Using arduino with weight scales

Hi,
I have a few pi's but thinking an arduino would be the best choice for this project.

I have a set of digital scales that has an rs232 port.
I have connected it to my pc and got it to register the weight.

I want to have it jooked up to an arduino or similar and be able to set a weight limit and have a buzzer go off when the weight hits/ goes over that limit.
I also want to be able to zero/ tare the weight but keep the alarm at the same weight and have the weight limit adjustable.

I'm thinking an arduino would be the better choice unless there's something else that would work?

Anyone have any advice on what to use and how to do it?
I have made a few projects with pi's but they were very simple.

You could use an Arduino UNO and a software serial port, or you could use an Arduino Mega that has 4 serial ports.

You would need an RS232-TTL serial adapter board to convert the voltage levels to a processor friendly level. Obviously, you would need a buzzer and a pushbutton.

You appear to know the format of the serial data that the scales send out. Have a read through this topic for an overview of reading from the serial port:

MAX232 level shifter?

welcome to the forum

Is it true rs232? These days not many PCs have such a port.

The scales are rs232. I do have an adapter to usb for my pc though.

Is this an adapter that i would need to connect to the arduino?

Thanks im sure i had registered here before but my saved login details weren't working :man_shrugging:

I know enough to get me in trouble not enough to get me out :joy:
Will have a read thanks.

Yes. They generally look like this:

First thing is to read the weight from the scales, so while you wait for a MAX-232 to arrive, it might be worth plugging the USB adapter into a Pi and see if you can read it there.

yeah I guess it would be an idea. I had to install some drivers for the pc. don't know how I would do it with the pi.
just planning everything at this stage and see what i can use... starting a list up atm.. plenty of other half finished projects I want/ need to finish before starting anymore!

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