I purchased a Maxbotix sensor last week along with an Arduino Uno.
I have searched but not found an answer for my question.
I see many have used the analog input on pin 3 of the sensor but am wanting to use Pin 5 which uses the RS232 protocol. It outputs the distance in centimeters in ASCII form. However, it is a non-standard RS232 format. It uses 0 and Vcc (which is 5VDC). Can I connect this Pin 5 output to digital input 1 on the Arduino and expect it to work? (with the proper code of course) Maxbotix says this is the most accurate output from the sensor.
If the baud rates are supported, sure. I have a box I get data from, thought it was RS232/serial, but it wasn't really. It was serial alright, and at 4800 baud, but the logic levels were reversed - so instead of sitting at 5V with no activity, it was at 0. I ended up putting the signals thru a simple 7404 type inverter (both in & out) and it worked fine after that.
Thanks for your reply.
So I guess it's just a matter of either it will work or it won't.
The 5V level won't bother the arduino input?
What is the max voltage that can safely be applied?
