Educational support bolstered with new tools for inspiring engineering talent

RS Components has introduced new ranges of tools from Seeed Studio, Arduino and Bare Conductive that are aimed at academic institutions, including educators and students of electronics, as well as inspiring electronics design engineers with new projects and prototypes. The Seeed Studio hardware innovation platform specialises in open-source electronic modules and embedded devices for designers and makers. The platform incorporates the Grove series of modules and starter kits, including the GrovePi+ Starter Kit for Raspberry Pi, and the BeagleBone Green. The Grove series is a collection of single-function modules with standardised connectors. The system offers a user-friendly building-block approach to simplify the building of circuits without solder or breadboards. Each module comes with documentation and demo codes. The BeagleBone Green is a Linux-based development board that is designed for fast interaction with general-purpose I/O and is based on the open-source hardware design of the BeagleBone Black. It includes two Grove connectors, enabling the connection of the board to sensors without requiring a daughtercard. Now available from the company is the Arduino Engineering Kit, which is aimed at a range of users including students learning about engineering at a university or at a secondary school; engineering professors that want practical resources to demonstrate engineering concepts; and makers with an interest or background in engineering, either professionally or as a hobby. The company also has three educational kits that use conductive paint from Bare Conductive. The ‘Printed Sensors’ set contains three A5 printed sensors and allows users to combine touch sensors into any project; the Lamp Kit allows the building of touch, dimmer and proximity lamps; and the Pro Kit combines all the needed tools and resources to prototype Electric Paint and Touch Board projects. Lance Hemmings, senior category manager Semiconductors and Optoelectronics at RS, commented: “The launch of these educational products and technologies demonstrates our continuing commitment to educators and students and our belief that it is critical to support young engineering talent, whether they are at school or university.”