Control Network Newsletter

Sedona Application Editor - Easier to Use than Niagara Workbench

March 2016 - Those most knowledgeable about Sedona Framework are already using Niagara Framework. When you are building a system with Niagara, you use the Niagara Workbench tool. By installing Sedona into either Niagara Workbench 3.7 or 3.8 and then adding the appropriate component bundle for the Sedona device you want to program, you can use Niagara Workbench as your Sedona tool. A Sedona tool is required to build Sedona applications. Niagara Workbench is a powerful tool but it is overkill for the simplicity of Sedona. Contemporary Controls' Sedona Application Editor (SAE) is a better choice as a Sedona tool and it is free.

The Sedona control language is intended for controllers with limited resources but it has sufficient power to construct either freely-programmable or application-specific controllers. The Sedona language incorporates the same drag-and-drop methodology as Niagara with the placing of components onto a wire sheet to create applications. But Sedona devices are much simpler than Niagara devices so most of the features of Niagara Workbench are not used by Sedona making the tool rather imposing. The complexity of the components is not why Workbench is so complex, it is because of all of the other features a Niagara device can provide. SAE was designed for two reasons-to make the Sedona programming process simpler and to create a Sedona tool available at no charge to those without access to Niagara Workbench.

To learn how to use SAE components available with Sedona, we have created a multi-part video series on the Sedona Applications Editor. Sedona components are deployed in kits and Part 3 of the SAE Video Series discusses the Logic kit comprising of 13 different components. You can view the video here. You can also download a free copy of the Sedona Application Editor, which comes with a sample Sedona Virtual Machine (SVM), also known as a Sedona simulator that runs on your PC that you can program.

The BAScontrol series of controllers incorporate Sedona but you can try Sedona on your PC via the PC based SVM before committing to purchasing controllers. The Sedona Application Editor you download is able to program any BAScontrol series controller or the sample SVM on your PC.