Desperately need help with xbee radios and particle argon

Firmware Libraries
1

I have reached the point of complete desperation and feel totally useless trying to get these working. Hardware Serial seems to work just fine in Transparent mode. But it all seems to fall apart when I try API mode using any of the libraries and tutorials, including the guide on digi’s own website.

I have 3 Xbee Pro 900HP radios I got in the digi-mesh kit. All is well up until the point where I have to start using them with a microcontroller in API mode. whether it be an Arduino, raspberry pi, or a particle board.

this is hopefully going to be an enormous IOT project and to demonstrate proof of concept to investors, I need to demonstrate the abilities unlocked with API mode.

Can anybody help? I know there are peeps on here that have successfully got these going with these radios.

On a side note, my background is e-commerce/engineering and I recently started developing a product that will be using Amazon Alexa and Google Home. I have co-founded a couple companies that do well into the 7 figures in e-commerce both on Amazon and on our own sites. This project, if I can build the right team will make what I have done already look like Tee Ball.

If there is anyone interested in helping out with this suite of products, I am looking for EE, CS, Patent/IP attorney’s, and a few other types to get this done. Thanks again guys, this board has already been an enormous help, and I look forward to contributing as much as possible.

1 Like
2

Can you elaborate what goes wrong or doesn't work?
Is the Argon connected to a router, a coordinator or an end device XBee?
What is on the other side of the connetion?
How are all participating devices configured?
What library are you using?

4 Likes
3

Scruff,

Thanks a lot for reaching out. The answer to your question is not a short one, because I have put a couple of hours a day into this starting this past Monday. The problem with answering your question, is that it falls apart at a different spot depending on the development platform, and what I am reading along the way. In the Digi Documentation it falls apart on this page. I have tried setting this up with Netbeans and Eclipse. I think the instructions assume the reader is competent with Java, which I haven’t needed to mess with for 10 years, and I would consider myself a novice at besst with Java when I did.

But my bread and butter is C/C++. I have thousands of hours on target with arduinos ad raspberry pis, and a lot of other big assignments and projects… I have tried circuit python Tutorials, Java tutorials, etc., and none of them seem to be verbose enough to get me started, which is all I need. Even the Arduino library cited in digi’s documentation, states explicitly, that it is for series 1 and 2, and not the digi-mesh gear.

With that said, I am not above misreading and misunderstanding things along the way periodically, so it is just as much my fault I am sure. the 900HP fit our needs perfectly. I just need a piece of example code that is documented, and works with the 900HP.

I am bad about asking questions and prefer to figure things out. I am gonna take a deep dive into andrewrapp’s work and another port here

Any help appreciated. even just a little snippet of code that works with the arduino or particle IDE would probably be enough.

Thanks,

4

Scruff.

I just posted a edit to the post. I must have sent send before I was done. I have put the most time into the digi documnentation assuming it was well written, and it goes wrong when I start trying to set up the Java IDE. I can post pictures videos and screen shots along the way. I am able to follow up until the point where you are adding the java libraries to the project. and then when you copy the code to MainApp.java there are too many errors for someone is not competent with JAVA.

Truth is, an arduino/particle/C/C++ example would be ideal. I am gonna spend the day reading all the library code, and may end up just writing my own tailored to my project, but to start doing this, I feel a working example would cut the time of the port significantly, and time is my enemy right now. I have to get this done now before patent trolls move in. But to raise the money and recruit the engineers, I need to demonstrate a proof of concept. There is an enormous business on the other side of this that is too sweet to stop working on. I caught an entire industry sleeping, and they have to go down.

5

I have the code your looking for, I was attempting a project using Digi 900HP radios in mesh configuration using API mode on Photons.

I found a decent library and put together the example code where I successfully have 4 of them constantly talking with each other.

I’ll dig up the code for you.

2 Likes
6

That would be dope.

Thanks so much man.

7

While this "tutorial" may be Java based, that's not required to get you up and running.
There is an XBee library for Particle here but the original repo with examples can be found here.
Although this library is also predating the mesh stufff, but the general principle should apply nontheless.

(I see you have found @peekay123's original port of the library already :wink: )

1 Like
8

This “tutorial” was written by the manufacturers of the gear. It should work. It doesn’t matter whether we call it a tutorial or a user guide. It is still not a comprehensive guide to getting set up, whether it be java, c, circuit python, or an embedded system. And the libraries should be maintained by digi, not random engineers on the internet (not meant disparagingly at all, I am one of these random dudes too).

I have been through several of the Arduino libraries already and they state specifically they are for series 1 and 2. I understand that there are several OOP options to get me going, but it’s no help if these options aren’t for my setup. i.e. new XCTU software, Digimesh, etc. I also understand that conceptually, API mode implementation is identical regardless of whether I use Arduino, Particle, Raspberry pi, etc.

Almost all of the tutorials on YouTube are using the old XCTU with settings that don’t even exist, or parameters such as PAN ID, which is just renamed, but seems to be the exact same thing. In the 900 HP pro with digi-mesh. These tutorials (user guide, manual, pick your own vernacular) are mostly 5+ years old.

Now, clearly others have been able to get this to work with the 900hp pro digi-mesh, which is why I am here.

All of this has me questioning using the digi-mesh platform. Given that it seems community support for XBee platform is dwindling, almost as if these radios will soon be totally antiquated with the emergence of protocols such as NB IOT, LoRan, etc. But with millions of units sold, I also realize it is a very stable platform.

Thanks again for all the help.

I am not stopping yet.

9

@the_mick,
Take a look at @peekay123’s examples, specifically Series2_TX and Series2_RX for API mode.
This works for the radios that you are using.

10

Rftop, Thanks for all the help. I have this working in Transparent mode, which is enough to get me going for now.

I can figure out the API mode soon enough.

This community is awesome

2 Likes
11

Your XBee's need to be configured to API Mode 2.
That is specific to the XBee Library. It's in the docs:

image
image911×115 5.55 KB

Once you have your XBee profile as you like it, you can quickly flash the same Profile to each radio.

Good Luck

12

Try the two links below. I created this documentation of my use of XBees with Arduino so that I would have a reference in the future. Very recently I used them in I/O Line Passing mode (2nd link). Hope this helps.

http://www.savvysolutions.info/savvymicrocontrollersolutions/index.php?component=xbee-arduino

http://www.savvysolutions.info/savvymicrocontrollersolutions/index.php?component=xbee-io-line-passing

13

Hey thanks mark.

I got these going in transparent mode. and then honestly, I am moving on. They are cool, but I refuse to spend that kind of price point to a company that after 7 days still hasn’t replied to a tech support question.

Got some LoRa chips on the way, and Digi Int.just lost the sale.

14

Hello RWB, I am interested as well in the code you mention, were you successful finding it? and would you mind sharing it? xbee was my plan B but now plan A :wink:
best rgs,
p.

15

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.