LeafLabs Garden

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1. 

   peanut
   Member

   Hi,

   I'm (probably) a futur user of the maple board. I have one question: has anyone used it / run some tests with the XBee shield ?
   http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9976

   Thanks very much for your answers

   Posted 4 years ago #
2. 

   robodude666
   Member

   I'm not sure what happens when you feed a 3.3v regulator a 3.3v power source..

   The SparkFun XBee shield is designed for use with the Arduino, which uses a 5v microcontroller. The XBee itself requires 3.3v. Because of this, the shield has an onboard 3.3v regulator to supply this voltage.

   However, the Maple uses a 3.3v microcontroller and therefore only has a 3.3v voltage source on it. If you were to plug that shield onto a Maple, you'll attempt to convert 3.3v to 3.3v. Theoretically either a) it should just work without any side effect or b) you'll waste a little power as the regulator tries to do "something" to regulate.

   It won't be as pretty, but you can make your own XBee adapter board for a few bucks. SparkFun carries a Breakout Board, as well as 2mm sockets. For $5, some solder, a few LEDs/Resistors, and some time, you can get an XBee connected to a Maple without having to worry about unnecessary components.

   -robodude666

   Posted 4 years ago #
3. 

   trunet
   Member

   I plugged a Xbee Series 2 2mW on my maple mini and it just works(I have the simple breakout board from sparkfun).

   Maple is 3.3v so you don't even need to level RX/TX voltages.

   I measured the regulator voltage and it doesn't heat too much.

   Posted 4 years ago #
4. 

   peanut
   Member

   @Trunet
   Which breakout board exactly are you using ?

   I was first thinking about a shield, but actually I'd better keep the xbee "far" from the board. I guess I would need something like this: http://www.ladyada.net/make/xbee/

   Thanks very much for your answers.

   Posted 4 years ago #
5. 

   robodude666
   Member

   In my post above I link to a bare-bones XBee Breakout Board from SparkFun along with the 2mm headers you'd need to plug the XBee into the breakout board.

   Adafruit's board would work too, and would be a better option if you plan to use it later for a 5v device. Adafruit's board too has a 5v to 3.3v regulator, but it also supports an external 3.3v signal. It also has a level shifter, but this level shifter can support 3.3v signals. The added LEDs for blinkyness always help too.

   Posted 4 years ago #
6. 

   peanut
   Member

   Thanks very much, I'll look into it !

   Posted 4 years ago #
7. 

   trunet
   Member

   simple as this:
   http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8276

   plug VCC, GND, DOUT to maple RX, DIN to maple TX.

   also I have ported arduino-xbee library to work on series 2 using API mode and it's working.

   Posted 4 years ago #
8. 

   poslathian
   LeafLabs

   also I have ported arduino-xbee library to work on series 2 using API mode and it's working.

   what do you mean? you have an arduino-xbee port for maple? awesome!

   Posted 4 years ago #
9. 

   peanut
   Member

   I think it would be interesting to index the existing hardware / software currently working with maple / Digi modules.

   Posted 4 years ago #
10. 

    chin.se
    Member

    Hello Trunet

    Is there a way to get my hands on you port of the Arduino Xbee-library?

    My skill is not up to speed to port it my self.

    /Christian Nilsson
    ---------------------
    +46 703 190 190
    mail: chin@chin.se
    http://chin.se
    ---------------------

    Posted 4 years ago #

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