I am trying to set up a XBee network which has around 10 (industrial CNC) machines that all communicate using standard RS232. In AT mode I can communicate transparantly with one machine, but not with all 10.
So the solution would be to use API mode, but unfortunately I can’t find the way to set this up. Does the firmware support this type of communication? All I want is the XBee endpoint module to receive X bytes, pack it up in an API frame and send it to the communicator. Another solution would be to set up a microcontroller and let the microcontroller perform the packet generation…but Xbee should should be perfectly capable of doing that all by itself. Any thoughts on how to solve this?
In API command mode the API frame must be formatted externally and sent into the XBee’s serial DIN line. At the receiving end the API frame is spit out of the XBee’s serial DOUT line and must be decoded externally. This requires some type of processor at each end. For simply building and/or parsing the API frame a PIC uController works well.
What about leaving the XBee modules attached to the CNC machines in AT mode, configured to only send data to the coordinator, and put the coordinator into API mode, so that it can determine the source of the data? Then it’s only the coordinator that needs to have API support, and therefore some kind of “brain” attached?