The electronics industry is one of the fastest-growing industries of the last half-century, and the amount of information generated by this industry can be mind-numbing.
If the user is an electronics design engineer who utilizes product datasheets and user guides, they will very well know the challenges of finding accurate and consistent information across different manufacturers, product categories, and even product lines.
design cycle
Product information sharing has been revolutionized with the advent of design software and digital product
Luckily for electronics engineers, product information sharing has been revolutionized with the advent of design software and digital product libraries, thereby making electronics design more streamlined, efficient, and readily available for every tier of engineer.
This article examines how RECOM is working with pioneering industry partners to ensure that product information is consistent, readily available, and accurate to help engineers achieve a quicker design cycle and a reduced time-to-market delivery.
What are Component Libraries?
The most important component of PCB design is not the electronic components that make up the design, but rather the library of the electronic components that contain the plethora of information.
An electronic component library consists of an array of electronic component data that is specific to a project and collates the 2D and 3D physical dimensions, footprints, connectivity parameters, and electrical functions of every single component in that library.
Once a design’s product library has been developed, engineers and electronic designers can use that information to lay out draw schematics, layout the PCB design, and use 3D models to check the physical and mechanical aspects of the design using the same PCB design software.
Developing a Model Library
To reduce the amount of time that engineers spend while creating individual component models
Building out a project’s component library can be tedious work, as engineers have to develop an individual model for every component in a project’s design using manufacturer-provided data sheets.
As a project’s complexity grows, so does its component library, thereby making the management and development of that library extremely time-consuming.
To reduce the amount of time that engineers spend while creating individual component models for their projects and to increase the amount of time that they can spend designing PCB layouts, several industry-pioneering companies have collectively developed readily available pre-made models for millions of the most popular components in the world.
library development and management
By working in collaboration with manufacturers, these companies have made library development and management more streamlined than ever before, thereby allowing engineers to be more innovative with their project development and spend less time developing component models.
Why start building the next library from scratch when the next project’s building blocks are readily accessible?
Industry Pioneering Product Libraries
SnapEDA and SamacSys provide engineers with schematic symbols, PCB footprints, 3D models
RECOM has partnered with SnapEDA and SamacSys to provide high-quality product models and product library datasets to make product design using RECOM components extremely efficient and effective.
RECOM checks the integrity and accuracy of these models to ensure that any design made using RECOM’s components is representative of what the final manufactured product will look like and will perform as desired. SnapEDA and SamacSys provide engineers with schematic symbols, PCB footprints, 3D models, and even reference designs to get the project to market faster than ever before.
SnapEDA and SamacSys libraries
RECOM’s implementation of SnapEDA and SamacSys libraries enables electrical engineers and PCB designers to export RECOM product information to nearly all ECAD tool formats including Altium, Cadence, Circuit Studio, CADSTAR, DesignSpark PCB, DipTrace, EAGLE, KiCad, OrCAD, PADS, P-CAD, PCB123, Proteus, Pulsonix, Target 3001! and xDX Designer.
Moreover, to create a project library even faster, SamacSys’ ComponentSearchEngine or SnapEDA’s Search Engine allows access to other products and their 3D information to easily complete all of the project’s other building blocks.
Accessing RECOM Digital Product Libraries
To access RECOM product library information, simply visit any of the product pages to download the desired information from the website. For example, to download the library information of one of its most popular products, R-78E5.0-0.5:
- Step 1: Visit recom-power.com.
- Step 2: Search R-78E5.0-0.5 in the product search bar or use the parameters part.
- Step 3: Locate the Green SamacSys download button or the Orange SnapEDA download button.
- Step 4: Select the preferred library resource to download the R-78E5.0-0.5 library information. Both methods are free of charge, but they may require setting up a registered account to do so.
- Bonus Step: Ultra Librarian, KiCad, or other custom library tools may also be available from distribution partners if you have consolidated the project’s product library in a different library tool. To see a full list of key distribution partners and their RECOM product availability, simply use the product-specific Stock Check tool.
