A question about XBEE

Projects Networking, Protocols, and Devices
1

Dear forum,
I have recently made a sketch that uses an arduino uno with an ethernet shield attached to a router to interact wirelessly with my iPad/iphone using TouchOSC. It allows control of various microscope functions.

I hoped I could dispense with the ethernet shield and router by using a wireless shield and XBEE. Having spent a bit of time trawling through the internet, I now wonder if this will work.

Can someone tell me whether an XBEE and wireless shield can be configured as a wireless ethernet device that could communicate directly with iPhone/ipad? I don't want to use a computer intermediary.

I since found that there is a wifi shield on the market which I guess does exactly what I want but since I have already purchased the XBEE, I thought I would ask in case there is a way of using it.

If it is possible, can you suggest which library might be a good starting point.

I am currently using the following libraries so if I can use the same ones, it would be great:

#include <SPI.h>
#include <Ethernet.h> // Tested in version IDE 0022 Arduino UNO
#include <Z_OSC.h>

Thanks,
Nick

2

XBees come in at least a dozen different flavors and they differ significantly from one to another, they are not all interchangeable. Do you know what part number you have? There is a Wi-Fi model that is relatively new, I haven't seen a lot of discussion on it, actually.

3

Hello Jack,
I have an XBee S1.

Bests,
Nick

4

XBee Series 1 modules use the 802.15.4 standard, Wi-Fi is 802.11, so no, that particular XBee cannot be configured as a wireless Ethernet device. The Wi-Fi model would be this one.

5

Thanks. Do you know whether the wifi version you pointed to would need an additional library? I am hoping the code I have written using ethernet and a router would work with minimal modification.

Best wishes,
Nick

6

I would assume that the Arduino Ethernet library, which supports the W5100 chip, would not work.