All Guides

Beginner Guides

Getting Started with Sense/Stage
First-time users start here. This guide walks you through installing Pydon and then shows how to configure your first Sense/Stage network.
Pydon Installation Guide
Instructions on installing Pydon, the core Sense/Stage software that communicates between your sensor network and your computer.
Guide to Batteries
An overview of the kinds of batteries that can be used with your sensor nodes, including how to charge and care for the most popular battery type, Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries. Importantly, this guide includes safety advice for using LiPo batteries in your projects.
Embedding the battery charger
How to embed your battery charger into your Minibees, so that you can charge the battery without removing it from your system.
Connecting a light resistor to a MiniBee
A simple tutorial on how to connect a light sensor to a MiniBee and get the data from it into your software.
Connecting a haptic motor to a MiniBee
A tutorial on how to connect a haptic vibration motor to a MiniBee and control it from your software.

Intermediate Guides

Adding New MiniBees to a Network with XCTU
How to add new nodes to a Sense/Stage network, or create new networks from scratch. This requires configuring your XBee radios to all use the correct channel and PAN id.
Creating MiniBee configurations via OSC
A guide on how to create a configuration from scratch via OSC.
Using SuperCollider with Sense/Stage
This page describes how to get Sense/Stage data into SuperCollider
Assigning a MiniBee Configuration via OSC
A guide on how to assign a configuration to a MiniBee by sending an OSC message
Optimizing your Sense/Stage Network
Tips and tricks for optimizing your network and Minibee configurations for optimal performance.
Installing Pydon the Hard Way on OSX/Linux
Describes step-by-step what the installation script is doing if you want to do it yourself, or need to debug the process.
Installing Pydon the Hard Way on Windows
Step-by step instructions for installing Pydon on Windows if the installation script isn't working for you, or if you want to know what exactly is being installed on your system.
Using Touch Designer with Sense/Stage
These video tutorials show you how to use Touch Designer with Sense/Stage

Advanced Guides

Customizing firmware
Advanced guide explaining how to use the Arduino IDE to reprogram and customize the firmware on the Minibees. For example, to support special I2C sensors.
Programming the MiniBee with Arduino
A guide on how to program firmware onto the MiniBee with the Arduino IDE
Advanced control over outputs with custom firmware
A guide for creating more detailed control over outputs using custom firmware
MiniBee DIY - use your own Arduino and XBee
This page describes how to make use of the MiniBee firmware with your own Arduino and XBee combination.
Using command line XBee tools
Advanced guide on configuring XBee radios from the command line instead of using XCTU.
Upgrading to use API mode
How to upgrade your Xbees to use the more modern API mode. If you bought your Minibees in 2012 or later then this document is not relevant to you.