I am trying to build a wireless RFiD reader using the ID-12 RFiD module and the XBee 802.14.4 OEM RF Modules [1mW, 300 feet] with Chip antenna. I have another of the same Xbee modules attached to a Sparkfun XBee explorer USB board to receive the data and feed it into the PC.
I have got the two Xbee modules talking to each other when I run a range test in X-CTU. but I have had no success in getting anything else from them. I have opened the serial port that the USB explorer creates, expecting serial data to be streamed in when an RFiD card is placed over the ID-12, however this does not happen.
on the RFiD reader end of things, I have both the ID-12 and the Xbee module connected to appropriate power supplies, and the data out pin of the ID-12 is connected to the RX pin of the Droids Simple Xbee board. The XBee module is mounted on the Droid board to provide easy connection whilst in breadboard state.
Can anyone help me as to why I am not receiving any data over the serial port? Am i missing something fundemental to initiating communication using XBee? Is there more to it receiving data from an XBee module that I have anticipated??
Any help that anyone can give me will be gratley appreciated
I have set all of the IDs, channel numbers, high and low addresses etc, and have got them talking to each other when doing a range test. If any of these values were not valid it would not complete this test.
I am still very confused though, i was under the impression that XBee modules are simple to use and that they are reliable, but so far I have had nothing but problems.
Has anyone actually managed to interface the two (ID-12 and XBee) together?
I am thinking that despite the power thirst of the BlueSMiRF i will be better off sticking with that.
Ian.culverhouse:
I have set all of the IDs, channel numbers, high and low addresses etc, and have got them talking to each other when doing a range test. If any of these values were not valid it would not complete this test.
I am still very confused though, i was under the impression that XBee modules are simple to use and that they are reliable, but so far I have had nothing but problems.
Has anyone actually managed to interface the two (ID-12 and XBee) together?
I am thinking that despite the power thirst of the BlueSMiRF i will be better off sticking with that.
the XBees are very simple but you have a learning curve as in any product. If you want complexity, try what some attempt, knowing no better: Write C code to add to the code base for the MAC protocol, running the application in the same micro. That’s a huge undertaking.
The wireless serial port firmware load for the XBee (and competing modules have this too), give you a simple Hayes Modem AT command set to use to set the desired destination address for data. Setting the PAN ID, channel number and so on are one-time deals.
You can set the destination address to all ones and just broadcast to all, but there’s no error correction in the MAC - you must do your own lost message timeout and retransmit.
I assume you tested just the ID-12 to make sure you’re getting serial output when you read a card? If not, them maybe that’s the problem and not your XBee configuration. Also remember that the ID-12’s serial output format is 9600-8-1-N so your XBee’s input must be configured the same.
The minimal configuration go get ASCII TTL-level serial output from the ID-12 is:
Pin 1: GND
Pin 2: RESET (connect to +5V)
Pin 7: FORMAT (connect to GND to select ASCII)
Pin 8: DATA TX (TTL level serial output @ 9600 baud)
Pin 11: +5V
People often forget to connect the FORMAT pin 7 to GND to select the correct output.
Moving this from a private message back to the forum:
piy0:
So i connect pin 8 of the id-12 to uart of the xbee or digital input?
Since I assume you want serial data transmitted over the Xbee, it would seem that you should connect the serial output of the ID-12 (pin 8) to the serial input of the Xbee.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the ID-12 is a 5V device but the Xbee is a 3.3V device. I’m not sure whether the Xbee’s inputs are 5V tolerant and you may need a level shifter (or at least a voltage divider).
