Exploring Arduino: Tools and Techniques for Engineering Wizardry

CHAPTER 11

Wireless Communication with XBee Radios

Parts You'll Need for This Chapter

Two Arduinos (Unos and/or Leonardos recommended)

USB cables for programming Arduinos

Power supplies for each Arduino (optionally power over USB)

SparkFun USB XBee Explorer

XBee Series 1 radio (×2)

XBee shields (×2)

Pushbutton

Piezo buzzer

Common cathode RGB LED

10KΩ resistor

10KΩ potentiometer

150Ω resistor

220Ω resistors (×3)

Jumper wires

Breadboards (×2)

CODE AND DIGITAL CONTENT FOR THIS CHAPTER

Code downloads, video, and other digital content for this chapter can be found at www.exploringarduino.com/content/ch11.

In addition, all code can be found at www.wiley.com/go/exploringarduino on the Download Code tab. The code is in the chapter 11 download and individually named according to the names throughout the chapter.

It's time to untether! A common requirement in many microcontroller projects is wireless connectivity. There are many ways to achieve wireless connectivity, but one of the easiest methods with the Arduino is to use XBee radios, which are produced by a company named Digi. XBees act as a wireless serial passthrough, allowing you to use the serial printing and reading commands you've already learned about. This chapter focuses only on XBee communication, but does cover some of the caveats that you must understand when using any form of wireless communication.

XBees make it easy to communicate wirelessly between the Arduino and your computer or between multiple Arduinos. In this chapter, ...