new at xbee

Wireless & IoT
1

Hello people…

Im new at xbee and arduino. i have two xbee 2.5 1 coordinator connected to my PC and 1 router/end device. the end device is connected to an arduino with the xbee shield.

now i could receive data from the arduino and see it in the xctu terminal but wen i send a signal from my pc the arduino seems not to read it…

Im wondering do i have to use a special library in the arduino code to read the serial data from the xbee .

all im using now in the code is

byte incomingByte;

int value;

void setup() {

// start serial port at 9600 bps

Serial.begin(9600);

Serial.println(“Light 1 ON”);

// led pins

pinMode (9, OUTPUT);

delay(1000);

}

void loop() {

if (Serial.available()) {

incomingByte = Serial.read();

then simple fading led code follows…

is this right or i have to use some special code to read the serial data… the code i have works for the USB connection but not wen i put it in Xbee mode.

2

I too am new at this - have just received my Xbee XSC Development kit and am waiting for Arduino board to arrive.

Couple of links I found while I was doing some research.

Rob Faludi’s [XBee API Library for Processing seems to be a common one used for the Arduino.

There’s also a Google project out there. A [Java API for communication between XBees

Hope that helps](GitHub - andrewrapp/xbee-api: Java library for communicating with XBee radios)](XBee API Library for Processing – Rob Faludi)

3

To start, load the XBee with the firmware that supports transparent serial port on wirless - rather than ZigBee. Much simpler - no special software.

4

Steve,

Neither of the above posters bought ZigBee modules.

One has XSC modules and the other ZNET2.5. Both should be perfectly suitable for their needs.

One also needs to be careful about what firmware to load. Since Digi’s XBee’s have used two different chipsets (Freescale & Ember) the firmware is NOT interchangeable and can get a module to become unresponsive.

I’m running XBee ZB modules and love em. They work great for simple point to point to multi-point and create longer distance mesh networks on their own. Very easy to use.

OR do you mean to suggest that they load the AT firmware instead of the API firmware? This is much different than ZigBee verse other firmware.

5

Sorry - most people at SFE are just trying to do a star topology. All single hops. No mesh. Few know the difference between the terms 802.15.4 and ZigBee and MAC versus NWK.

So I jump to the conclusion that most people need to start by using the transparent serial port firmware which exists, as I understand, for both series 2 and series 1. And procrastinate using ZigBee in series 2.

What SFE needs to do, since Digi does not, is to clarify that if you don’t need meshing (multi-hop), and its complexity, buy series 1 modules. And if you DO need meshing, and don’t mind proprietary, DigiMesh is better.

6

Ok Steve,

That is a better explanation.