This Processing program takes a string of values in the serial port. It assumes the string is the API string from a Maxstream XBee radio. It parses the string and graphs the signal strength. See the XBee product manual for more info on the protocol.
The XBee radio in this program is attached to the computer’s serial port using an FTDI USB-to-serial module like this one from Spark Fun.
Technorati Tags: networked objects, networks, XBee
/* Xbee Signal Strength Reader
Language: Processing
Reads a packet from an Xbee radio and parses it. The packet
should be 22 bytes long. It should be made up of the following:
byte 1: 0x7E, the start byte value
byte 2-3: packet size, a 2-byte value (not used here)
byte 4: API identifier value, a code that says what this response is (not used here)
byte 5-6: Sender's address
byte 7: RSSI, Received Signal Strength Indicator (not used here)
byte 8: Broadcast options (not used here)
byte 9: Number of samples to follow
byte 10-11: Active channels indicator (not used here)
byte 12-21: 5 10-bit values, each ADC samples from the sender
Created 3 Mar. 2007
by Tom Igoe
*/
import processing.serial.*;
Serial xbee; // input serial port from the Xbee Radio
int[] packet = new int[22]; // with 5 samples, the Xbee packet is 22 bytes long
int byteCounter; // keeps track of where you are in the packet
int rssi = 0; // received signal strength
int address = 0; // the sending Xbee's address
Serial myPort; // The serial port
int fontSize = 18; // size of the text on the screen
int lastReading = 0; // value of the previous incoming byte
void setup () {
size(400, 300); // window size
// create a font with the second font available to the system:
PFont myFont = createFont(PFont.list()[2], fontSize);
textFont(myFont);
// get a list of the serial ports:
println(Serial.list());
// open the serial port attached to your Xbee radio:
xbee = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
}
void draw() {
// if you have new data and it's valid (>0), graph it:
if ((rssi > 0 ) && (rssi != lastReading)) {
// set the background:
background(0);
// set the bar height and width:
// rssi should range from 92 to 0:
int rectHeight = 92 - rssi;
int rectWidth = 50;
// draw the rect:
stroke(23, 127, 255);
fill (23, 127, 255);
rect(width/2 - rectWidth, height-rectHeight, rectWidth, height);
// write the number:
text("Xbee Radio Signal Strength test", 10, 20);
text("From: " + hex(address), 10, 40);
text ("RSSI: -" + rssi + " dB", 10, 60);
// save the current byte for next read:
lastReading = rssi;
}
}
void serialEvent(Serial xbee) {
// read a byte from the port:
int thisByte = xbee.read();
// if the byte = 0x7E, the value of a start byte, you have a new packet:
if (thisByte == 0x7E) { // start byte
// parse the previous packet if there's data:
if (packet[2] > 0) {
parseData(packet);
}
// reset the byte counter:
byteCounter = 0;
}
// put the current byte into the packet at the current position:
packet[byteCounter] = thisByte;
// increment the byte counter:
byteCounter++;
}
/*
Once you've got a packet, you need to extract the useful data.
This method gets the address of the sender and RSSI.
*/
void parseData(int[] thisPacket) {
// read the address. It's a two-byte value, so you
// add the two bytes as follows:
address = thisPacket[5] + thisPacket[4] * 256;
// get RSSI:
rssi = thisPacket[6];
}