arduino Serial Communication

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Syntax

  • Serial.begin(speed) // Opens the serial port on the given baud rate
  • Serial.begin(speed, config)
  • Serial[1-3].begin(speed) // Arduino Mega only! When writing 1-3 it means you can choose between the numbers 1 to 3 when choosing the serial port.
  • Serial[1-3].begin(speed, config) // Arduino Mega only! When writing 1-3 it means you can choose between the numbers 1 to 3 when choosing the serial port.
  • Serial.peek() // Reads the next byte of input without removing it from the buffer
  • Serial.available() // Gets the number of bytes in the buffer
  • Serial.print(text) // Writes text to the serial port
  • Serial.println(text) // Same as Serial.print() but with a trailing newline

Parameters

ParameterDetails
SpeedThe rate of the serial port (usually 9600)
TextThe text to write to the serial port (any data type)
Data bitsNumber of data bits in a packet (from 5 - 8), default is 8
ParityParity options for error detection: none (default), even, odd
Stop bitsNumber of stop bits in a packet: one (default), two

Remarks

The Arduino Mega has four serial ports which there can be choosed from. They are accesed in the following way

  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial1.begin(38400);
  Serial2.begin(19200);
  Serial3.begin(4800);

The serial port on an Arduino can be set with additional parameters. The config parameter sets data bits, parity, and stop bits. For example:

8 data bits, even parity and 1 stop bit would be - SERIAL_8E1

6 data bits, odd parity and 2 stop bit would be - SERIAL_6O2

7 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit would be - SERIAL_7N1



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