Microbit basic serial port example

In this example we will create a VB.net program that will read data from the serial port, in this case a Microbit connected to the PC. We will then upload a program to our microbit that sends data via the serial port when a button is pressed.

This is a picture of the app will be creating, as you can see it has a combo box with available comms ports listed, connect and disconnect buttons and a textbox which will display serial data from the microbit. You can see the app running and the results of some key presses

comms-app-screenshot

 

Microbit Code

This was written in python using the Mu editor

[codesyntax lang=”python”]

from microbit import *

while True:
    if button_a.is_pressed():
        print("Button A was pressed")
        sleep(250)
    elif button_b.is_pressed():
        print("Button B was pressed")
        sleep(250)
    sleep(100)

[/codesyntax]

 

Application Code

[codesyntax lang=”vbnet”]

Imports System.IO.Ports


Public Class frmMicroBit
    Dim WithEvents serialPort As New SerialPort
    Delegate Sub myMethodDelegate(ByVal [text] As String)
    Dim myDelegate As New myMethodDelegate(AddressOf DisplaySerialText)

    Private Sub GetSerialPortNames()
        For Each sport As String In My.Computer.Ports.SerialPortNames
            cboPorts.Items.Add(sport)
        Next
    End Sub

    Private Sub frmMicroBit_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Try
            GetSerialPortNames()
            cboPorts.SelectedIndex = 0
        Catch
            MsgBox("No ports connected.")
        End Try
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnConnect_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnConnect.Click
        Try
            serialPort.BaudRate = 115200
            serialPort.PortName = cboPorts.SelectedItem.ToString
            serialPort.Parity = Parity.None
            serialPort.DataBits = 8
            serialPort.StopBits = 1
            serialPort.Open()
            If serialPort.IsOpen Then
                btnConnect.Visible = False
                cboPorts.Enabled = False
                btnDisconnect.Visible = True
            End If
        Catch
            serialPort.Close()
        End Try
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnDisconnect_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnDisconnect.Click
        Try
            serialPort.Close()
            btnConnect.Visible = True
            btnDisconnect.Visible = False
            cboPorts.Enabled = True
            Exit Sub
        Catch
            MessageBox.Show("Problem closing port")
        End Try
    End Sub

    Sub DisplaySerialText(ByVal myString As String)
        txtSerial.AppendText(myString)
    End Sub

    Private Sub SerialPort_DataReceived(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs) Handles serialPort.DataReceived
        Dim str As String = serialPort.ReadExisting()
        Invoke(myDelegate, str)
    End Sub
End Class

[/codesyntax]

 

Links

I uploaded the example VB.net app to https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7mkEkhIEzkNMVVMZEZHbW8wUzA/view?usp=sharing

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