesignSpark PCB as an important part of your rapid prototyping and design toolchain.

>>> NEW: Version 7 now available for download! <<<

Download DesignSpark PCBActivate DesignSpark PCB

*Free for commercial or non-commercial use, no limitations or licensing.

Watch our FAQ video to find out why RS/Allied provide DesignSpark PCB to you at no cost and what sort of problems our software can help you with:

DesignSpark PCB is the world’s most accessible electronics design software, specially designed for Rapid Prototyping and turning your circuit ideas into testable boards faster. Easy to learn and easy to use, DesignSpark PCB is here to help your company explore more design options - leading to increased innovation. At the core of this unique software is a powerful EDA engine that enables you to capture Schematics and design PCB boards and layouts. Access to on-line libraries of 80,000+ parts, instant Bill of Materials quoting and links to fast turnaround PCB vendors through unrestricted Gerber and ODB++ outputs, along with ample of prototype design functionality make this software indispensible for the impressive user base of over quarter of a million engineers.

Quick links:

>> installation/upgrade instructions

>> Product Brochure (PDF) in multiple languages

>> On-line Tutorials to help you getting started

>> List of input/output file formats

>> Supported Operating Systems

>> Change Log: Version 7.0.1 Update!

>> Example Reference Designs

>> Rapid Prototyping

Find Support on our Forums

Click here to read about typical uses of DSPCB depending on various user needs. Also see the DesignSpark PCB Customer Promise to learn about what we are committed to in terms of the software and supporting our users.

Want to know more? See a high level overview of the core functionality of DesignSpark PCB:

User Testimonials

We're always telling everyone just how great our free tools are! Don't just take our word for it, here are comments from some of our DesignSpark PCB and DesignSpark Mechanical users. Read more...

Engineers are at the heart of evolution of DesignSpark PCB. Being Customer Focused is one of the key values here at RS Components and as such we listen closely to your needs:

Latest PCB design tutorials preview:

The topic of editing and re-using the ModelSource PCB library components is covered by our Expert in a series of 3 new tutorial videos View this tutorial | View all tutorials

A set of 12 'Getting Started' video tutorials from Eugene Tham @Republic Polytechnic in Singapore View this tutorial | View all tutorials

Power plane and Ground plane design in DesignSpark PCB (re-visited) View this tutorial | View all tutorials

DesignSpark PCB Software overview:

World’s first truly FREE and unrestricted electronics design software. Developed by RS Components/Allied Electronics to enable engineers rapidly design great products, DesignSpark PCB had won multiple awards since 2010 while attracting over 250,000 activations. This breakthrough in accessibility, backed by powerful features enabled engineers to share designs within teams and externally - bringing collaborative hardware design to a whole new level.

DesignSpark PCB is offered completely Free of Charge and fully featured. This is not a cut down version of an expensive product or one with a time limitation on license. (There are no intentional restrictions on designs). There are unlimited schematic sheets per project, up to 1m squared of board size and no limits on layers, which allow you to get your creativity flowing without restraints. DesignSpark PCB circuit design software can be used for schematic capture, PCB board design & layout, generating impressive 3D View to visualise your design in real time, and generating manufacturing files.

DesignSpark PCB supports importing of CadSoft EAGLE PCB CAD design files, circuit diagrams and libraries (See the Eagle import tutorial). In addition to extensive libraries, sophisticated part creation wizards make it easy to design new parts from scratch or by amending downloaded symbols and footprints. Bill of Materials (BOM) report can also be generated at any time; these give RS Components order numbers where appropriate.

DesignSpark PCB allows you to generate all the files required to take your project from circuit diagram to layout schematic to a circuit board built project. Gerbers (Extended RS-274-X), Excellons, component positions report are available to make your design compatible with pick and place machines ready for automated PCB assembly (reflow oven process). Other output formats include DXF (import and export) and IDF for interfacing to mechanical CAD software tools.
Whether you are a professional designer making money from your designs, an electronics education professional, a student or a hobbyist seeking an easy to use, professional standard, unrestricted schematic capture and PCB layout tool, then DesignSpark PCB is right for you!

DesignSpark PCB is based on community feedback and all software development, enhancements and new features derive from your comments, design work and experiences you share with other members.

To learn more watch our series of introductory videos:

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The design of DC/DC Converter BD9C301FJ (ROHM) was converted into Designspark PCB format. The BD9C301FJ is a 4.5V to 18V Input, 3.0A integrated MOSFET 1ch synchronous buck switching regulator .

Download BD9C301FJ DESIGN FILES

3D VIew

Buck DC/DC Converter BD9C301FJ

BD9C301FJ is a synchronous buck switching regulator with built-in low on-resistance power MOSFETs. With wide input voltage range, it is capable of providing current of up to 3 A. It is a current mode control DC/DC converter and features high-speed transient response. Phase compensation can also be set easily.

Specifications

• Input Voltage Range: 4.5V to 18.0V
• Reference Voltage: 0.8V ± 1%
• Maximum Output Current: 3A(Max)
• Switching Frequency: 500kHz(Typ)
• Pch MOSFET On Resistance: 65mΩ(Typ)
• Nch MOSFET On Resistance: 35mΩ(Typ)
• Standby Current: 1μA (Typ)
• Operating Temperature Range: -40°C to +85°C

More Reference Designs

What are included in the reference design file?

A Schematics design file (.sch), a PCB layout design file(.pcb), and parts library files for the design are provided. A RS part number and size information of parts are already linked to each part in the library. So you can directly order parts to RS by using the BOM quote feature, or can convert PCB files into 3D CAD data to design and simulate cases of boards. Of course, parts in the library would be used in another design. 

