X-Bee, the final chapter?
Here another update on the X-Bee’s. Last week I got a point to point communication. The API mode did not have much advantage over the AT mode for now if everything is broadcasted over the network with an identifier so that the destination node can pick it up by looking at its identifier. Maybe it’s not the full advantage of the X-Bee but it will suffice for now.
Last Thursday everything worked without any problems. I checked the range which indeed is about 20 meters without data loss from two different routers sent to one coordinator. So the next step was to let the two routers communicate and give an output from each other’s sensors. Here things got messy. I managed to change the CTS and RTS properties of the serial communication which led to mayhem. The X-Bee’s could not be found, unable to communicate with the computer and therefore ‘bricked’. I decided to let it rest in the weekend and put on my bravest boots and tried it again. This time with a little help of google which came up with some reset functionality which turned to also not work. After some ‘maybe try this’-help I finally got it. Keep pressing the reset switch and force the firmware from X-CTU which did the trick after 3 times. So now I am back to where I was two days ago.
In the meantime the breakout boards from sparkfun arrived and are soldered. If the modules I have now are working properly and respond to each other, I can try to make standalone (end) nodes. Fortunately this is the only electronics obstacle I encountered until now. I want to finish this X-Bee by making a demonstrator that is linked to exploring the indoor climate. How is going to be in the next post.