New Generation Hobbies

xBee Interface for MK manual

xBee Pro Interface Board Setup and Utilization

Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the xBee interface boards pair. This pair of boards will allow you to create a wireless modem link between your computer running MKTools and your Mikrokopter with the help of any of the xBee Pro boards available on the market today. The quality and the distance of the wireless link depends on the xBee modules used. Please note this package does not contain the xBee modules, those are sold separately.

Content of the package:

1 1 1 2 x x x x FTDI USB interface board Mikrokopter interface board 10 cm 10 pin ribbon cable 10 pin male ribbon cable headers.

Device and Pin Description

The xBee interface pair has been designed for your convenience such that you do not need to use the MKUSB any longer, the FTDI USB to serial interface chip is already built onto this board. So all whats left to do is to add your xBee modules, configure e link and initiate the connection. The USB interface is used to first configure both xBee modules through the xBee configuration software (X-CTU) and after both modules have been configured, you are ready to initiate the wireless connection to your computer.

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xBee Interface for MK manual

The ribbon cable with the push on connectors is provided to connect the second interface board to the Mikrokopter debug port.

Configuration:
Please use the USB interface board, and push one of the xBee or xBee pro modules in the socket just like on the picture below. Before plugging the unit into the computer, please make sure you already installed the required antenna for the xBee module, NEVER power on the module without the proper antenna attached!!!

WARNING: The following instructions provide basic connection setup only, if you require secure point to point communication which ensure the connection only between your two xBee modules, please refer to the manual of your xBee module and the X-CTU software.

Setup Instructions:
You will need to do the below procedures twice since you have 2 modules. With the first module set up in the previous section, plug the module into your computer. Please wait a few minutes till your Windows computer finds and installs the FTDI drivers and installs the required COM x port for communication with your module. (X can be a number between 1 to 256). If you are using Windows 7, you will see the following report:

After the driver has installed please download and install the X-CTU software from the Digi website: http://www.digi.com/support/productdetl.jsp?pid=3352&osvid=57&s=316&tp=5&tp2=0 After to software is installed, please run it, select the correct COM port and if this is a brand new xBee module then select 9600bps for communication then click on the Test/Query button. Please see the above sequences captured in the pictures below. If the X-CTU software connects successfully to the xBee module, you should see the third window below, with a report on your modem type and firmware version.

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xBee Interface for MK manual

The next step is to set the correct baud rate for communication with the Mikrokopter. Click on the last tab on the top called Modem configuration (1), click on the read button (2). When the values are displayed, scroll down till you find the Interface Data Rate, choose (6)-57600 then click on the Write button to save the values to your xBee module. Now please see the warning in red in the previous page this is for basic communication only, for secure communication you need to change other values as well (not covered in this manual)

When the write cycle completed, you can close the software, remove the module from the computer, and plug in your second module, repeating the X-CTU configuration steps above.

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New Generation Hobbies

xBee Interface for MK manual

Now you need to push the connectors on the ribbon cable, plug the first module into the second (MK) interface board, and connect the interface board to your Mikrokopter. Please note PIN 1 on the interface board is toward the LED just like in the picture below:

Please make sure you connect Pin1 to Pin 1 on the Mikrokopter debug port. Both interface boards have a red LED for convenience, this is not only an operation indicator but a power on indicator as well, it will only work if a proper and working xBee module is inserted. When trying to connect make sure you use the correct port on the computer for the MKTools, otherwise there will be no communication. In our testing we flew the Mikrokopter with 900Mhz and 2.4GHz xBee modules while remote controlling the Mikrokopter in 2.4GHz Spektrum RC radio.

Troubleshooting
In case you have any concerns or problems using this device, please contact us at customerservice@nghobbies.com or through the Support page at www.nghobbies.com

Copyright @ 2011, 2011, New Generation Hobbies.

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