Analog reading via bluetooth

Question

I am making a project in which I am trying to communicate the LDR values collected by one arduino(slave) to another arduino(master) via bluetooth. The readings of the LDR is displayed on the serial monitor. The slave part of the arduino code :

 #include <SoftwareSerial.h>
  SoftwareSerial BTSerial(10, 11); // RX | TX
  #define ldrPin A0
  int ldrValue = 0;
  void setup() {
     pinMode(9, OUTPUT);  // this pin will pull the HC-05 pin 34 (key pin) HIGH to switch module to AT mode
     digitalWrite(9, HIGH);
     pinMode(ldrPin, INPUT);
     BTSerial.begin(9600);
     Serial.begin(9600);

   }
   void loop() 
    {
     ldrValue = analogRead(ldrPin);
     BTSerial.println(ldrValue);
     Serial.println(ldrValue); 
     delay(10);
    }

I tried getting the readings of LDR in serial monitor to check whether the readings are correct. The readings shown in Serial monitor were correct.

The code of master part of the project which receives the readings from slave :

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
SoftwareSerial BTSerial(10, 11); // RX | TX
const byte numChars = 1024;
char receivedChars[numChars];   // an array to store the received data

boolean newData = false;

void setup() {
pinMode(9, OUTPUT);  // this pin will pull the HC-05 pin 34 (key pin) HIGH  to switch module to AT mode
digitalWrite(9, HIGH);
BTSerial.begin(9600);
Serial.begin(9600);
Serial.println("<Arduino is ready>");
}

void loop() {
   recvWithEndMarker();
   showNewData();
 }

void recvWithEndMarker() {
   static byte ndx = 0;
   char endMarker = '\n';
   char rc;

   while (BTSerial.available() > 0 && newData == false) {
     rc = BTSerial.read();

     if (rc != endMarker) {
        receivedChars[ndx] = rc;
        ndx++;
        if (ndx >= numChars) {
            ndx = numChars - 1;
        }
    }
    else {
        receivedChars[ndx] = '\0'; // terminate the string
        ndx = 0;
        newData = true;
      } 
    }
  }

   void showNewData() {
      if (newData == true) {
       Serial.print("This just in ... ");
       Serial.println(receivedChars);
       delay(1000);
       newData = false;
    }
   }

But The serial monitor did not show the correct readings of LDR . Instead it showed something like this

<Arduino is ready>
 This just in ... 8
 This just in ... 3
 This just in ... 4
 This just in ... 3
 This just in ... 3
 This just in ... 3
 This just in ... 3
 This just in ... 4
 This just in ... 3
 This just in ... 4
 This just in ... 3
 This just in ... 3

I have referred this link for the Arduino serial communication: Serial Input

Kindly help me out since it has been days since I have stuck up in this issue.

Thank you!

Answer 1

1. A byte is 8 bits, it can hold a maximum value of 255. You can not store the number 1024 in a byte. You might want to rethink the type on ndx.

2. If (ndx >= numChars) then why not set newData to true and print it out. Something has gone wrong if it gets this far and you want to recover if you can.

Apart from those minor issues your code should work as you expect it to. Do you have a printout of what the slave's serial output was? (What you were expecting). Could it be something to do with the differences between SoftwareSerial and Serial?

Edit:

I have just run a stubbed version of you code on a PC and it ran fine, so I'm going to point my finger at the SoftwareSerial link. It could well be a misinterpretation of the interface it provides.