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Arduino - Serial Plotter

In this tutorial, we will learn how to use the Serial Plotter on Arduino IDE, how to plot the multiple graphs.

Hardware Required

1	×	Official Arduino Uno
1	×	Alternatively, DIYables ATMEGA328P Development Board
1	×	USB 2.0 cable type A/B (for USB-A PC)
1	×	USB 2.0 cable type C/B (for USB-C PC)
1	×	Recommended: Screw Terminal Block Shield for Arduino Uno
1	×	Recommended: Breadboard Shield for Arduino Uno
1	×	Recommended: Enclosure for Arduino Uno
1	×	Recommended: Prototyping Base Plate & Breadboard Kit for Arduino UNO

Or you can buy the following sensor kits:

1	×	DIYables Sensor Kit (30 sensors/displays)
1	×	DIYables Sensor Kit (18 sensors/displays)

Disclosure: Some links in this section are Amazon affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Additionally, some links direct to products from our own brand, DIYables .

About Serial Plotter

Serial Plotter is one of the tools in Arduino IDE. Arduino can read the temperature, humidity or any kind of sensor data, and send it to Serial Plotter. Serial Plotter receives data from Arduino and visualizes data as waveforms. Serial Plotter can visualize not only single but also multiple sensor data in the same graph.

Data is exchanged between Serial Plotter and Arduino via USB cable, which is also used to upload the code to Arduino. Therefore, To use Serial Plotter, we MUST connect Arduino and PC via this cable.

Serial Plotter includes a selection box to select the serial baud rate and a graph:

X-axis: represent the time. It has 500 points. The time between each point is the time between two consecutive Serial.println() function calls. This time is usually equal to the time of loop() function.
Y-axis: represents the values received from Arduino. The Y-axis automatically adjusts itself as the value increases or decreases.

If you want to use the Serial Plotter on your smartphone, you can use the Web Serial Plotter instead.

How To Open Serial Plotter

On Arduino IDE, Click Serial Plotter icon

Plotting of Single Line in Graph

To print a single graph, we just need to send the data and terminate it by “\r\n” character.

In detail, we just need to use Serial.println() function

Serial.println(variable);

※ NOTE THAT:

Serial.println() automatically appends “\r\n” characters after data.

Example Code

This example reads the value from an analog input pin and plots them on Serial Plotter

Quick Steps

Copy the above code and open with Arduino IDE
Click Upload button on Arduino IDE to upload code to Arduino
Open Serial Plotter
Select baurate 9600
See graph on Serial Plotter

Plotting of Multiple Lines in Graph

When we want to plot multiple variables, we need to separate variables from each other by “\t” or " " character. The last value MUST be terminated by “\r\n” characters.

In detail:

The first variable

Serial.print(variable_first);

The middle variables

Serial.print("\t"); // or Serial.print(" ") Serial.print(variable_nth);

The last variable

Serial.print("\t"); // or Serial.print(" ") Serial.println(variable_last);

Example Code

This example reads the value from 4 analog input pins and plots them on Serial Plotter

/* * Created by ArduinoGetStarted.com * * This example code is in the public domain * * Tutorial page: https://arduinogetstarted.com/tutorials/arduino-serial-plotter */ void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { int y1 = analogRead(A0); int y2 = analogRead(A1); int y3 = analogRead(A2); int y4 = analogRead(A3); Serial.print(y1); Serial.print(" "); // a space ' ' or tab '\t' character is printed between the two values. Serial.print(y2); Serial.print(" "); // a space ' ' or tab '\t' character is printed between the two values. Serial.print(y3); Serial.print(" "); // a space ' ' or tab '\t' character is printed between the two values. Serial.println(y4); // the last value is followed by a carriage return and a newline characters. delay(100); }

Multiple Graph:

Example of 3 Sine Waveforms

/* * Created by ArduinoGetStarted.com * * This example code is in the public domain * * Tutorial page: https://arduinogetstarted.com/tutorials/arduino-serial-plotter */ void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { for(int i = 0; i < 360; i += 5) { float y1 = 1 * sin(i * M_PI / 180); float y2 = 2 * sin((i + 90)* M_PI / 180); float y3 = 5 * sin((i + 180)* M_PI / 180); Serial.print(y1); Serial.print("\t"); // a space ' ' or tab '\t' character is printed between the two values. Serial.print(y2); Serial.print("\t"); // a space ' ' or tab '\t' character is printed between the two values. Serial.println(y3); // the last value is followed by a carriage return and a newline characters. delay(100); } }

Multiple Sine Waveform Graph:

Video Tutorial

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Function References

The Best Arduino Starter Kit

See the best Arduino kit for beginner

Arduino - Serial Plotter

Hardware Required

About Serial Plotter

How To Open Serial Plotter

Plotting of Single Line in Graph

Example Code

Quick Steps

Plotting of Multiple Lines in Graph

Example Code

Example of 3 Sine Waveforms

Video Tutorial

Function References

The Best Arduino Starter Kit

See Also