The Senbrix logo, mark of the Raspberry Pi PLC development environment

Senbrix works like this: you build ladder logic in an editor on a Windows PC, then push it to a runtime on a Raspberry Pi that executes it. Part 1 is the PC side. Install the editor and make sure the .NET 9 SDK the build needs is there.

What is in the box

flowchart LR
    E["Editor<br/>Windows PC"] -- "deploys the build" --> R["Runtime<br/>Raspberry Pi"]
    R -- "monitoring / diagnostics" --> E
    R --> B["Main board GPIO<br/>IO expansion board · Modbus"]
    E -. "no hardware yet" .-> S["Simulator<br/>Windows PC"]
ComponentRuns onRoleRelease tag
EditorWindows PCEdit ladder, symbols and C#. Build, deploy, monitor, diagnosevX.Y.Z (latest)
RuntimeRaspberry PiRuns the deployed app on a 10 ms scan. Drives boards and commsruntime-vX.Y.Z
SimulatorWindows PCTakes the deploy instead of a Pi. Test with no hardwaresim-vX.Y.Z

This series uses the editor (Part 1) and the runtime (Part 2).

What you need

ItemRequirement
Editor PCWindows 10/11 x64
Build.NET 9 SDK (x64). The installer does not install it
NetworkSame network as the Raspberry Pi. Needed in Part 2
Claude CodeUsed in Part 3 to write the ladder. Needs a paid plan, Pro or above

Claude Code installs with one line in PowerShell. Run claude once afterwards and log in.

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

1. Download the installer

Grab Senbrix-win-Setup.exe from the download button on the product page or from the GitHub releases page.

The download button on the Senbrix product page

2. Install

Run Senbrix-win-Setup.exe. It takes a few seconds and the editor opens right away.

The Senbrix PLC 0.9.2 installation progress window

  • It installs to %LocalAppData%\Senbrix. No admin rights needed.
  • If the .NET 9 desktop runtime is missing, the installer adds it. You get one admin prompt for that.

3. Install the .NET 9 SDK

Build runs dotnet build. Without the SDK you can still edit and save, but the build fails.

Install the x64 SDK from the .NET 9 download page and check it.

dotnet --list-sdks
9.0.300 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]   <- this line
10.0.400 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]

One 9.0.xxx line is all you need. Other versions alongside it are fine.

4. First start

The start screen has only New Project and Open Project. You will create the project in Part 2, once the Raspberry Pi is ready. Language switching and update checks live in the Help menu.

The first start screen of the Senbrix PLC editor

5. Understanding boards

Senbrix has two kinds of board.

Main boardIO expansion board
WhatA carrier board sitting on the Pi. Uses the Pi’s GPIOAn IO module attached over CAN bus
How manyOne per project. Unset, it defaults to Senbrix (no onboard IO)Numbered 1 to 9, several allowed
Defined byOne XML fileA plugin

A main board XML is nothing more than GPIO numbers with IN/OUT names attached.

<MainBoard name="Sample" version="1">
  <Pin gpio="5"  slot="IN1"  direction="In"/>
  <Pin gpio="22" slot="OUT1" direction="Out"/>
</MainBoard>

The Pi-SD16R used in this series (4 relay outputs, 4 isolated inputs, RS-485) gets written in this format in Part 2.

Next

Part 2 flashes an OS onto a Raspberry Pi 5, installs the runtime, and registers the Pi-SD16R as a main board XML.