Page 1 of 13 XBee Shield Hookup Guide CONTRIBUTORS: JIMB0 Introduction The XBee Shield gives your Arduino a seamless interface to XBee one of the most popular wireless platforms around. With XBee, instead of being tied down by a serial cable inches away from a paired device your Arduino can pass data over the air to another device hundreds of feet away. Part of what makes XBee so popular is its simplicity. XBees are controlled over a serial interface in the most basic operation they can be used as a wireless serial cable. Setting up XBee networks and addresses is also simplified with Digis free software XCTU which we explain in a separate tutorial. Covered In This Tutorial The goal of this tutorial is to set up wireless XBee communication between a computer and an Arduino/XBee Shield combo. Then, using a terminal program, we can remotely send data to an Arduino, or read data off of it.Page 2 of 13 Well begin by examining the schematics and hardware of the XBee Shield, then move on to example code. First well set up a test program to make sure our XBees are communicating with each other. Then well move on to the remote control Arduino sketch. Materials Required 1x XBee Shield The star of this tutorial. Youll also need headers to install into your shield. We recommend stackable headers. 1x Arduino The XBee Shield should work with any Arduino- compatible board Uno, RedBoard, Mega, you name it. 2x XBees XBees exist in a variety of series, frequencies, and ranges. If youre just getting started with XBee, we highly recommend going with Series 1 models either with a trace antenna, wire antenna or u.fl connector. For more help picking an XBee, check out our XBee Buying Guide. 1x Explorer The Explorer board allows you to connect an XBee to your computer. You can use either the Explorer USB, Explorer USB Dongle, or Explorer Serial. Depending on which explorer you have, you may also need a matching mini-B USB or serial cables. At least one computer with X-CTU installed. The latest version of X-CTU is available for both Mac and Windows Soldering tools to install headers into your shield. The most basic of irons and solder should do. Suggested Reading Before reading through this tutorial, we highly recommend checking out the Exploring XBees and XCTU tutorial. That tutorial will introduce you to XCTU and explain how to configure XBee networks and addresses. In addition to that tutorial, we also recommend checking these guides out: Serial Communication Serial communication is critical to controlling and managing XBees. Arduino Shields The basics of Arduino Shields, including how to assemble a shield. XBee Buying Guide We highly recommend Series 1 XBees, if this is your first time playing with them. If youre curious about other XBee classes, check out this guide Hardware Overview Heres a quick overview of the most components of the XBee Shield: