Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

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lunij
 
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Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:39 pm

Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

Post by lunij »

Hi there!

I have two XBee 2.5 modules, two Adafruit XBee Adapters v1.1, one Arduino Pro Mini (5V, ATmega328) and a Sparkfun FTDI Breakout Board (5V).
I want to program the Arduino Pro Mini wirelessly, but it doesn't work yet.
A connection between the Arduino Pro Mini and the FTDI Breakout Board was successful and I could upload sketches from my MacBook Pro to the Arduino.
Also I was able to make a wireless connection between these two XBee 2.5 modules. The end device XBee just sent all informations back to the coordinator XBee (Range Test with X-CTU).
Now I wanted to upload the simple "BareMinimum" sketch to the Arduino Pro Mini again but wirelessly with these two XBee 2.5 modules. But I only got the following errors:

avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

I already read a few troubleshooting guides, but I couldn't solve the problem. I have the feeling that I connected wrong pins from the Adafruit XBee Adapter Board (end device XBee) to the Arduino Pro Mini, because the pin labels make me confused all the time. Just try to connect a Sparkfun FTDI Breakout Board with an Arduino Pro Mini, look at the pin labes and you know what I mean.
My pin connections are the following:

XBee Adapter to Arduino Pro Mini (the 6 programming pins)
5V to 5V
GND to GND (not BLK)
RX to TXD
TX to RXD

The green XBee Adapater LED is blinking twice a second, the red LED of the Arduino Pro Mini is on. I tried uploading sketches without and with pressing the reset button of the Arduino before - nothing worked.

Do one of you guys know what I made wrong?
If you need pictures, tell me and I will make some.

mtbf0
 
Posts: 1645
Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:59 am

Re: Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

Post by mtbf0 »

doesn't sound as though you have anything connected to the reset line on the arduino.

have you checked out lady ada's instructions for programming an arduino over xbee?

lunij
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:39 pm

Re: Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

Post by lunij »

Yes, this tutorial was the first I tried out. But the problem is this tutorial is made with XBee series 1 modules. First time I ignored that. I just tried to follow this tutorial with my XBee series 2 modules. But the differences were shown very fast. The AT commands are not the same. So I tested a XBee-to-XBee communication without the Arduino. I restored the XBee settings and then I just followed that guide (scroll down to "Making your first application"). It worked without problems.

The reset line isn't connected, right. I don't understand why I have to connect it. I don't want to reset the Arduino wirelessly yet. Is it a need to connect the reset pin to upload sketches to the Arduino?

mtbf0
 
Posts: 1645
Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:59 am

Re: Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

Post by mtbf0 »

lunij wrote:Is it a need to connect the reset pin to upload sketches to the Arduino?

yes. the bootloader runs when the atmega328 is reset. if the bootloader is not running when you try to upload your sketch... well, nothing.

lunij
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:39 pm

Re: Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

Post by lunij »

That sounds good. It explains why nothing worked. I followed the instructions from the guide you posted. I connected such a reset line using a 10kohm resistor, one 0.1uF capacitor, one npn transistor. But now I have another problem. The green LED on the XBee Adapter Board flash once after powering it on. It turns off immediately. Only the Arduino Pro Mini did what expected. Now the Arduino has the same behavior as it have when I connect it directly without these Bees. The green LED on the Arduino flashed twice after powering it on. Any idea what could be wrong? Maybe I have to use other values for the electronic components?

Thanks for help and sorry for my english! :)

lunij
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:39 pm

Re: Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

Post by lunij »

Ok now the green LED on the XBee Adapter Board is flashing twice a second again.
But I still get error messages like this:

avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x00

Don't know what I made wrong..

EDIT: I think it can only be the receiver settings (XBee end device) because the guide is for XBee series 1, but what is the equivalent for a XBee series 2 ? There are no "line passing" settings and no ATIU (I/O Output enable) setting.

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Franklin97355
 
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Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:33 pm

Re: Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

Post by Franklin97355 »

Rob works with xbee2s there might be some info in one of these links.http://www.google.com/search?q=fauldi+x ... 7cdf5f52ee I do think you need to set one of your xbees up as a coordinator
Here is a youtube video that might help. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzgUtZyi ... D9&index=1

lunij
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:39 pm

Re: Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

Post by lunij »

I already noticed Rob's site but I couldn't find any helpful information because he did all his projects on a more complicated way which didn't help me. I'm just a Arduino and XBee beginner, who just wants to put code to the Arduino wirelessly without uploaded code to the Arduino directly to get the Arduino prepared for a wireless communication. That's too complicated and not the way I'm looking for. It must work without a Arduino preparation. Hope you understand me.

The XBee configuration is the same as described in this youtube video you linked. That is not the problem. My Bees can talk among themselves, but they also have to send the reset signal from the AD3 pin (coordinator XBee) to the AD3 pin (router/end device XBee). I think this is what isn't working yet.

But thank you for your reply! I sent Rob a message in hope he has an idea.

pstemari
 
Posts: 310
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Arduino Pro Mini and XBee 2.5

Post by pstemari »

Unfortunately much of the complications with the Series 2.5 stuff is required to get them working. It's the big tradeoff in design--more functionality means more things you have to do to get it working.

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