I'm trying to run 4 motors and print sensor data simultaneously to Matlab using an ArduinoNano, but it seems that whenever data is transferred using the hardware serial, the motors stop. Once the data finishes transmitting, the motors start up again.
More specifically, once the Matlab script starts running, the Arduino starts sending sensor data via an Xbee module module. The data received is legit, so I'm wondering if Serial.print() uses the same timer as ServoTimer2 or what? Has anyone successfully transmitted data via serial and had motors running continuously without issue?
Hello i'm trying to do the same thing you are by using Matlab to communicate with an Arduino board if you could post on my topic so
that everyone that is doing something similar will be on the same disscussion board. I am e-mailing others so that they can do the same.
Hardware Serial does not use a timer but it is possible that the interrupts used by ServoTimer2 could be affecting the communication. Try MegaServo instead of ServotTimer2 : Arduino Playground - MegaServo
MegaServo uses a 16 bit timer and this reduces the number of interrupts needed to service each servo.