Summary - I developed a gui to use as a drop in replacecment that runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac for the built-in arduino serial plotter. I am actively maintining this project on Github, and have helped individuals with setup and use of the project on their machine.
Please check out the github repository with more details, demos, and explanations!
Better Serial Plotter
I have been using the Arduino platform for more than 5 years now. In many of my projects, I find myself wanting to use some kind of plotting feature to understand something about the status of my project. When the arduino serial plotter became available, I used it extensively, but anyone who has used it knows that is has some significant flaws (you can see the built-in interface here). I set out to build my own application in C++ that would be a drop-in replacement for the arduino’s built in serial plotter, but with many more features.
This project was important for me for several reasons. I saw it as something that could really assist me in my endeavors on the arduino platform, but I also imagined that others could find it just as useful as I could. I also used this opportunity to improve my C++ skills, and teach myself how to make software that could be distributed to the general public, different than most of my hobby projects. For my own practice, I decided to make the software available for Windows, Linux, and Mac.
To my surprise, when I made it available, I had a few people reach out and say that they were really enjoyed using it, and requested features, or help setting it up themselves. This gave me further practice in maintaining and updating a publicly available codebase, and responding to requests form users.