Arduino Mega + XBee Shield + RAMPS 1.4 Is it possible?

Question

Is it possible to sandwich an XBee shield between Arduino Mega and Ramps 1.4 without damaging any of the boards or lose of Ramps functionality ?

I am not trying to make a 3D printer it is rather a completely different project and I am afraid of burning my XBee or losing some functionality of ramps.

Since XBee shield has the form factor of Arduino UNO I had to 3D print the rest of the shield and use some connectors to completely cover the Mega.

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• Majenko: IF The XBee module uses different pins from the RAMPS board then yes it will "work". However with it sandwiched like that wireless performance may be rather less than desirable. You may want to, if possible, add an external antenna.
• user9349193413: Thanks, do you think there is no risk burning the xbee shield under normal circumstances, I'm a bit affraid of the 12v used in ramps, I burned megas before but it was because of the way I wired stepper motors and lose cable connections however I do not want to burn my shield if it is preventable
• Majenko: The only way you would burn it is if you let power go where it shouldn't.

Answer 1

Yes, it would seem like folks on the RepRap forums have gotten this to work with the following setup that should work in general:

Attach the XBee shield to the RAMPS board by attaching 4 pins on AUX-1 (namely, 5V, Gnd, D1 and D0) to the 5V, Gnd, Rx and Tx pins on the XBee Shield

Switch the UART / DLINE switch on the XBee Shield to UART

Source: RepRap Forum: Printing completely wirelessly - can it be done?

This forum thread may also be useful.

• user9349193413: Hi, thanks for the answer, one of the links you provided links to a question I asked some time ago but what is different now is that I want my xbee shield to be between Arduino Mega and Ramps rather than on top of rams as I managed to wire it and get it to work, I am afraid not to burn it if Ramps plugs into this shield

Answer 2

Yes, and the answer is really simple. You need to extend the connectors between the xbee shield and the ramps shield. Either by adding another layer of the through pin connectors you have or by resoldering some longer ones on the RAMPS board.

You might have an issue with the RF signal, sticking that much metal near the xbee board might cause problems, but I think you can get external aerials for them, if that becomes an issue.

• user9349193413: Hi, thanks, not sure if you noticed in the picture but I already did the pin extension as you suggested, however I was looking for someone who can tell me whether there is any risk of burning the circuits of any board by doing this, also as a bonus I was hoping to find if there are any pin clashes