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XBee Setup

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Jessica Janiuk edited this page Jun 25, 2026 · 1 revision

XBee Setup

Amidala uses XBee 3 modules for wireless control. The board has a native XBee slot (SPI), so no USB or serial adapter is needed on the droid side.

Supported Modules

Amidala specifically requires XBee 3 modules with SPI support. The SPI transport is what allows low-latency, reliable communication at the speeds a live droid needs.

Supported:

  • XBee 3 (802.15.4) — recommended
  • XBee 3 Pro (longer range)

Earlier XBee modules (XBee 2, etc.) use UART and are not compatible with the Amidala SPI interface.

Programming the Amidala Board XBee

The XBee module that lives in the Amidala PCB slot acts as the coordinator.

  1. Remove the XBee module from the board and insert it into an XBee USB adapter (e.g. SparkFun XBee Explorer)
  2. Open XCTU (Digi's free configuration tool)
  3. Configure as follows:
Parameter Value
ID (PAN ID) Choose a unique 4-digit hex value — all modules in your build must share the same PAN ID
CE (Coordinator Enable) 1 — Coordinator
SM (Sleep Mode) 0 — No sleep
AP (API Mode) 1 — API mode without escaping
BD (Baud Rate) Match your firmware setting (default 9600)

Set the DH/DL destination to the address of whichever controller you want to communicate with, or use broadcast (0x000000000000FFFF) to accept from any device.

  1. Write settings, reinsert the module into the PCB.

Programming Pocket / Stealth Controllers

Each XBee Pocket Controller has its own XBee module that needs to be configured as an endpoint (not coordinator).

  1. Remove the XBee from the pocket controller and insert into a USB adapter
  2. In XCTU, configure:
Parameter Value
ID (PAN ID) Same PAN ID as the board module
CE 0 — End device
SM 0 — No sleep (or 1 if battery-operated and the controller supports it)
AP 1
DH/DL Set to the address of the Amidala board XBee
  1. Write settings, reinsert into the controller.

Pairing in the Web UI

Once both modules are programmed with matching PAN IDs, go to Connectivity in the web UI. The XBee addresses of connected controllers will appear there, and you can assign which controller is Drive and which is Dome.

See Connectivity for details.

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