Control Network Newsletter
The Sedona Alliance: Championing the Creation of an Open Controller
March 2017 - BACnet occasionally is criticized as not being truly open because BACnet compliant controllers can require different programming tools that aren’t available to all system integrators. This is an issue BACnet cannot address because it is not involved with programming. However, BACnet has world-wide appeal and BACnet/IP has the additional benefit of providing access to the web-based suite of protocols making data access through web browsers viable.
Contemporary Controls, a Sedona Alliance member, believes that BACnet, coupled with an open programming language like Sedona Framework, creates the opportunity for truly open controllers because both BACnet and Sedona Framework are open source.
Sedona Framework is a component-oriented programming language where components are assembled onto wire sheets creating applications. This language is ideally suited for the graphical representation of control strategies. It has a similar look-and-feel to the popular Niagara Framework and it is IP-based. Those with experience with Niagara Framework will have no problem understanding Sedona Framework. For those without Niagara experience, the graphical representation of components linked on a wire sheet to create applications is intuitive and can be easily learned with a minimum of training.
The Sedona Alliance, which represents the interests of developers and users of an open control language technology called Sedona Framework, has launched a website at www.sedona-alliance.org.
Developed by Tridium Inc., Sedona Framework is a software environment designed to make it easy to build smart, networked, embedded devices which are well suited for implementing control applications. The Sedona language is a component-oriented programming language similar to Java or C#. By utilizing this language, developers can create custom components which can then be used by system integrators to create applications that run on a Sedona device.
Primarily developed for the building automation industry, Sedona Framework is not restricted to this one industry. A Sedona community consisting of developers of Sedona control devices, and integrators who implement control strategies using Sedona devices, is the most knowledgeable in determining the future of Sedona technology through an organization such as the Sedona Alliance.
Sedona Alliance's purpose is to educate the public on the use of Sedona Framework; to encourage the continual development of the open-source Sedona Framework technology under AFL 3.0; to develop best practices on the deployment of custom Sedona components and kits; to foster the sharing of hardware independent components; and to engage in activities that will improve the business environment for Sedona control devices thereby benefiting both developers and integrators.
Learn more at www.sedona-alliance.org.