T05 Digi XBee Pinout and Grove Development Board

There are 2 types of XBee Grove Development Board, one is THT (Through-Hole Technology), the other is SMT (Surface-Mount Technology). For the THT type, the XBee can be plugged in to the development board easily. For the SMT one, it needs to do the soldering work.

XBee THT Grove Development Board

Totally 20 pins, 10 for each side

XBee SMT Grove Development Board

Totally 34 pins, 13 for L/R side, plus 8 on bottom

1. Connect through VCP

For XBee THT type, check the pin definition table below. The Development Board comes with a FTDI chip which allows user be able to connect XBee to a PC/Laptop with a USB cable. Then the XBee can be configured / updated firmware through Digi X-CTU software easily.

2. Connect through RS232

With the  pin definition table, user can also use a bread board to do the configuration and firmware update. After power on the XBee with pin1 & pin10, PC/Laptop can communicate to XBee with serial TX/RX pin easily. For update the XBee parameters, using TX/RX pin is ok. For update the XBee firmware, the extra CTS/RTS pin should also be connected to the XBee Module.

The Pinout of XBee Grove Development Board

Virtual COM Port & FTDI Chip

For easily access the XBee with a PC/Laptop, the XBee Development Board has a FTDI chip on it and "FT232RL" can be found on the chip. This chip will create a Virtual COM Port on the PC/Laptop, then the XBee can be accessed with an USB cable and can be communicated like a COM Port. The way it works just like Arduino.