Tutorias

Design & Technology

electronics

help your pupils achieve more with our range of software

Bright Spark

What is Bright Spark?

Building your own circuits

Bright Spark is a fun circuit simulation package for

It’s quick and easy to draw circuits in Bright Spark.

exploring the world of electronics. Combining on-

Just grab the components you need and connect

screenanimation with realistic simulation, Bright

them together using the intelligent wiring tool. Make

Spark aids understanding by bringing circuits to life.

any final adjustments – Bright Spark will re-wire

It assumes no prior knowledge and comes with

your circuit automatically – and then press the ‘play’

built-in courseware to help you learn the key

button to begin simulation.principles behind electronics. You can then go on
and build your own circuits using the wide choice of
components included in the software.

Express PCBs
An integrated link with PCB Wizard 3 means it’s
straightforward to convert your ideas into a Printed

Innovative animation

Circuit Board (PCB). Simply select the circuit you

Bright Spark uses advanced computer-modelling

wanttransferred, click the ‘PCB Make’ button and

techniques to show you what happens ‘inside’

then leave PCB Wizard 3 to do the rest.

components and connecting wires when electrons
flow around a circuit. This means that for the first
time voltage, current and charge can be seen in
action, making these notoriously difficult concepts
easier to grasp.

Courseware
An important element of BrightSpark is its
courseware, which has been designed to help you
gain an appreciation of the underlying science of
electronics. The courseware contains a high level of

Life-like components

simulation, animation and interactivity and

Bright Spark has over 40 superbly animated

encourages understanding through practical

components for you to investigate including

investigation. Acomprehensive range of topics is

resistors, capacitors, switches, sensors, logic gates,

covered including electric charge, current, voltage,

diodes, timers, transistors and amplifiers. There are

conductance, resistance, capacitance, Ohm’s law,

no limits to the circuits that you can design and no

Kirchoff’s laws, series circuits and parallel circuits.

loose connections or faultycomponents. However,
if the maximum ratings for any components are
exceeded, they will explode!

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Pop-up bubble hints give readings
for voltage, current, charge and
power.

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Bright Spark circuit animation shows
what happens inside components
and wires.

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Comprehensive suite of test
instruments include an ammeter,
voltmeter and 2-channel
oscilloscope.

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Direct link toPCB Wizard 3 means
it’s easy to create PCBs.

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Bright Spark

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Control Studio 2

What Is Control Studio 2?

Move ahead with rapid prototyping

Control Studio 2 is a simulation package for learning

Control Studio 2 provides a very useful method of

about systems electronics. It provides a practical

developing different circuit ideas, enabling you tointroduction to the subject, helping place electronics

consider a number of ‘what if ?’ scenarios before

in context within the everyday world. Control Studio

arriving at a final design solution. And because

2 also offers a unique way of quickly modelling

Control Studio 2 is compatible with Livewire and

circuit ideas during the early stages of a project.

PCB Wizard 3, you canautomatically create circuit
diagrams with ease.

Why take the systems route?
The systems approach takes an alternative route to

Express PCBs

the component approach, considering instead the

Circuits designed in Control Studio 2 can be

functions of electronic circuits rather than the

transferred directly to PCB Wizard 3 to create a

analysis of their constituent parts. This...