[RESOLVED] Plug two devices that communicate through Serial on Arduino Uno

Projects General Guidance
1

I apologize now for my poor english.

Hello everyone, i need some information about the feasability of my project for school.

The school got me an Arduino Uno microcontroller for the project i'm having this semester, and this project required to plug to the Arduino Uno two things (among other stuff on the digital pins) :

  • A Photomultiplier tubes (it's a sensor) that communicate through RS232.
  • A GSM shield.
    I've been lookin on how this works, and i found out that both needed to be plugged on pins Rx Tx of the microcontroller.

So i was wondering if there was a way to, still, use those two devices on my Uno (like using the analog pins as they were Serial Tx Rx pins) or something else, or if i have to inform my school i need to upgrade my microcontroller and get a Mega 256 for instance.

Thank you for your time, best regards

Laura, IT student

2

I would believe that it can be done, but I would just go with the mega if possible. Would take a lot less work.

3

You can use SoftwareSerial to establish additional serial ports, but this comes with various caveats and limitations. If you have any possibility of getting a better Arduino with additional hardware serial ports that would enable much better solutions and save you a lot of hassle.

If you decide to pursue the software serial approach bear in mind that you only have one hardware serial port on the UNO and if you intend the Arduino communicate with the PC then the hardware serial port would usually be used for that. If you use the hardware serial port for something else, debugging and troubleshooting will be much harder.

4

Ok thanks for your replies, you convince me to get a Mega board, which is not that expensive after all =)

See you folks