# Serial Studio — Open-Source Telemetry Dashboard for Hardware Projects > Serial Studio is a cross-platform data visualization tool for serial, network, MQTT, and Bluetooth devices. It renders real-time graphs, gauges, maps, and 3D views from structured data frames without writing custom UI code. ## Install Save in your project root: # Serial Studio — Open-Source Telemetry Dashboard for Hardware Projects ## Quick Use ```bash # Install on macOS brew install --cask serial-studio # Or download from GitHub releases for Windows/Linux # Connect your serial device and select the port in the UI ``` ## Introduction Serial Studio is a desktop application that visualizes data from serial ports, network sockets, MQTT brokers, and Bluetooth devices. It uses JSON-based project files to define dashboards, removing the need to write custom plotting code for hardware prototyping. ## What Serial Studio Does - Connects to devices via Serial, TCP, UDP, MQTT, and Bluetooth LE - Renders real-time line charts, bar graphs, gauges, and compass widgets - Displays GPS data on interactive maps - Logs raw and parsed data to CSV for post-processing - Uses JSON project files to define frame parsing and widget layout ## Architecture Overview Serial Studio reads incoming data frames, parses them using a configurable separator or JSON schema, and routes each field to the corresponding dashboard widget. The UI is built with Qt and renders charts using a hardware-accelerated pipeline for smooth updates at high data rates. ## Self-Hosting & Configuration - Download pre-built binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux from GitHub - Define your data format in a JSON project file specifying groups and datasets - Set baud rate, data bits, parity, and stop bits for serial connections - Configure MQTT broker address and topic for wireless telemetry - Export dashboards as templates for team reuse ## Key Features - Multi-protocol support: Serial, TCP, UDP, MQTT, Bluetooth - No-code dashboard configuration via JSON project files - 3D orientation widget for IMU and accelerometer data - CSV logging with timestamps for offline analysis - Cross-platform with native look on Windows, macOS, and Linux ## Comparison with Similar Tools - **PuTTY/screen** — text-only terminal; Serial Studio adds real-time charts and widgets - **Grafana** — time-series dashboards for servers; Serial Studio specializes in hardware device data - **MATLAB Serial Toolbox** — powerful but expensive; Serial Studio is free and open source - **CoolTerm** — simpler serial monitor; Serial Studio offers richer visualization ## FAQ **Q: What data format does Serial Studio expect?** A: It supports CSV-like frames with configurable separators, as well as structured JSON frames. **Q: Can I use it with Arduino?** A: Yes. Send comma-separated values over Serial.print() and define the matching project file. **Q: Does it support high-speed data?** A: It handles baud rates up to 3 Mbps and can render thousands of data points per second. **Q: Is there a command-line mode?** A: Serial Studio is a GUI application; for headless logging, combine it with tools like socat or a custom script. ## Sources - https://github.com/Serial-Studio/Serial-Studio - https://serial-studio.github.io/ --- Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-7427a9ef Author: AI Open Source