Xbee-xtcu

johnproko · 2013-11-19 05:58

Hello. I have apair of xbees as shown in the picture below (2x series 2, 2x series1) and an adapter. I hook it to the usb port and run xtcu. The program says to push the reset button (i dont see one). Can anyone give me a piece of advice? Shouldnt they be ready out of the box for easier use?

i want to make a robotic arm that from one bs2 i will give options about what i want to puck up and another one to get that information and control the servos.
Thank you in advance.

Ps if there is a video showing the process i would be thankfull.

Ken Gracey · 2013-11-19 09:19

Hello johnproko,

The XBee modules you are using are probably a bit old because they have the Maxstream silkscreen on them, from some time before Digi took over the product line. Both companies were pretty good about keeping their XBee firmware compatible with X-CTU, which is a bit of a quirky program at best. There's a small chance of an incompatibility if I had to just take a guess, but more likely those modules are still 100% compatible with X-CTU. I don't recognize the USB carrier board, but they're all quite similar though some brands may not support the 60 mW XBee modules.

In general, these are easy to use out-of-the-box. Connect, configure baud rate and channel, then start a SEROUT [and of course they can do so much more than this, too]. Sometimes I start X-CTU first, then plug in the USB carrier board. Try that combination.

Also, get a look at our resources right here: http://www.parallax.com/product/32450 scroll to "Downloads" and find the "Getting Started with XBee" tutorial which includes everything you need to know about setup. There are also simple code examples for BS2 and Propeller.

If you're still having trouble, just reply here and somebody will reply. I'm sorta an office worker first, techie person second, but have worked with these enough to have basic troubleshooting experience.

Ken Gracey

Tracy Allen · 2013-11-19 09:40

You should be aware that series 1 XBees are incompatible with series 2, that is, they can't talk to one another. I think you are saying that you have 2 of each type, so that is okay. When starting out, series 1 are easier to deal with.

Nowadays, series 1 XBees are shipped with simple settings, so that they can talk to one another out of the box. (address #0, channel #12 etc.) There are many settings though that can be changed to set up separate addresses, networks, and operating modes. So if these XBees have been used before it is likely that they have special setttings. XCTU can reset the defaults, also, it can load the most recent firmware compatible with your modules.

Series 2 modules are designed for more complicated networks and usually do take configuring with different firmware to make one the coordinator and the other(s) remote nodes or routers.

The word "reset" is printed on your carrier board next to two holes, so that may be the location where you could install a reset button. I'm puzzled though, because XCTU doesn't in my experience ask to press reset.

Chris Savage · 2013-11-20 08:15

Tracy Allen wrote: »

The word "reset" is printed on your carrier board next to two holes, so that may be the location where you could install a reset button. I'm puzzled though, because XCTU doesn't in my experience ask to press reset.

Tracy, it does if it can't communicate with the XBee Module.

Note that in my case this happened because I didn't have the correct COM Port selected. You need to select the COM Port your XBee Module is attached to. In my case I don't have one attached so there isn't a valid COM port in the list, hence the previous error. This is what I commonly see from customers who don't know which COM Port applies to the XBee or don't have the USB drivers installed for their USB Adapter Board.

The program says to push the reset button (i dont see one). Can anyone give me a piece of advice? Shouldnt they be ready out of the box for easier use?

Are you selecting the correct COM Port associated with your USB Adapter the XBee Module is on?

Duane Degn · 2013-11-20 09:20

I'm pretty sure I've been asked to press reset several times when using X-CTU. I think I was configuring Series 2 XBees at the time. I have a board from Digi with a reset button on it. I agree with Tracy's guess about where a reset button could be added to the OP's board. You don't really need a button though, a wire could be used to short the two holes momentarily.

I recall reading in some book (I think it was Building Wireless Sensor Networks (the author of which spoke at a recent Expo)) about shorting two pins on the XBee if your board didn't have a reset button. Since it looks like those two pins have already been made available, I wont try to find the reference.

KMyers · 2013-11-20 11:04

I have seen this also on my series 1 XB's. Generally when I am on wrong port, a senior moment . As far as reset I either remove usb to carrier or reset the board its on. Probably dumb but it works for me.

Thanks for the info on the reset pads will check that out.

johnproko · 2013-11-29 03:34

First of all thank you all for your reply.

Unfortunately i have not been able to make use of them. probably there is something else, which i cannot understand.

I know the problem with the com, but in order to be sure about it, i plugged in the bot first and saw which one was. So the usb com is not the problem.

im still trying to figure out what is needed, but i dont think im close!

Duane Degn · 2013-11-29 06:51

I'm not sure what you mean by "usb com is not the problem" since the robot will likely have a different com port number than the XBee adapter. It's not like the old days of serial ports, a USB com port number isn't assigned to the actual USB port, it's assigned to the FDTI chip (or similar).

For example, I'm working on a robot with a built in USB connection on a Propeller board. The com port listed on the terminal window is "COM36". If I take that same USB cable and unplug it from the Propeller board and plug it into my Prop Plug, the com port changes to "COM43". This particular Prop Plug is always assigned COM43 no matter which physical port the USB cable is plugged into. Likewise with the Propeller board on my robot, no matter which USB port I use, it's always COM36. These com ports are only good on my one PC. If I plug the same board into my wife's computer it's assigned a different com port.

One way to check which com port your XBee adapter is on is to launch X-CTU without the adapter plugged in. Look for the available com ports as Chris showed in post #4. Now plug in your adapter board and see which com port gets added. The newly added com port is the one you want to use with the adapter.

If there's some setting in X-CTU you don't understand you can capture a screenshot by using Windows' "Snipping Tool" (found in the "Accessories" folder of the Start menu) and ask about it here.

Xbee-xtcu

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