A powerful, real-time Serial Plotter for VS Code. Visualize your serial data with ease, apply digital filters, and capture plots for your documentation.
Features
Real-time Plotting: High-performance visualization of serial data stream.
Multi-Stream Support: Plot multiple values simultaneously using comma, semicolon, or space delimiters.
Split View: Toggle between a single combined chart or separate charts for each data stream.
Data Logging: Save real-time serial data to a CSV file for later analysis.
Pause/Resume: Freeze the plot to inspect data without stopping the serial connection.
Theme Integration: Automatically matches your VS Code theme (Colors, Fonts, and UI style).
Axis Values & Labels: Automatic and manual Y-axis scaling with clear numeric labels.
Advanced Filtering:
Smooth (SMA): Simple Moving Average filter to reduce noise.
Low Pass: First-order IIR filter for high-frequency noise suppression.
High Pass: First-order IIR filter to focus on rapid changes in data.
Customizable Grid: Toggle and color-customize the plot grid.
Data Capture: Save high-quality PNG snapshots of your current plot.
Flexible Configuration: Adjust baud rates, sampling points, and filter parameters on the fly.
How to Use
Connect your Device: Ensure your serial device (Arduino, ESP32, etc.) is connected to your computer.
Launch the Plotter:
Press F1 or Ctrl+Shift+P to open the Command Palette.
Type Open Serial Plotter and press Enter.
Select Connection:
Choose the serial port your device is connected to.
Select the desired baud rate (default is 9600).
Interact with the Plot:
Use the Pause button to freeze the view.
Use the Start Log button to record data to a CSV file.
Toggle Split to see channels in separate charts.
Use the Filter dropdown to apply real-time smoothing.
Toggle Auto Y-Axis to switch between automatic scaling and fixed ranges.
Click Capture to save the current view as an image.
Arduino Example
To plot multiple data streams, simply print your values separated by commas and end the line with a newline character.
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
// Generate some sample data
float sine = 50.0 * sin(millis() / 500.0);
float cosine = 50.0 * cos(millis() / 500.0);
int sensorValue = analogRead(A0);
// Send data to Serial Plotter
// Format: value1,value2,value3...
Serial.print(sine);
Serial.print(",");
Serial.print(cosine);
Serial.print(",");
Serial.println(sensorValue);
delay(20); // Update at ~50Hz
}
Screen shot
Requirements
Serial Port Access: Ensure you have the necessary permissions to access serial ports on your operating system.
Data Format: The extension expects numeric data sent over serial, ending with a newline character (\n). Multiple values can be separated by commas (,), semicolons (;), or spaces.
Release Notes
0.0.4
Added Data Logging functionality (CSV export).
Refined UI layout and control grouping.
0.0.3
Added Pause/Resume functionality.
Added VS Code Theme Integration (Native look and feel).
