Integration with Zigbee/XBee

Other Devices & Integrations Lighting & Load Control
1

Just to share right now that I got some success on how easely XBee can be integrated with Vera.

I’m thinking about building some customized automation devices.
Zwave cannot be a choice because it is not open platform while Zigbee is.

So I choose for now the following things (Sparkfun is a good source):

[ul][li]ConnectPort X2 from Digi[/li]
[li]XBee Series 2 from Digi[/li]
[li]Arduino Uno[/li]
[li]Xbee shield from DFROBOT[/li]
[li]XIG[/li][/ul]

ConnectPort is a general gateway between ethernet and other network In my case I have a version which bridges ethernet with ZigBee/XBee.
XIG is Python library to allow ZigBee devices easely use http semantic in communicating internet throuth ConnectPort. XIG should be installed into ConnectPort.

So as soon as minimal configuration is estsblished I can do Arduino devices with two way communication with Vera.
Example bellow connects LED on Arduino board with status of the virtual switch with ID 160.

[code]
const int led = 13;

void setup() {
pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
int value = -1;

Serial.println(“http://192.168.1.50:49451/data_request?id=lu_variableget&serviceId=urn:upnp-org:serviceId:VSwitch1&Variable=Status&DeviceNum=160”);

while (Serial.available() == 0) {}
while (Serial.available() > 0) {
value = Serial.parseInt();
}

if (value == 1) {
digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
} else {
digitalWrite(led, LOW);
}
delay(1000);
}[/code]

2

That’s a very good news. thanks for the job.

I just recieve my first Arduino board and initialy planned to use ethernet/wifi to communicate with the Vera but your post might change my decision.

Have a nice WE.

3

I have quite a collection of Arduinos (mostly Unos and Mega) and a Vera 2. But I’m still in the stage of getting one or two Zigbee sheilds and a couple of Xbee daughter/USB boards. I

I’m actually interested in seeing if we can talk to Iris modules available at Lowes. They’re fairly inexpensive

  1. Door sensor
  2. Motion sensor
  3. Button
  4. Keyfob
  5. Repeater
  6. Keyboard

Btw … are there other 2.4 GHz Zigbee devices that people know of?

4

By the way, I’m thinking it would be prudent to write a common “Zigbee” plugin app to work hand-in-hand with the Arduino over an Ethernet or WiFi interface. It would need to receive messages from the Zigbee sensors to create Vera Triggers as well as to carry actions back to the Zigbee mesh.

The registration process with the Arduino would need to create the UpNp code and data structures in Vera. Maybe someone can help me with this idea here.

5

Hi Axill,

Just curious, why choose the Digi XBee vs. something more mainstream? I am in the industry and was recently at training on the Microchip Zigbee Smart Energy Profile and Home Automation Profile products, and also had some training on the Ember (now SiLabs) HA profile devices as well. These are much more commonly used in the industry and therefore should have more support and longevity. Any particular advantage you see to the Digi products?

Do you happen to know whose radio Digi uses on their modules?

6

The Digi Zigbee / xbee chips are very common in the arduino scene. They are extensively supported in the arduino sdk. They are also easy to configure and use as well as fairly cheap.

  • Garrett
7

… and at least part of that is the cost-of-entry, as XBee modules are fairly cheap to get started. I looked at what it would cost me to enter the ZigBee field using Ember’s boards and it was price-prohibitive for hobbyists.

The other thing that’s handy about the XBee modules is that they use a semi-standard [pluggable] footprint. You can get all sorts of stuff in that same footprint (Ethernet, WiFi, Fiber Optic, LongRange, USB, RS-232 etc), from a variety of vendors, so it makes it easier for the hobbyist to transition to other technologies when needed… something the commercial lads don’t really need as much, except when prototyping.

At the office, we use the ATMel Radio’s, and their fairly good (and very compact).

Are your vendors using SEP 2.0 or the older stuff? That was the specific item I was planning to get the Ember stuff to be able to trial.

8

Hi Garrett,

Thanks for the feedback. I know Arduino is popular among the hobby crowd but I’m not too familiar with it since I deal with the commercial development world. And the mainstream parts are cheaper for me since I don’t have to pay for them… ;D

Hi Guessed,

SEP 1.x (I forget the “x”, sorry) now but going to 2.0 as we speak…at least for Microchip. I’d have to look up the SiLabs (Ember) parts to be sure (technically I only work with Microchip; SiLabs is another engineer in my office but we cross train so I know a bit about the SiLabs, but more about the Microchip).

9

Is the arduino actually needed? It seems like it should be possible to use the XBee (or a similar device) directly using their serial APIs to get data to/from the Zigbee mesh.

10

Purchased the XBee module , and I’m trying to figure out how to build a network. My main objective is to make the sensors that I can buy at Lowes (for iris) work. The lowes modules, made by alertme.com, are supposed to be Zigbee HA compatible. So far though, I think that the Digi modules do not support Zigbee HA, and will require some coding to make it work. I’m spending a lot of time trying to figure out a way to make this work. I’ve found a python xbee library (GitHub - niolabs/python-xbee: Python tools for working with XBee radios). If anyone finds a way to detect the devices, I’d love to know, because this is the starting point. I’ll share on this thread as I learn more

11

Take a look at Cocootech’s Forum. It looks like they’re making a little headway starting on page 2 of this thread.
[url=http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/21957-lowes-now-entering-into-home-automation/]http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/21957-lowes-now-entering-into-home-automation/[/url]

12

So has anyone gotten the Lowes stuff for Iris to work with Vera? I still can’t tell from these threads.

13

No, there has not been any reports of the non z-wave devices working with Vera yet.

  • Garrett
14

OK. I thought I saw in the other thread that these were z-wave devices used by iris. But I misunderstood.