Voltage Differences Cause Issues

Alright, so I got four more Energizer rechargeable batteries, charged them up again like I had to do on the last set, and finally I had a separate power source for my Arduino board.  Hooray!  I then reconfigured my cables on my breadboard to clean it up, hooked up my TX/RX connections between my WiFly module and the Arduino board, and then I ran into another road block.  I wasn't receiving any communication between my laptop and the Arduino board.  After some research and reading over both datasheets, come to find out that the WiFly module's TX/RX connections are 3.3V tolerant and the Arduino's TX/RX connections are 5V tolerant.  Well how can I fix this issue?  I'm needing to step up and step down the voltage for communication to happen between the WiFly and Arduino board.  Luckily, SparkFun has already developed a breakout ready to go for purchase on their site.  Here's the link: Logic Level Converter

I should be receiving it on September 3rd, 2013 so as of right now I'm on hold till then.  All I have to do is run some wires connections between the two to this converter and my problem will be solved.  Apparently, some others have came across this issue and have developed a board to switch between a 3.3V and 5V tolerance.  Very smart idea and something that Arduino should put in place on their next board that they develop.

After this implemented into the project, hopefully by then I will have a new video to post up of the progress.  I hope everyone enjoys the progress and possibly encourage someone to start their own robotic project.  If you decide to take one on, use our forum to post your progress and make a blog.  BizSol Systems Forums It's neat to see your progress as you go along and easy to follow up to see what you've done so far.

Troubleshooting to its MAX

After quite a bit of time waiting for my replacement part, I finally received the new wireless module for Butler.  After refreshing my memory on all that I learned about the module, I was finally able to connect to the EEPROM and rewrite information in the module.  Well, I've hit another road block.  I have officially prepared myself to hit a road block after each step me and the group completes.

Now, I'm having troubles with connecting to my Belkin wireless router.  I've given the right settings to the module so it can connect but something isn't adding up.  I'm most likely going to do some research on what type of router I best need to use for flawless connectivity.  I want to figure out though why I can not connect to current router.  If I was to mainstream this product, it would need to connect to any router without any issues.

So, the new task at hand is to research wireless connectivity and the best approach to take.  I've had others ask why I'm not doing Bluetooth or other forms of connectivity.  The main reason is distance and being a strong wireless connection that can send lots of data if need be.  Bluetooth is short range at the moment and is more expensive.

I'm not giving up on the project and have started asking questions to the community to get some feedback as not much material is out on the web for research purposes regarding what I'm trying to accomplish.