Guide · Arduino
An alternative to the Arduino Serial Plotter.
The Serial Plotter is perfect for a quick look. When you want to keep a recording, compare several signals, draw X against Y or measure a step response, KymoStudio takes over – and it reads the numbers your sketch already prints.
1. Keep your sketch: one number per line
KymoStudio reads plain numbers as text, one value per line. They arrive as channel 0:
void setup() { Serial.begin(115200); }
void loop()
{
Serial.println(analogRead(A0));
delay(20);
}Install KymoStudio, close the Arduino Serial Monitor and Serial Plotter (only one program can open the port), add a serial source with your COM port at 115200 baud, 8N1, and assign channel 0 to a time-series chart. Lines starting with # are ignored, so you can keep comments in the stream.
2. Several signals: one JSON object per line
For more than one signal, send each value as a small JSON object with a channel id from 0 to 255. Labelled lists such as temp:23.5,hum:40 are not read – use one object per value:
void loop()
{
Serial.print("{\"id\":0,\"value\":");
Serial.print(analogRead(A0));
Serial.println("}");
Serial.print("{\"id\":1,\"value\":");
Serial.print(analogRead(A1));
Serial.println("}");
delay(20);
}An object can also carry x and z for XY and 3D charts, and a timestamp in seconds.
3. What you get on top
- Any number of signals across several charts – time series, XY line, XY scatter and XYZ in 3D.
- Pause the display while recording continues; zoom, pan and a crosshair readout.
- Measurement analysis on raw data: cursors, statistics, step response, histogram, FFT and trigger.
- Export raw data as CSV and the workspace as PNG.
- Serial, TCP, UDP, MQTT and CAN sources side by side.
4. When text gets too slow: binary frames
Formatting text costs CPU time and bandwidth, and Serial.print can block your loop. The KymoCore library sends each value as a 9–21 byte binary frame, never waits for the interface and schedules up to 256 channels at their own rate. KymoStudio detects the frames automatically – the connection stays the same.