FEATURE EDA & KITTING
THE DEV KIT: where would we be without it?
purpose, providing a real world demonstration of how anyone could use them to address genuine market needs. The competition challenged engineers of any level to design wearable technology solutions, with a view to providing athletes and medical professionals with real-time diagnostic information. Many of the finalists’ designs addressed issues that no other solution on the market currently does.
THE FUTURE OF THE DEV KIT A total of 76 percent of engineers surveyed also agreed that dev kits are critical to encouraging innovation in modern technology and design. As such, it’s difficult to ignore the fact that the future of the dev kit is closely linked to the future of the electronics industry itself. While dev kits used to be simple tools to test ideas, today they are injecting life into prototypes that would have been historically too expensive to risk with pursuing. Interestingly, it is no longer large companies
Now an essential part of prototyping and development, Richard Curtin, Senior Director of Strategic Supplier Development at Farnell element14 explores the evolution of the development kit
D
evelopment kits (dev kits) are continuing to shape modern day
electronics, driving innovation in a number of areas of the industry. From wireless and sensing, to the Internet of Things (IoT) and power management, dev kits are an essential part of the early stage design process, enabling engineers to test their designs quickly and cost-effectively. Their position as an essential part of a
designer’s toolkit is now firmly entrenched. Farnell element14 recently undertook research in to how 1500 designers are approaching the design process in 2015. 89 percent confirmed that they use dev kits to experiment with new systems. However, dev kits are not only being used to prototype designs. Along with single board computers, they are empowering private innovators too. These independent groups are designing solutions to meet the niche market needs that are often overlooked by suppliers. As such, not only are we seeing a
democratisation of the manufacturing industry, but also a shift in the relationship between distributors and their customers. It is no longer enough for distributors to simply supply
18 SEPTEMBER 2015 | ELECTRONICS
individual components; customers are now demanding end-to-end solutions that support them through the entire design process – of which dev kits play an integral role.
DEV KITS AS EDUCATIONAL TOOLS The availability of ready-made, fully tested boards mean that engineers are no longer merely using dev kits to test their ideas. Instead, they are now integrating them directly into their designs. These significantly reduce development time and cost, enabling designers to get their finished products to market quicker than ever before. In fact, the company found that 80 percent of designs that used a dev kit reached production within 12 months. Two single board computers that have been particularly successful in recent years are BeagleBone and the Raspberry Pi. With their ability to work as stand alone computers in their own right, extensive support from manufacturers and an affordable price point, more resellers than ever before have been encouraged to stock them. element14’s recent Sudden Impact
Community challenge was designed to showcase the value of dev kits for this
Figure 1:
There has been a sharp growth in the number of engineers that are themselves specifying what they need from dev kits, in order to facilitate their designs and bring their ideas to life
alone that are driving the design of dev kits. There has been a sharp growth in the number of engineers that are themselves specifying what they need from dev kits, in order to facilitate their designs and bring their ideas to life. The recent DreamBoard initiative aimed at capitalising upon this trend, asked the element14 Community of engineers to create and brand their own virtual development kit. The winning design was by Manjuprasad Basangi, an engineering student from India, who created the PC64. This powerful learning tool is targeted at professional engineers and was inspired by the challenges Basangi himself has faced as a result of the limited choice of components in India and the limited manufacturing of industrial-grade PCBs. The competition gave insight into how
engineers want to see dev kits evolve in the future. By partnering with companies such as Freescale, this information is being fed directly back into the manufacturing process. Ensuring real engineers’ opinions are being fed back in to the manufacturing process is crucial to the future of dev kits. There is no doubt that dev kits are opening up the electronics design process to a wider audience of engineers, both professionals and hobbyists alike. Through the use of these low cost, ready-made boards, designers and independent communities are developing products at the forefront of innovation - and getting them to market faster than ever before. However, this level of adoption and
innovation will not sustain itself forever. Manufacturers and suppliers need to continue evolving their product offerings and taking the time to speak with engineers themselves to ensure that they are aligned with the components and features that engineers themselves require.
Farnell element14
uk.farnell.com 03447 11 11 13
/ ELECTRONICS
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