Arduino nano, using the serial interface

Other Hardware 3rd Party Boards
1

Hello everyone!

I had a quick question, i am designing a board that is supposed to become a mp3 player, for this i have a arduino nano, a hitachi 16x2 display, a mp3 module with a serial interface, and a i2c dac (for the screens contrast) all the other pins except for pin 13 will become buttons.

Now heres my problem, i want to be able to program the arduino with the onboard usb, however that also uses the serial uart that i use for the mp3 module.
I have made a test setup, but it rapidly became clear that the mp3 board screws up the serial data connection, what is the easyest way to make it both work? I want to be able to see the serial connection to the mp3 shield, so both need to be active (i have made a software adjustment so the arduino echo's back what it receives from the mp3 board)

Software serial for the mp3 board is not a option because it sends and receives at the same time

Kind regards

Tom ten Berge

2

Easiest way is to use another micro that has one or more additional ports. The Arduino Micro or SparkFun Pro Micro come to mind.

Alternative to SoftwareSerial can be NeoSWSerial that, according to the description, supports simultaneous read and write.

3

One way to do it (not particularly elegant) would be to get another Nano and dedicate it to handling the communication with your mp3 module, and set up a link between the two processors via SPI.

4

Take a look at the: STM32 ARM Arduino Mini Microcontroller
Good Luck & Have Fun!
Gil

5

Can't you just use software serial to control the MP3 player?

Or disconnect it when uploading your sketch?