Arduino GUI Part 1 Communications

This is a series of six videos that covers the creation of a Windows application to control devices connected to an Arduino microprocessor. C# is used to develop serial communications between the PC and an Arduino. The C# windows form app is further developed to transmit both analog and digital data and commands in both directions between the Arduino and PC.

Video Summary:
Part 1: Set up serial communications and send digital commands to the Arduino from the PC GUI
Part 2: Expand the program to send analog data to the Arduino to set the angle of a servo motor
Part 3: Add intensity control of LEDs on the Arduino using trackbar controls on the GUI
Part 4: Send digital data from the Arduino to the PC in the form of button presses
Part 5: Send analog data from the Arduino to the PC in the form of potentiometer voltage readings
Part 6: Make the fully functional GUI more attractive and easier to use

To fully follow this series of videos you should have installed both the Arduino IDE and Microsoft Visual Studio Community Edition. Here is the link to download Visual Studio Community Edition for free:

Note that this is not an exhaustive treatment of GUI control systems nor is it a robust control system. Much has been left out for the sake of brevity and clarity. Additional programming must be added to trap errors, insure data integrity, and improve overall functionality.

[thehoneybadger]

Very well done tutorial. If I could make one suggestion, it is to teach new programmers to always put the constant first in an expression that compares a variable to a constant, e.g. ' if ('A' == d1)'. This is a good practice to get into, because if you were to mistakenly type 'if (d1 = 'A')' instead of 'if(d1 == 'A')', the code would compile, you would assign the value 'A' to d1, and it would always evaluate to TRUE. By putting the constant first, if you mistakenly type '=' instead of '==', you will get a compile error. Sometimes bugs like this are easily introduced and easily overlooked.

[RoyTroid]

you deserve a donation for this good piece of work thanks a lot

[omidsaadikhany]

I've so much problems with Arduino serial communication and your explanation was really help full for me, thanks man .

[mugur]

Best teacher i have seen in a very long time.

[Overclocked]

Just want to say thanks for this! Im not using an arduino but Im using a PIC micro. It works the same way once you get serial coms all set up :) but it works! Im going to watch your next video and then figure out how to read serial data.

[robertmf]

I thought I was listening to physicist Dr. Michio Kaku... 😊 Thanks for the tutorial...

[AkorJohnOmaaka]

you explanation is sweet and straight, keep it up

[jaderfbsousa]

Thank you very much for this tutorial. The way you explain it is very clear and easy to understand.

[Neopan]

Thanks so much, I can see how to adapt this to an Excel user form to start, stop and collect data.

[shortexposureastrophotogra]

Great video series! I just programmed my first gui button.

[attilalenart]

Thank you sharing this tutorial. This is exactly what I was looking for and helped me a lot. :)

[jdarnell]

I don't want to "byte you" (😂) but what a damn great video!! You made communicating between the Arduino and a C# GUI as simple as can be! AWESOME content and I liked and subscribed. Keep rocking the house!! 🙂

[darshansalian]

Explanation was awesome but can you also teach how to integrate scan port and baud rate buttons

[jumbo]

How to constantly check if COM port is connected/disconnected? Maybe like every 5 seconds.
Also, I publish VS project to single file (self-contain) so I can copy the executable program and run it in different pc. But the file size is too large (~140 mb).
How to reduce it to small size?
If I leave serial port monitor in Arduino IDE open, WPF form can't connect to COM port. It says "COM port is not accessible. That's normal right?

[lotharmayring]

why dont you use the ardurino IDE extension in visual studio and python to make GUI-Application

[trumpmccalister]

My problem lied when i clicked the turn off button and nothing happened its just got the message in the coding stater 'the port 'COM5' does not exist.'

[wbzrflc]

if i use in this case. i can't serial.print "xxxx" ?

[alvaromirab]

What should be add to send data to the PC application. Let's say to get the reading of a temperature sensor

[wbzrflc]

you can show example by sofewareserial?

[fireomen]

Great video! Really helpful, thank you!