RS Components Inspires Innovation at Electronica & Productronica China 2013

Fun gadgets and creative product demonstrations, using Arduino and Raspberry Pi development boards, along with the latest FREE design resources to inspire and empower innovation in local engineers

BEIJING, March 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world's leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, will showcase a host of products and gadgets at Electronica and Productronica (EPC) 2013, to demonstrate how innovation can be easy and fun and reiterate its commitment to help engineers keep the world running.  RS Components is located at Hall E1, Booth 1548.

For 75 years, RS Components has been helping engineers to do their jobs better, and continues to empower and inspire design engineers by lowering the barriers to innovation through continuous introduction of the latest products, free design tools and resources. The company's FREE DesignSpark PCB design software, ModelSource library and 3D CAD programme together with a comprehensive range of low cost development boards help engineers to develop their ideas quickly and efficiently.

"The demonstrations we have planned illustrate how some of the latest products and development kits we offer have been used to design products from the fun MakeyMakey to more sophisticated items such as 3D printers.  We hope local engineers will get excited about design and innovation from the exhibits," said Lim Cheng Mong, Head of Product Marketing, Asia Pacific, RS Components.

Some highlights of the product demonstrations and exhibits planned include:

• Arduino - MakeyMakey: this demo showcases one of the most entertaining products built using Arduino
• Arduino - 3D Printer: an open source product that was developed on the Arduino for its electronic controls. This demo showcases the future of prototyping where 3D models can be printed
• Raspberry Pi - Arcade gaming: using the Raspberry Pi as an Arcade game PC/Console. This showcases the versatility of the Raspberry Pi format as a low-cost platform for development of game consoles or gaming PCs
• PiGo™ boards and development platforms: using the Raspberry Pi as a platform for product development by utilising the PiGo boards developed by RS Components. The PiGo platform is a modular expansion system for the Raspberry Pi that facilitates the connection of hardware functionalities for it. It extends the Raspberry Pi as a platform for engineers to prototype sophisticated products easily and quickly.  RS Components is giving EPC visitors the first public preview of the new PiGo boards, which will be launched later this year.
• DesignSpark PCB and ModelSource: DesignSpark PCB is the award-winning, FREE professional software for PCB layout from RS. ModelSource is the company's unique component library that contains more than 80,000 component schematics, footprints and 3D models of semiconductors, passives and electromechanical components from leading manufacturers. The resources are available for free download via the DesignSpark website, with components available in more than 20 different formats for use with most popular PCB design software packages on the market.

"China is in transition from 'being the world's factory' to an innovation-driven economy, hence we are extremely excited to showcase our efforts in empowering innovation in the local engineering and design community," said Clement Zheng, Country Manager, China at RS Components. "Through our wide range of latest technologies and products, strong regional network and locally stocked products, fast delivery service and a robust eCommerce platform, RS Components continues to help engineers excel in their demanding environment."

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 2012 had revenues of GBP1.27bn.

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: soochun.tan@rs-components.com
T: +65-6391-5745

The Hoffman Agency
Rasheed Abu Bakar
Senior Account Executive
E: rscsg@hoffman.com
T: +65-6361-0250