Wirelessly Control Lights and Motors Using XBee Communication!
At this Nebraska reservoir, sensors and wireless communication are used to send air and water quality data to equipment miles away.Copyright 2014 Edward Pultar, Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tools.Valarm.net_Remotely_Monitoring_Industrial_IoT_Sensors_for_Water_and_Air_Quality_with_Lorenzo_and_Edward.jpg
From remote-controlled cars, to sensors relaying agricultural data from a field to farmhouses miles away, wireless communication enables users to “cut the cord” for their projects. For this maker challenge, students use the engineering design process as they apply what they learned about serial communication during the previous Arduino maker challenge (Make and Control a Servo Arm with Your Computer) and learn how to send signals from one system to another using XBee radio communication modules. By activity end, expect students to be able to control LEDs and motors wirelessly using Arduino microcontrollers and XBee shields. This is a great activity for students to explore and come to understand the concept of the Internet of things.
- computer, Windows or Mac
- Arduino software; download from https://www.arduino.cc/en/software
- 2 Arduino microcontrollers and programming cables; recommended: 2 Arduino Inventor’s Kits (which include buttons and LEDs) at SparkFun
- 2 XBee Series 1 trace antennas, each at CanaKit; many different types of XBees are available and several different antenna options are available with the more expensive ones extending the range from feet to miles; the Series 1 XBee is highly recommended for this activity due to its ease of configuration and classroom range
- 2 XBee shields, each at SparkFun
- 1 header pin kit, such as the Arduino Stackable Header Kit - R3 at SparkFun
- XCTU software, for configuring the XBees; free download at Digi
- 1 XBee Explorer USB for each XBee shield, from SparkFun, to make XBee configuration much easier; 1 Explorer can configure all the XBes used in the activity
- breadboards
- jumper wires
- 9V battery
- 9V connector wire
- additional components for challenge exercises: potentiometer, touch sensor, flex sensor, motor, servo
Contributors
Daniel Godrick
Supporting Program
ITL Program, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado Boulder
Acknowledgements
This activity was developed by the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Special thanks to Jacob Segil and SparkFun Education.
Copyright
2017 by Regents of the University of Colorado
