WiFly

[Ken]

Hi gang.

Further to my fiddling with XBee modules, I note that there is a WiFi equivalent which is designed to plug-in replace an XBee, and presumably give similar functionality.
It is called a WiFly, sold by SparkFun for around $35.
(There is a naked variant on eBay for less. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/WiFly-RN-171-802-11b-g-Serial-Module-Roving-Networks-/221126193624?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337c25f1d8#ht_500wt_1180)

Does anyone have experience with these beasties?  -Or any other WiFi modules for embedded use?
I'm wondering how difficult it would be to get a browser and/or an Android phone to talk to one.

Regards,
Ken.

[Steven Pickles]

Fee grabbed one for a project she was planning, but the xbee-shield she bought was faulty (badly soldered SMT components) and there were some unfortunate postal mishaps during the replacement. Long story short, we haven't had a chance to try it yet ;)

pix

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[Ken]

I wonder... for home use with a smallish network, what are the relative merits of going all XBee, or all WiFly (ignoring the extra $10 per module of the WiFly).

The use of 2mm pin spacing instead of .1" on the XBee and hence WiFly modules is a royal pain in the backside.
It means either bodging up wiring, or always paying for an adapter board, taking price from $25 to $35 per module (or doing my own PCBs, which doesn't appeal).
If anyone finds a really cheap XBee to .1" pin conversion PCB, please let me know.

Just unwrapped a cheapo XBee USB adapter from eBay & plugged it in.
dmesg reports an FTDI ttyUSB0, and there is a red LED on, so all looks good.
Main difference between it and the dearer version from Adafruit is that the cheapo one doesn't have the XBee pins on the bottom, so can't act as a shield.
  -It does have 5 pads on the end, reset, Tx, Rx, Gnd, 5v.
Should be OK as a controller with no connections to the XBee I/O.
-Comes with a short USB cable as well.

Happily I've found a PHP XBee library on the net (well, 2 files), which should reduce a bit of the low-level drudgery for me.

Ken.

[Andrew Helgeson]

I kinda went a bit nuts with Sparkfun XBee Shields, so I have few spares.

If you need one get back to me

On 19/09/2012 9:54 PM, "Steven Pickles" <thatp...@gmail.com> wrote:

Fee grabbed one for a project she was planning, but the xbee-shield she bought was faulty (badly soldered SMT components) and there were some unfortunate postal mishaps during the replacement. Long story short, we haven't had a chance to try it yet ;)

pix

On 19 September 2012 21:08, Ken <k...@waggies.net> wrote:
>
> Hi gang.
>

> Further to my fiddling w...

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[Damien P]

On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 10:14:34 PM UTC+9:30, Ken wrote:

I wonder... for home use with a smallish network, what are the relative merits of going all XBee, or all WiFly (ignoring the extra $10 per module of the WiFly).

I thought XBee was meant to be lower power, longer range or something like that?  At lower speeds than wifi of course.

[Andrew Helgeson]

Ken, when I'm not using an XBee shield or the regulated XBee Explorer, I use these

http://littlebirdelectronics.com/products/breakout-board-for-xbee

$2.50 @ LittleBird

$1.95 @ ToysDownunder

Catch is you'll need a 3.3V supply.

Once you put some headers on it you can plug it straight into a breadboard.

I'm using one in my itty bitty glider project to save weight.

Andrew

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[Ken]

Thanks Andrew, looks good.  Lots of 'out of stock' on the toysdownunder site.
I ordered some 2mm socket strips from China for grotty point-to-point wiring use.

I've got one module working fine from 2 AA cells, so almost 3.3v.  :)
Haven't got I/O working yet, but it is sending data to the controller OK.

I'm having trouble getting my PHP serial 'library' to work.  A terminal program will receive data from the sending XBee OK (sending continuously), but a PHP program doesn't see any data.  But... persistence usually pays off.

Ken.

[Andrew Helgeson]

Ken

On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 10:56 PM, Ken <k...@waggies.net> wrote:

Thanks Andrew, looks good.  Lots of 'out of stock' on the toysdownunder site.
I ordered some 2mm socket strips from China for grotty point-to-point wiring use.

I've got one module working fine from 2 AA cells, so almost 3.3v.  :)
Haven't got I/O working yet, but it is sending data to the controller OK.

,

Have a look at Mr Nootropics site, this article is a great starting point for stand alone XBee control

http://nootropicdesign.com/projectlab/2012/02/18/xbee-robotics-platform/

I've yet to try it, but I was considering something along these lines for my itty bitty glider project.

Andrew