Preferred wireless communication between microcontrollers?

I only recently became aware that Atmel has a whole raft of zigbee and related "zigbit" stuff, some of which are tightly integrated with Atmel's AVR processors, so hopefully I could easily leverage whatever I already know about arduino's.
http://www.atmel.com/products/wirele...s/default.aspx

You should look at panStamp http://www.panstamp.com/home  It uses a TI CC1101 radio.
 
There are always interesting arduino/wireless stuff like this on Kickstarter
This project http://www.flutterwireless.com/ uses the newer TI CC1200 for claimed 1km range
And there is this one https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1630453569/angelblocks-smart-wireless-building-blocks-for-sma
which didn't quite make the funding goal but uses the LoRo radio.
 

I've had success getting Raspberry Pi's and Arduinos communicating wirelessly using Nordic Semiconductor nRF24L01.  The modules operate in th 2.4ghz band.  They are les than $5USD and well documented in both the Arduino and Raspberry Pi libraries.
 
http://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/Products/2.4GHz-RF/nRF24L01

The chips are less than $5 but it appears that is just the chip and this needs a PCB with antenna.  The cheapest I found with board (Digikey) was $35.  Not too bad but a long way from $5.  What did you use for the board?

JimS said:

The chips are less than $5 but it appears that is just the chip and this needs a PCB with antenna.  The cheapest I found with board (Digikey) was $35.  Not too bad but a long way from $5.  What did you use for the board?

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I have nRF2401's working on Arduino Unos, Raspberry Pi's and an Arduino Nano on a small breadboard.  

I just discovered the 24L01 is available with a small board and antenna cheap on ebay...  Would be nice to have a more stable source but that works.
 
Also found this on Arduino links that should apply to other platforms and give people some ideas:
http://mecharobotics.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/cheap-breadboard-arduino-with-wireless-module/

JimS said:

I just discovered the 24L01 is available with a small board and antenna cheap on ebay...  Would be nice to have a more stable source but that works.

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Yep, Amazon Prime has them pretty cheap too:  http://www.amazon.com/nRF24L01-Wireless-Transceiver-Arduino-Compatible/dp/B00E594ZX0/ref=zg_bs_537316_1.  For shorter ranges it seems like a good value.  Does Amazon fit your criteria for a stable source?  Prime has been carrying them for at least a couple months now.
 
I'd buy the flutterwireless  if they weren't backlogged (actually, I'm not sure whether they're even shipping yet).  Small package, and very high bang for buck.  I saw a couple videos of TI's range demonstrations in Norway for the TI CC1200, and it looked impressive, even when you consider it was line of sight.

Just an FYI, you might consider the Arduino Nano v3 (clone) (~$11) and a mini breadboard (~$5) as a way to get started.
You'll need some male-female jumper wires to get started.  That's a cheaper route than an UNO R3 or even a Raspberry Pi.
Warning: this hobby can get addictive; fortunately the costs are modest.  
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141285592818?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

whlatimer said:

Just an FYI, you might consider the Arduino Nano v3 (clone) (~$11) and a mini breadboard (~$5) as a way to get started.
You'll need some male-female jumper wires to get started.  That's a cheaper route than an UNO R3 or even a Raspberry Pi.
Warning: this hobby can get addictive; fortunately the costs are modest.  
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141285592818?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

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Have you found especially good libraries and examples sketches for using the 24L01 that are easy to use?   Easy and highly reliable is always key, as otherwise these devices can quickly become "expensive" by eating too much time.

http://plantpi.gabrielbarnes.co.uk/
 
Arduino and Raspberry Pi source code to make 24L01's talk.
 
PM me for other links on 24L01

Semtech last year released some low power Long Range (LoRa) spread spectrum chips (sx1272 and sx1276) with an incredible  receive sensitivity of -137db.  That's head and shoulders better than just about anything else.  Chips are available and in stock through digikey at under $7 for quantity 1.

RadioHead recently assembled an impressively well organized library with a uniform approach toward utilizing a diverse range of different radios:  http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/RadioHead/

whlatimer said:

I've had success getting Raspberry Pi's and Arduinos communicating wirelessly using Nordic Semiconductor nRF24L01.  The modules operate in th 2.4ghz band.  They are les than $5USD and well documented in both the Arduino and Raspberry Pi libraries.
 
http://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/Products/2.4GHz-RF/nRF24L01

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Caveat Emptor:  http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/28256-anyone-interested-in-discussing-building-diy-home-automation-software-and-hardware/?p=234265

Automate said:

and there is this one https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1630453569/angelblocks-smart-wireless-building-blocks-for-sma
which didn't quite make the funding goal but uses the LoRo radio.

Click to expand...

 
As an FYI, these (in a modified form) are now shipping: http://www.d6labs.com/Store#!/Kits/c/11616129/offset=0&sort=normal 
 
Cheers
Al

NeverDie said:

I only recently became aware that Atmel has a whole raft of zigbee and related "zigbit" stuff, some of which are tightly integrated with Atmel's AVR processors, so hopefully I could easily leverage whatever I already know about arduino's.
http://www.atmel.com/products/wirele...s/default.aspx

Click to expand...

 
Hi NeverDie
 
When I began building my HA system, I found that current designs relied on a central controller to do everything and to coordinate all node communication. At first I thought this was a good idea but then realised that I could have a more robust system if i didn't depend so much on the controller to manage each and ever event.
 
In the current design, nodes are intelligent agents that interact with each other rather than through the controller. In fact, the controller isn't needed for day to day operation of my HA system, just for maintenance and configuration purposes.
 
I'm really happy with the approach as it lets me segment the network so that local zones manage their own traffic without needing to funnel every message through the gateway/controller. This has made the network more robust, messages almost always are delivered and I don't need to rely on the internet for my HA system to function.
 
Here's my RF module based on the Semtech SX1232 radio. It's a 4 layer, .8mm thick board with castellated edges for SMD mounting. The PCB is impedance controlled and the output PI filter has been optimised to filter out stray harmonics.
 

 
In this photo I have the radio mounted on my controller/gateway cloud interface so that devices can communicate with my phone through the cloud or over the local LAN. It runs a web server, CMSIS OS, IP6/IP4 and my mesh protocol.
 

 
P.s sorry for the bodge wires... i forgot a couple of critical SDRAM connections :-(
 
Regards
Trevor