Getting Started with Xadow
Overview
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATMlU1GNHBM]
Eager to implement wearables into fashion design or build wearable IoT projects? Xadow helps you nail it!
Xadow is a series of open hardware modules which connect via flexible FFC. Without soldering, the small & light-weight Xadow modules are especially made for wearables.
No matter you are a keen user of Arduino platform or mbed platform, you will always be able to find the right Xadow modules to further develop and build your projects.
When you want to make a super-cool wearable IoT, Xadow will provide various sensors and actuators for you to make your projects rich and playful. Besides, Xadow-BLE and Xadow-NFC make it easy & convenient to interact between your demo and smartphone.
In want of more functions? No worries! You can use Xadow-Breakout to bridge to other hardware modules. For example, Seeed Grove system has more than 150 modules which can be used with Xadow modules easily.
With Xadow, be a trend-setter in wearables!
Feature
- Modular design& Easy to cascade connection
Make you have the option of flexibility to connect certain modules for your own design. - Small& light
Make Xadow be your miniaturization design’s best partner. - Low power consumption
To make the devices compact and also to provide enduring power for the devices, we have very strict control over power dissipation while designing the products. - High quality
Modules are connected by FFC cable, thus, you can bend them as much as possible for your shape design.
Download software
The quickest way is download our version of Arduino IDE, which included the Seeed Family drivers, libraries & code examples!
Download Link:
- For Windows
- For Mac OS X
If you wanna do it on your own, hack some files to get started. This works for 1.0.X version of Arduino IDE.
Download our new files:
Replace the following files:
- Arduino-version/hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/USBCore.cpp
- Arduino-version/hardware/arduino/boards.txt
Tips & Tricks for Mac
For Mac Lion user, your Arduino folder may not list under Document/Arduino, open your Application folder, find “Arduino”, right click , then “show package content”. 
There will be a path way to “hardware”. Find board.txt, replace it(or you can back up original file by rename it to board-old.txt).
Tips & Tricks for Windows
Install Drivers for WinXP/7/8. Download the [Driver File] and save it, unzip it.
When you plug Xadow into your computer, where will be a pop up. Ignore it.
Open Device Manager with Start menu. Right click and choose Update driver.
When asked to install automatically or from a specific location, select “Browse my computer for driver software”.
Choose “Search for the best driver in these locations”, and check the box “incude this location in the search”. Click the Browse button and navigate to drive you have downloaded. Select the drivers folder an click OK.
“Successful updated” screenshot, if not please contact us.
Blink Test
First, connect your Xadow via microUSB. Like Arduino UNO, there is a LED on board.
Checkout our code at Github, or you can simply download zip file.
Unzip, rename and put this fold under your library.
Choose Board From the Tools menu.
Then choose Port.
Then choose our example: UserLed.
Upload it.
Then you will see the green Led blink.
Xadow pinout diagram
Xadow modules cascades with Each other with FFC cables. All the modules share the same bus includes IIC, SPI, UART and digital&analog Pins. The table below shows the communication details between Xadow modules with the Xadow mainboard.
Learn more about Xadow IO here.
You can refer this table here when using Arduino.
| Name | IO function | Alternate use | IO Pin | code example(s) |
| P1 | Digital Pin | ISP SCK | 15 | PinMode(15, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(15, HIGH); |
| P2 | Digital Pin | ISP MOSI | 16 | PinMode(16, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(16, HIGH); |
| P3 | Digital Pin | ISP MISO | 14 | PinMode(14, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(14, HIGH); |
| P4 | Analogue Pin | Digital pin! | A5 | analogWrite(A5, 128); pinMode(A5, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(A5, HIGH); |
| P5 | Digital Pin | IIC SCL | 3 | PinMode(3, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(3, HIGH); |
| P6 | Digital Pin | IIC SDA | 2 | PinMode(2, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(2, HIGH); |
| P7 | Digital Pin | Serial Rxd | 0 | PinMode(0, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(0, HIGH); |
| P8 | Digital Pin | Serial Txd | 1 | PinMode(1, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(1, HIGH); |
Tutorials
You can find all Xadow tutorials in the libraries.
All Recipes
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATMlU1GNHBM]
MakeitWearable with Xadow – A Watch Prototyping
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJJIj0y1nF0]
TouchBot
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWxSZ7IDPlE]
TouchCat
Xadow Modules
- Xadow – Main Board
- Xadow – Motor Driver
- Xadow – NFC
- Xadow – OLED 128*64
- Xadow – RTC
- Xadow – Storage
- Xadow – UV Sensor
- Xadow – Vibrator Motor
- Xadow – 3-Axis Accelerometer
- Xadow – Barometer
- Xadow – BLE Slave
- Xadow – Breakout
- Xadow – Buzzer
- Xadow – Compass
- Xadow – GPS
- Xadow – Grove Adaptor
- Xadow – IMU 6DOF
- Xadow – LED 5X7
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