Fritzing
Fritzing is an open-source initiative to support designers and artists to take the step from physical prototyping to actual product. We are aiming to create a software in the spirit of Processing and Arduino, that allows the designer/artist/researcher/hobbyist to document their Arduino-based prototype and create a PCB layout for manufacturing. The complimenting website helps to share and discuss drafts and experiences as well as to reduce manufacturing costs.
Physical prototyping tools have come a long way and already allow non-engineers to quickly turn their ideas into functional interactive prototypes. However, the prototypes on this stage are still raw and not robust. This is where Fritzing comes in: It allows the designer to move to the next stage and create a finished PCB of your individual circuit in the desired shape. This makes the circuit robust and is the basis for a permanent installation or even batch production of your project.
Fritzing is essentially an Electronic Design Automation software with a low entry barrier, suited for the needs of designers and artists. It uses the metaphor of the breadboard, so that it is easy to transfer your hardware sketch to the software. From there it is possible to create PCB layouts for turning it into a robust PCB yourself or by help of a manufacturer.
The Fritzing project was initiated at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, Germany, as a publicly funded research project. Since the beginning in mid-2007 we have released several iterations of the fully functional alpha version. The latest version has been downloaded more than 8,000 times and is greeted with great interest by the community. It has been successfully used in several projects and workshops.
Software:
The original version was built in Java based on several Eclipse components. Due to the discovered limits Fritzing is currently being rewritten in C++ based on the open-source version of Trolltech's Qt.
Artist name:
Interaction Design Lab at FH Potsdam (Team: Prof. Reto Wettach, Andre Knorig, Zach Eveland, Jonathan Cohen, Dirk van Oosterbosch, Brendan Howell, Mariano Crowe)
URL: http://fritzing.org