PCB layout

Schematic

Parts library

Possible to convert Designspark PCB designs into Designspark Mechanical 3D models

What is DesignSpark PCB format?

DesignSpark PCB is an award-winning software package for schematic capture and PCB layout, available for FREE from RS Components. Our software is easy to learn and use yet surprisingly powerful. DesignSpark PCB is now widely adopted in the industry as a standard format for design file sharing and collaboration. This is especially useful in the prototyping phase where most of the innovation takes place. Not yet a DesignSpark PCB user? 

Download DesignSpark PCB NOW

More Reference Designs

Today sees the launch of Pi 2, the latest edition to the Raspberry Pi Arsenal.

Not so long ago the world of single board computing was turned upside down when the Raspberry Pi landed on our benches. Before the Raspberry Pi, the Single Board Computer landscape offered limited choice for under $100, but since Raspberry Pi have entered the market, they have played a significant part in driving down the price of Single Board Computing.

With sales to date of around 4.5 million units, the Raspberry Pi is only half a million units away from becoming the fastest selling British Computer, and is soon set to steal the tittle from the ZX Spectrum. The first Raspberry Pi (AKA "Pi 1"), was based on an ARM11 Broadcom processor, and was a very capable and versatile little board. It gave many people their first experience of Linux and also introduced others to Physical Computing, with the inclusion of GPIO pins for creating and connecting all kinds of hardware projects. I've taken it into schools to teach kids coding, I've even sent one up to the edge of space last year with a Superman Action Figure.  The commercial world has also began to adopt it in Industrial Applications.

However, since its introduction, a few contenders have entered the game to try and out feature the Pi in an attempt to grab some it's success. So it was only a matter of time before Raspberry Pi would look to supercharge the world's most favourite Single Board Computer, and when Eben told us about the Foundations plans to "soup up" the Raspberry Pi, we were very excited indeed!

The World's Favourite Single Board Computer is now 6 x Faster!

So what is the difference between the former Raspberry Pi Model B+ (AKA Pi 1) and the new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B?  Well, they look almost identical, but Pi 2 has a faster processor and more memory, whilst maintaining compatibility with its earlier version.

Key New Features

• The Broadcom BCM2836SoC Quad Core 900Mhz ARM Cortex A7 gives 6 x the performance of the previous model Pi 1 (No changes to the GPU)
• Twice the memory, now boasting 1GB LPDDR2
• The same price point as Pi 1
• Better availability at launch date. The factory has cranked up production to make as many Pi 2’s available as possible on launch day.

Compatibility

Don’t worry, whatever you’ve been doing on your Pi 1, will work on a Pi 2. The only difference here is the performance.

Increasing the number of processor cores has resulted in a change of processor architecture and new Linux Kernel. The former Pi processor was based on an Arm 11 V6 architecture, the new Pi 2 has an ARM Cortex A7, V7 processor architecture. To maintain continuity with the current operating system, there will be a new operating system build to accommodate the change of Linux Kernel. Other than that, it is almost identical to the currently available O/S and can be used across all Raspberry Pi models. The new O/S will be available to download from launch day.

Performance

Thanks to the 4 processor cores, higher processor clock speed and better caching infrastructure, users will notice a good improvement in single threaded application and sustainable improvement in multithreaded applications.

The general user will experience a faster and smoother ride, just browsing the web alone, shows a noticeable improvement in speed! Apps are more responsive and programs run smoother and faster. In fact for some, it could even now replace a PC, especially when it comes to kids doing their homework. They can now browse the web quicker and use Libre Office to write up their assignments.

Power Consumption

More processing power of course means more power consumption. The original Raspberry Pi Model B’s peak power was around 3 watts. The migration to the Model B+ then saved around 1 watt of power by improving the power supply circuitry on board, bringing it down to around 2 watts. With its Quad Core processor, peak power consumption will draw more current. This is around 1 watt of incremental power consumption at the high end, so at peak power, the Pi will be around 3 watts again. However, in return for this 50% increase in peak power consumption, users will benefit from a 6 fold increase in processing power, which is actually a pretty good balance of power and performance! When idling, power consumption is about the same as Pi 1.

With regards to the Raspberry Pi model A and Compute Pi, there are no immediate plans to upgrade these to the new Quad Core processor. 

All this extra processing power opens up lots more applications as well as enhancing existing ones.

Some of the applications and projects that users have tried to run on the previous Pi 1 were often pushing it the limit, or it just didn’t have enough processing power to cope, even with overclocking. 

For example, applications around Software Defined Radio (SDR) can now be run on a Raspberry Pi. SDR applications include Amateur Radio or perhaps even creating your own cellular base station. Pi 2 could also be used with Open CV to create Computer Vision applications. This means that things like facial recognition and individual profile tracking are now feasible.

Below is a short video overview where I compare the Pi 1 B+ to the new P2 B.

At DesignSpark, we’ll be looking to share with you some applications that take advantage of it’s faster processing capability. So, “watch this space!”

Eben and I took the Pi 2 to the BBC last week to chat to their Technology Correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones. The interview with Eben can be found on the BBC Technology Website. 

^{left; Rory Cellan-Jones (BBC News technology correspondent ), Pete Wood(RS), Eben Upton (Raspberry Pi)}

BUY NOW FROM RS 

BUY NOW FROM ALLIED 

 Related Content

- Andrew Back takes the Raspberry Pi 2 for a Test Drive with GNU Radio - Read More

- Find more Raspberry Pi articles in our Raspberry Pi Design Centre

- follow me on twitter @petenwood and DesignSpark @DesignSparkRS