Xbee grove development board with arduino and other regular sensors

Embedded Development Boards, Kits, Programmers
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Is the xbee grove development board not compatible with an arduino and other regular sensors such as PIR and LDR
Hi, We purchased a digi Xbee Zigbee mesh kit, for a proposed street light project. The modules are fine and working well, except that I am not able to configure / make it work with an arduino. Is the xbee grove development board not compatible with an arduino?. The second issue is when I tried connecting the grove xbee board ( without arduino) with an ldr sensor or pir sensor, I see that I am not able to see the sensor data being displayed on the xctu. I made the xbee module with sensor as router and the other xbee connected to PC as coordinator. I tried to troubleshoot by referring to the xbee development guide, but I see that it is not responsive. Kindly suggest. Thank you

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Hello Aravind,

I’m forwarding an email to our Product Specialist for this part to see if he can answer what might be wrong.
I’ll post back as soon as I get a response.

3

Hello @Aravind.

Just to clarify, you are using the Zigbee with the grove connectors to relay the sensor information wirelessly to a Zigbee attached to an Arduino?

Thanks.
Curtis

4

Hello @TechForum / Curtis Johnson,
Thanks for reaching out to me. No. I was looking to relay the sensor information where sensors are connected to arduino and this arduino is connected to a xbee module (receiver) to send wirelessly data to another xbee (coordinator) that sends data to the xctu. ( because I tried the same with another xbee module adaptor without grove board. It was working.)

So, My query is should we use an arduino or not, because in the xbee grove development study guide, it is mentioned that we don’t need an arduino to send sensor data. We can directly send it, but in some places it is mentioned we can use a microcontroller, which is kind of confusing.

Thanks and regards
Aravind

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You wouldn’t need the Arduino to send the information. As long as the grove board is powered, it can send the sensor data.

As far as the LDR and the PIR, can you tell me which part numbers you are trying to use?

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Ok. For deploying in the street light project, finally I will be using ACS 756 photocell sensor, and HC-SR501 PIR sensor. Right now, I am trying to test, by using a regular LDR with a resistor connected in series to act as a photocell. If this works then I will start experimenting with above mentioned sensors. I will also be testing with a simple led configured as digital output. The LED has to dim or brighten based on the light falling on the LDR and this status has to get reflected on the xctu.
Also, is it required that the xbee connected with the sensor has to be configured as an end device or can it be a router??

Thank you
Aravind

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I sent a request to Digi to see about getting some additional information. I will follow up when I hear from them.

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Hello @Aravind,
Did you purchase the Xbee 3 version of the Zigbee mesh kit, part# XK3-Z8S-WZM ? The Xbee 3 modules can run MicroPython to add processing capabilities to your Zigbee nodes to send sensor information. We have implemented several example sensor projects that can be found on TechForum at Search results for 'micropython' - Engineering and Component Solution Forum - TechForum │ Digi-Key .

Regards,
Scott

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Hi Scott, Greetings
No, it’s xbee zigbee meshkit which has series 2. It is s2c series, which has 3 s2c xbee modules with grove development boards.

A

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Hi @Aravind,
The S2C modules are not recommended for new design and have no processing capabilities. They can be configured to send ADC and input readings but cannot process any data.

Regards,
Scott

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In that case, is it possible to connect an arduino with the grove development board to process my sensor data ( sensors connected to arduino).

Thanks.

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There is no easy way to directly connect an Arduino to Digi’s Xbee grove board that I am aware of. You would need to hack into the UART pins on the grove board, refer to Xbee Grove Development Board User Guide for schematic information. You also need to make sure the signal levels are compatible.

Regards,
Scott

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Ok. I will try to work on that part. Will contact for any queries if any, later.

Thank you

Aravind