The BeagleBee is an XBee Radio adapter for the BeagleBone. It attaches directly to the P9 header and is fully assembled so there is no additional soldering required, just attach your XBee radio (not included)! It also includes a Hashlet on the bottom of the board so you can build authenticated wireless sensor networks.

I designed the BeagleBee because I wanted an XBee adapter that attached to the BeagleBone directly. I also wanted the ability to authenticate messages from other sensors to the BeagleBone, which can be done with the authentication chip.

Hardware features

The board has two LEDs, one for association, which will blink when associated with a network and one for Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). The RSSI LED will blink in proportion to the strength of the received transmission.

Commissioning Pushbutton

The button simulates some of the ATCB commands with different button presses. See the chart on page 79 of the XBee Series 2 datasheet for more details.

Enabling the serial port

The BeagleBee communicates on serial UART4 to the radio. To enable this, perform as root:

echo BB-UART4 > /sys/devices/bone_capemgr.*/slots

After this, you should now see /dev/ttyO4. The baud rate is 9600, which can be changed with:

stty -F /dev/ttyO4 9600

You should now be able to issue AT commands or program the radio with API commands.

Testing

I have tested this adapter with Series 2 radios, but it looks like XBee keeps the same pinout on all its modules. If you have a series 1 or an XBee Wifi module, it should work, but I have not tested it.

More info

See SparkFun's XBee Buying Guide on the different types of radios. I highly recommend Building Wireless Sensor Networks by Robert Faludi to get you started.

This board is Open Source Hardware. The design files are on GitHub.

The Hashlet is also available on Tindie.

Notes

These are hand soldered by me so there are some superficial blemishes. They make your BeagleBee unique :)

Domestic Shipping

Shipping is via USPS Priority Mail. It's a flat rate of $5.25 with tracking and insurance and will arrive between 2 - 3 business days.

International Shipping

International shipping rates vary by country. Please inquire about shipping rates to your country and I will add the rate. International packages ship via USPS International first class and delivery dates vary.

Export Controls

This component is subject to U.S. Export Controls as is classified as ECCN: 5A992.B.