Sensor Workshop at ITP

Posted by Jeff Gray, Apr 2008

This is a call and response example taken from the intro to p-comp class here at ITP. The full notes on serial communication can be found here.

Arduino Code

int firstSensor = 0;    // first analog sensor
int secondSensor = 0;   // second analog sensor
int thirdSensor = 0;    // digital sensor
int inByte = 0;         // incoming serial byte

void setup()
{
  // start serial port at 9600 bps:
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(2, INPUT);   // digital sensor is on digital pin 2
  establishContact();  // send a byte to establish contact until Processing responds 
}

void loop()
{
  // if we get a valid byte, read analog ins:
  if (Serial.available() > 0) {
    // get incoming byte:
    inByte = Serial.read();
    // read first analog input, divide by 4 to make the range 0-255:
    firstSensor = analogRead(0)/4;
    // delay 10ms to let the ADC recover:
    delay(10);
    // read second analog input, divide by 4 to make the range 0-255:
    secondSensor = analogRead(1)/4;
    // read  switch, multiply by 255
    // so that you're sending 100 or 255:
    thirdSensor = 100 + (155 * digitalRead(2));
    // send sensor values:
    Serial.print(firstSensor, BYTE);
    Serial.print(secondSensor, BYTE);
    Serial.print(thirdSensor, BYTE);               
  }
}

void establishContact() {
 while (Serial.available() <= 0) {
      Serial.print('A', BYTE);   // send a capital A
      delay(300);
  }
}

Processing Code

import processing.serial.*;

int bgcolor;			     // Background color
int fgcolor;			     // Fill color
Serial port;                         // The serial port
int[] serialInArray = new int[3];    // Where we'll put what we receive
int serialCount = 0;                 // A count of how many bytes we receive
int xpos, ypos;		             // Starting position of the ball
boolean firstContact = false;        // Whether we've heard from the microcontroller

void setup() {
  size(256, 256);  // Stage size
  noStroke();      // No border on the next thing drawn

  // Set the starting position of the ball (middle of the stage)
  xpos = width/2;
  ypos = height/2;

  // Print a list of the serial ports, for debugging purposes:
  println(Serial.list());

  // I know that the first port in the serial list on my mac
  // is always my  Keyspan adaptor, so I open Serial.list()[0].
  // On Windows machines, this generally opens COM1.
  // Open whatever port is the one you're using.
  port = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
}

void draw() {
  background(bgcolor);
  fill(fgcolor);
  // Draw the shape
  ellipse(xpos, ypos, 20, 20);
}

void serialEvent(Serial port) {
  // read a byte from the serial port:
  int inByte = port.read();
  // if this is the first byte received, 
  // take note of that fact. Otherwise, add it to the array:
  if (firstContact == false) {
    if (inByte == 'A') { 
      port.clear();          // clear the serial port buffer
      firstContact = true;
      port.write('A');
    } 
  } 
  else {
    // Add the latest byte from the serial port to array:
    serialInArray[serialCount] = inByte;
    serialCount++;

    // If we have 3 bytes:
    if (serialCount > 2 ) {
      xpos = serialInArray[0];
      ypos = serialInArray[1];
      fgcolor = serialInArray[2];

      // print the values (for debugging purposes only):
      println(xpos + "\t" + ypos + "\t" + fgcolor);

      // Send a capital A to request new sensor readings:
      port.write('A');
      // Reset serialCount:
      serialCount = 0;
    }
  }
}