Jee Labs Talk

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1. upton-pickman
   

   First of all: Hi, I'm new here but after looking at the JeeNode I was really impressed with the kit, and the excellent support in the forums, and thought it could be a good component for my graduation project. The problem is that I have more knowledge of programming than electronics so I wondered if anyone here could help me on my way.

   As my graduation project I'm looking into building a RTI prototype (example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzAzbmgL-d0) to see if this technique can be used for art installations. I want to make sure to system can be setup as easily and cheaply as possible and I'm trying to figure out if I can use a JeeNode instead of a Zigbee/Xbee solution that was used in the example shown in the video.

   What the node should be able to do is collect the analog RSSI value from incoming signals and broadcast an array with all the different RSSI values out. Only one node sends it's signal out at a time and the prototype will probably consist around 30 nodes.

   A computer will analyze the RSSI value of the different links and build a grid showing the interference hotspots.

   So far what I read the JeeNode seems to be able to do these things. But i have no experience with the RF12b nor with any Zigbee module so maybe someone here's has some pointers what I should be using and potential pitfalls, I know there are many, i will encounter while working on this project.

   Posted 22/04/2010 10:05:05

2. jcw
   

   Sounds like a fun (and fairly advanced) project!

   There's an analog RSSI level on the RFM12B module. There's also a 1-bit RSSI status bit, which triggers on a settable threshold, so you could ramp up the threshold value and see at what level the RSSI status bit turns on.

   I don't know how fast the RSSI signal responds. For some related weblog posts, see .

   You can also vary the transmit level. Might be useful to get better RSSI readings if the distances are small.

   Posted 22/04/2010 13:20:12

3. upton-pickman
   

   Thanks for the quick response! The articles have certainly given me some pointers on possibilities to explore and things to look out for.

   Still don't know what's the best option for this type of system so the search continues :-).

   Posted 26/04/2010 11:46:16