Can i program xbee without explorer board?

Question

i have no explorer board.i need to configure a coordinator and router.is there any way to configure?can i configure using a micro controller interface it with xbee than sending at command? Please help.

Answer 1

Yes you can however you probably would want to at least buy a USB-to-XBee adapter from sparkfun or something like that it will make your life a lot easier.
Not that it is not impossible but you will need patience because the connectors are smaller. You also will have to regulate voltage from 5 volts to 3.3 volts.
Depending on witch way you go with this here is something that will likely be of some use should you chose to venture down that road.
Of course the ones used or not used depend on your config but the main ones you would need to set that up are there.

pin 1 is top left when looking from logo side obviously the logo is in the readable orientation.

* XPIN1 = VCC
* XPIN2 = uart0 [TX Pin]
* XPIN3 = uart0 [RX Pin]
* XPIN4 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN5 = special0 [Reset Pin]
* XPIN6 = special0 [RSSI PWM Pin]
* XPIN7 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN8 = special0 [BKGD Pin]
* XPIN9 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN10 = GND
* XPIN11 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN12 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN13 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN14 = VCC REF
* XPIN15 = special0 [Association Pin]
* XPIN16 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN17 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN18 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN19 = <<UNUSED>>
* XPIN20 = adc0 [ADC Pin]

Answer 2

Hi,

From what I've read, there is no way of changing the firmware of the XBee without an adapter, but there are ways of configuring it. Meaning that you can only change the firmware through the X-CTU software provided by Digi International.

Moreover, you can configure the XBee (there are programmable and non-programmable XBees) through an Arduino Uno board if you have one with an extra shield or a breadboard to help reduce the voltage from 5V to 3.3V. Documentation about this can be found here:

http://www.cooking-hacks.com/documentation/tutorials/raspberry-pi-xbee#step3

Comments

Depending on which XBee module you have depends on if you can change its firmware with a different application or if it needs to be connected to the PC.

For example, an Xbee ZB and SMT modules are both Zigbee Enabled products using an Ember processor.  Both offer an OTA firmware upgrade option that is explained it their respective product manuals where as the XBee 802.15.4 module you need to contact Digi to find out how to write a firmware file to it using an external processor.