Software Serial - Not working for my device but normal serial is

Projects Programming
1

Hi,

I have been trying to use the software serial on my arduino micro. I am trying to get this working in preparation from my arduino FIO arriving - Arduino Fio with Serial Sensor Possible? - Project Guidance - Arduino Forum

This is because the FIO only has one serial port which is already used to send info to the Xbee. As i am trying to monitor a remote serial sensor this causes some problems as i need a separate serial port for my sensor.

When i power cycle my sensor it sends a serial data stream which i have connected pin 2 (RX) of my micro. The TX is not used but i configured it anyway as it was in the example.

However i get no response from my sensor. Here is the code i am using.

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

SoftwareSerial mySerial(2, 3); // RX, TX

void setup()  
{
  // Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
  Serial.begin(1200);

  // set the data rate for the SoftwareSerial port
  mySerial.begin(1200);
}

void loop() // run over and over
{
  

  if (mySerial.available())
    Serial.write(mySerial.read());
 
  else
    Serial.write("no coms\n"); 
    delay(1000); 
}

So i tried just using a regular serial port on the micro and it worked perfectly. When i power cycled the sensor i got the expected serial read out from the sensor in the serial monitor window (see attached).

{
  // Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
  Serial.begin(1200);

// Open serial communications to the sensor and wait for port to open:
  Serial1.begin(1200);

}

void loop() // run over and over
{

  if (Serial1.available())
    Serial.write(Serial1.read());
 
  else
    Serial.write("no coms\n"); 
    delay(1000); 
}

Any ideas where i could be going wrong? This is just the code from one of the practice examples so no idea why softwaretoserial is not working in my case.

I have attached what the correct serial stream looks like after power cycling the sensor.

Thanks

Alastair

Serial.png

2

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/SoftwareSerial

Not all pins on the Leonardo support change interrupts, so only the following can be used for RX: 8, 9, 10, 11, 14 (MISO), 15 (SCK), 16 (MOSI).

The Micro has the same processor as the Leonardo.

3

Thanks for your reply,

I read that to but also for the micro - http://arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardMicro

A SoftwareSerial library allows for serial communication on any of the Micro's digital pins.

4

Just wanted to let you know i have now used port 10 and it works great

So documentation is a little misleading :stuck_out_tongue:

5

medium_999:

A SoftwareSerial library allows for serial communication on any of the Micro's digital pins.

Yes, misleading is the word. You can use any pin for output.

6

Thanks for your clarification.

Really happy this is working now :slight_smile:

7

medium_999:
So documentation is a little misleading :stuck_out_tongue:

I raised a bug report about the documentation, but don't hold your breath. :slight_smile: