2 dead xbee's

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imagiro
 
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2 dead xbee's

Post by imagiro »

I'm not saying the Xbee shield caused the fault, but I also can't say it didn't. The Xbee I had connected to the xbee shield went bad. I didn't think anything of it and bought another one and installed it. Now this xbee is dead too. I have 1 Xbee left that I use as the transmitter that is still good. This good xbee transmits 2 (ADC) voltages to the receiving Xbee mounted on the xbee shield. From there 2 (PWM) wires go into the Arduino analog in. Pretty simple except I keep breaking xbee's! Before using the xbee's, I had 2 wires from the transmitter to the receiver and everything worked just fine.

The only fault I can think of is the 5V coming into the shield is "dirty". I have a 5 V Regulator and it stays at 5.03-5.07V with the motors running. Or something on the shield is failing? The buffer chip? Any ideas on how to solve this would be helpful. I'm sick of blowing up Xbee's! Thanks.

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Franklin97355
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by Franklin97355 »

Make sure the xbee is getting regulated 3.3v

imagiro
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by imagiro »

The xbee shield is providing me with the 3.3V. I've checked it and it's working properly.

adafruit
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by adafruit »

are all the inputs, including any analog inputs no greater than 3.3V?

adafruit
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by adafruit »

you can always try to reset them to factory levels with
ATRE
ATWR

imagiro
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by imagiro »

I think I have figured out the problem. It has nothing to do with the Xbee. I hooked up an o'scope to the 5V source with the motors off. I get a nice clean 5V signal. I then turned on the motors and watched spike after spike. It was constant 6-7V spikes. I was able to catch a few of them on the o'scope. I've read people using opto-isolators to fix this.

As for the xbee themselves. I just found the commands ATRE and ATWR. What's the best way to send it those commands? Can I use the X-CTU software or the terminal in linux/osx? Can I send them using the Arudino's serial prompt?
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adafruit
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by adafruit »

motors connected to the same power supply as a xbee (or any microcontroller) can really mess them up. i always suggest seperate power supplies for motors because they are really destructive!
you can try to connect with a serial terminal like the one in XCTU
the arduino terminal wont work well i think, its much too sloggy

imagiro
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by imagiro »

Yes, I've been learning the hard way about why you should have 2 different power supplies. But since I got just one I'm trying to do the best with what I got. I have been looking at opto-isolators and capacitors to prevent spikes. Wouldn't happen to know any good sites to help fill in the blanks?

I'll try the XCTU program tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

adafruit
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by adafruit »

cant think of any but you're on the right track for sure!

imagiro
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by imagiro »

Still can't communicate with the Xbee. It doesn't respond in the terminal either. Anyway to try and reset it back to factory without having to use a computer?

adafruit
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by adafruit »

sadly no :(
does it blink any LEDs?

imagiro
 
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Re: 2 dead xbee's

Post by imagiro »

I didn't hook up the Led's this time. I'll be a day or two before I get around to messing around with the xbee. I'll check them as soon as I can.

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