Use the Aether Workshop visual canvas to design hardware behavior with nodes, connections, logic, components, and Capsules.
Feature Summary
Section titled “Feature Summary”The Project canvas is the main workspace for building hardware behavior. You arrange nodes, connect them, configure hardware, preview generated code, upload to a board, and keep project-level collaboration artifacts.
When to Use It
Section titled “When to Use It”- Create an interactive hardware prototype.
- Teach hardware logic without writing the full Arduino sketch by hand.
- Combine sensors, actuators, control flow, and reusable Capsules.
- Ask Project AI to plan or repair a graph, then confirm the staged result.
Main Node Types
Section titled “Main Node Types”Startbegins execution.- Logic nodes include
if,else if,else,switch,case,default,delay, andfunction. - Sense nodes read inputs.
- Act nodes write outputs.
- Capsule nodes expand reusable subgraphs before code generation.
Operations
Section titled “Operations”- Use Home > New Project or open an existing
.aew. - Press
Cmd+/for Quick Search. - Drag from a node connection point to open the Node Picker.
- Add Sense, Logic, Act, or Capsule nodes.
- Connect nodes in execution order.
- Select each hardware node and assign a port or manual pins.
- Preview code, verify, upload, and test with the Serial Monitor.
Smart Recommendations
Section titled “Smart Recommendations”When you create a connection from an existing node, the Node Picker can recommend likely next nodes. Recommendations are deterministic UI help; they do not change the graph until you choose a node.
Project AI on the Canvas
Section titled “Project AI on the Canvas”Project AI can:
- Answer questions about the graph.
- Use
@mentions for components by name, ID, or identifier. - Read image attachments.
- Plan graph edits as structured JSON.
- Stage graph changes for Keep Graph or Discard.
- Ask Library AI to improve a component when a requested capability is missing and permissions allow.
- A project needs a
Startnode before code generation. - Every Sense/Act node used in code generation needs a hardware configuration.
- Project AI graph edits are staged before they become current canvas state.
- Legacy single-file project JSON can load, but saved projects are
.aewpackages.
Why did upload fail after the graph looked correct? Check board selection, serial port, missing dependencies, and per-node hardware config.
Can I copy nodes between projects? The canvas supports copy/paste, but saved dependencies and media must still exist in the target project or library.
Can I use a Capsule as one node? Yes. Capsule nodes expand during code generation and can pass parameter values.