I'm trying to make a wireless accelerometer control something using Xbee and Arduino. I'm new to Arduino and haven't used Xbee before so I'm trying to make sure I'm ordering the correct parts before I start working on things. The range only needs to be 3-10 feet (1-3 meters). Here is my what I am planning on ordering and what I'm planning on doing with it:
Accelerometer/Transmitter
Tripple Axis Accelerometer Breakout - ADXL335
Xbee Explorer Regulated
Xbee (I could really use suggestions on which Xbee I should get. Pro vs not pro, Series 1 vs 2, etc.)
2AA battery 5V to 5V Step Up
Receiver/Controller for the device (just controlling LEDs for now)
Xbee (again, not sure what tyep)
Ardunio Uno
Arduino Wirelss Card Shield
9V battery adapter
Does this look like the hardware that I'll need or am I missing something? Do I need another Xbee Explorer Regulated or will the Arduino Wireless Card Shield take place of that on the receiver side? How hard is this going to be to interface? I was hoping it would be pretty easy, but from looking around at other posts I may have underestimated the difficulty.
Thanks a lot and I really look forward to being part of this forum.
Series 1 radios are point to point - two XBees talking to each other.
Series 2.5 radios are mesh network - a bunch of XBees passing data back and forth.
You want the Series 1 models.
The Pro versions consume more power, but the tradeoff is that they transmit further. Even the regular models are good for 300 feet.
2AA battery 5V to 5V Step Up
Don't. Get 4AA and run the Arduino/XBee properly. The batteries will last far longer, and there will be one less piece of hardware to deal with.
9V battery adapter
As long as that adapter lets you use 4AA batteries, it's a good choice.
Also I think the 2AA battery step up wouldn't be additional hardware if I get this: 5V DC to DC Step Up - 2xAA - PRT-08249 - SparkFun Electronics
I'm trying to keep the accelerometer end of things light weight. I'll go ahead and get the 2AA battery pack as well as the 4AA battery pack and see which one works the best for the project.
So just to summarize, I'm planning on the 9V battery for the Arduino+XBee Receiver and then getting both the 2AA and the 4AA packs for the Xbee Transmitter and seeing which I want to go with. Does everything else look good? Any advice on how easy/difficult this will be to set up?
I was planing on something like this for the Arduino power
Buy stock in the battery manufacturer, first.
Also I think the 2AA battery step up wouldn't be additional hardware if I get this
additional hardware... OK.
I assume the 4AA pack that I would need is this one
That will work.
Does everything else look good?
Yes.
Any advice on how easy/difficult this will be to set up?
Getting the hardware connected is easy. Configuring the XBees is easy. Getting them to read and send the accelerometer data will be the hardest part. Writing the code to receive the data from the remote XBee, and make sense of it will be the most challenging part of the project.
I got the hardware and (believe I have) configured the Xbees. Are there any tutorials on how to get the data off of the Xbee? I just want to send 3 analog channels from 1 Xbee to the other and read them with the Arduino. I was hoping the receiving XBee would output the same voltage to the same pin, but after looking into it slightly that does not appear to be the case.
I have detected that there is a signal being sent between the two and that it is sending a serial signal to the arduino. However, I'm still unsure of how to go from the serial signal to actual numbers I can use. If anyone knows how this works and could help out I would really appreciate it.
I have detected that there is a signal being sent between the two and that it is sending a serial signal to the arduino.
Great. Umm, how did you detect this?
I'm still unsure of how to go from the serial signal to actual numbers I can use.
The usual way is to use Serial.available() to see if there is serial data to read, and Serial.read(), if there is, to get the first byte. Then, repeat.
Store the bytes in an array, or show them on an LCD, or whatever. Once you understand what the bytes mean, you can then figure out how to "use" them.
Thanks. I was using Serial.Available() and Serial.Read(), but I didn't know that Serial.Read() got the signal one byte at a time. I thought I was getting the whole stream and thought I needed to somehow divide it from there. I'll do some more work and see where this gets me.
Is there a way to determine what the bytes mean? I've been trying to use Serial.print to see what the values are, but if I try to read the serial values and send print to the serial port to view using the Monitor it looses the connection for some reason.
I've been trying to use Serial.print to see what the values are, but if I try to read the serial values and send print to the serial port to view using the Monitor it looses the connection for some reason.
My XBee shields have switches to change from having the XBee connected to the hardware serial pins to having it connected to two other pins. This way, I can use SoftwareSerial to talk to the XBee and Serial to talk to the PC/Serial Monitor. I suggest that people quit buying XBee shields that do not have this feature. It makes debugging so much easier.
Of course, I have no idea what "it" in your statement refers to, so I can't really help.
I have the Arduino Wirless SD shield. It has a switch to go from USB to the Microprocessor. Is that what you're referring to? If not, could you link to a shield that has the switch you are talking about? It might be too late for this project, but I'm open for improvements for the next one.
Also thanks a lot for you input. It's been really helpful and encouraging.