Search Engine Power!
- Posted by Morgellon on June 18th, 2009
So, you have a *great* idea for an Arduino project… you’ve thought about what parts you will need and how they will work… but where will you find the parts?… and are you sure that’s the right resistor value?!
Today I would like to share a few tools that I use to help me, when I am in the design phase of a project. Both are relatively new and you may already be aware of them… but I thought it was worth a post… just in case 
Octopart octopart.com/
Octopart is a search engine for electronic parts. This is a great resource for many reasons! Octoparts allows you to filter your search by relevance, price, or quantity. You can also search by manufacturer or supplier, along with package type, size and many other options. I can see this being quite helpful for when your favorite parts supplier is out of stock… or perhaps you’re looking for an alternative to an existing part… maybe you’re building hundreds of bots for a robotics swarm and you need lots of parts and you want them from the same supplier… or… (it goes on and on…)
Wolfram Alpha www.wolframalpha.com
Wolfram Aplha is a “Computation Knowledge Engine”. What does that mean? I have no clue… but what I do know, is that it’s a wonderful tool for doing equations. It’s like having your own ship’s computer from the Star Trek! For those who like it, it’s a very nice reference tool and a great way for doing math or double checking equations.
I highly recommend that you spend time with these two sites!! See if they have a spot in your toolkit!
