Read ASCII string from LCD of another device

Using Arduino Displays
#1

Hi,

We have a laser distance meter and want to read the distance from it.
In the manual it states:

“connect the LCD to the device, the measured distance is sent as ASCII string, which is understood by External Displays with a serial interface.”

There is a simple diagram with a Rx Tx and ground connection between the LCD and device.

I hope that I can plug these Rx and Tx into the arduino’s Tx and Rx and read the value? This is the part I need help with. Is there a function/command to read the ASCII from the Rx pin of the arduino?

I have made a logger with a RTC and SD card and want to log the readings.

Hope I’ve asked this in the right part of the forums.

Help is much appreciated :slight_smile:

#2

The Arduino Uno has one hardware set of RX/TX and it is the one used for downloading sketches.

You could use SoftwareSerial library but it is best used at baud rate of 9600.

You could consider the Arduino Mega which has 3 sets of RX/TX.

You can use the Serial Monitor on the Arduino IDE or use Putty or Termite or ?

#3