Arduino - SoftwareSerial

Hardware Required

Or you can buy the following sensor kits:

About SoftwareSerial

Arduino boards have one or several hardware serial interfaces. One serial interface is usually used for debuging purpose. In many cases that Arduino needs to communicate with serial sensors/devices

How to use SoftwareSerial on Arduino

Create the wiring connection

• Select any two Arduino pins: one for RX (e.g., D7), one for TX (e.g., D6)
• Connect the Arduino pin (selected as RX) to the TX of the serial sensors/devices
• Connect the Arduino pin (selected as TX) to the RX of the serial sensors/devices

Please note that, there is a special case. If you uses SoftwareSerial to connect to the RS232 to TTL Module, you need to:

• Connect the Arduino pin (selected as RX) to the RX of the RS232 to TTL Module
• Connect the Arduino pin (selected as TX) to the TX of the RS232 to TTL Module

Wiring Diagram

Examples of wiring:

• Arduino pin D4 as RX, pin D3 as TX

This image is created using Fritzing. Click to enlarge image

• Arduino pin D7 as RX, pin D6 as TX

This image is created using Fritzing. Click to enlarge image

Write Arduino code

• Include the SoftwareSerial library

• Define the selected Arduino pins

• Create the SoftwareSerial object with paramaters are RX and TX pins

• Initialize the software serial

And now you can use it as the hardware serial. For the list of functions you can use, please refer to Serial Reference

Examples of Use Cases for SoftwareSerial:

• Arduino - GPS
• Arduino - MP3 Player
• Arduino - RS232

Video Tutorial

We are considering to make the video tutorials. If you think the video tutorials are essential, please subscribe to our YouTube channel to give us motivation for making the videos.

The Best Arduino Starter Kit

• See the best Arduino kit for beginner

See Also

• Arduino RS232
• Arduino RS485
• Arduino RS422
• Arduino Serial to WiFi Converter
• Arduino RS232 to WiFi
• Arduino RS485 to WiFi
• Arduino RS422 to WiFi