The pi-top – from concept to production

Like so many other young design engineers, the creators of pi-top had a brilliant idea. They wanted to start a crowd-funding campaign, but to get even that far, they first had to design and prototype the product – not an easy task for students choosing between buying the components they needed and food back in the early days!

The financial restrictions involved as students meant it was impossible for our entrepreneurs to invest in commercial design software licences, so they started off by evaluating various free PCB design software packages. Several options were downloaded and tested: some had limited component use which were no good for pi-top because lots of components were required on each PCB; some had limited time use which was even worse with the planned longevity of the pi-top project; many lacked an intuitive interface and felt archaic to use, which would make it difficult to design at the speed required for prototyping.

Following evaluation, DesignSpark PCB was selected for a number of reasons. Firstly, its free, unlimited use meant no licencing issues would become a barrier to progress, plus it had two outstanding features from a start-up point of view. DesignSpark PCB features a large database of ready-to-use components in both PCB and schematic layouts already built-in. Any components that were not already in the library did have to be built, but this is where the second brilliant feature came in – these can be added quickly and easily using the component wizard to automatically generate pad layouts.

Once prototyping was completed and the pi-top went into full production, they had to move over to the software used by the manufacturing partner and away from DesignSpark; however, pi-top’s creators cite DesignSpark as the keystone element enabling them to actually create the real product and get their idea off the ground. Furthermore, they believe that without it, the cost barriers of getting pi-top to market would have stopped them before they even began.

And their success continues, the company is now working on pi-topCEED, a pre-assembled computer for just $99. Its crowd-funding campaign was fully funded within two days and hit 382% of its original target!

pi-top is an impressive example of how RS’s DesignSpark tools are supporting electronic design engineers and students in turning creative ideas into successful, commercial reality.

Want to find out more about pi-top?

HATS off to the pi-top creators – DesignSpark’s Pete Wood talks to the creators of pi-top

The pi-top: portable pi-powered computing – Stuart Childs lifts the lid on the DIY laptop

GET YOUR PI-TOP TODAY