How to check if all pins are connected on my board to make sure Arduino sends the correct pattern number on my tool

Question

What to add on this code to check my pins state during run? And how can i trigger error using Visual basic when 1 of my pin is disconnected?

String input = "";

void setup(){

Serial.begin(9600); // Sets up communication with the serial port

pinMode(6,OUTPUT);
pinMode(7,OUTPUT);
pinMode(8,OUTPUT);
pinMode(9,OUTPUT);
pinMode(10,OUTPUT);
pinMode(11,OUTPUT); // for start of program operation
pinMode(12,OUTPUT); // for stop of program operation

digitalWrite(6,LOW);
digitalWrite(7,LOW);
digitalWrite(8,LOW);
digitalWrite(9,LOW);
digitalWrite(10,LOW);

digitalWrite(11,LOW);
digitalWrite(12,LOW);

}

void loop(){

int recipe;
//Serial.print("Enter recipe number: ");

while(Serial.available()==0){    // Waits for data from serial port
}

while(Serial.available() > 0){
int data = Serial.read();
  // convert the incoming byte to a char
  // and add it to the string
input += (char)data;

recipe = input.toInt()+'0';    //recipe=0 if not a digit
if(recipe == '0')
  recipe = data;

if(data == '\n'){
  //Serial.print("Recipe: ");
  //Serial.println(recipe);
  //Serial.print("String: ");
  //Serial.println(input);
  input = "";
}
}

if(recipe == 's'){     
digitalWrite(11,HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(11,LOW);

digitalWrite(6,LOW);
digitalWrite(7,LOW);
digitalWrite(8,LOW);
digitalWrite(9,LOW);
digitalWrite(10,LOW);    
}

else if(recipe == 't'){
digitalWrite(12,HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(12,LOW);

digitalWrite(6,LOW);
digitalWrite(7,LOW);
digitalWrite(8,LOW);
digitalWrite(9,LOW);
digitalWrite(10,LOW); 
} 

else if(recipe>'0' && recipe<'32'){    

recipe = recipe-'0';
char binary[7] = {0};   // This is where the binary representation will be stored
recipe += 32; // Adding 32 so that there will always be 6 digits in the string
itoa(recipe,binary,2);  // Convert recipe to a string of base 2 and save it in array 'binary'
char* signals = binary + 1; // Get rid of the most significant digit to get the 5 bits

//Serial.print(signals);    // Print out the signals in binary

int i;
for(i=0; i<5; i++){
  if(signals[i] == '0')
    signals[i] = '1';
  else
    signals[i] = '0';
  digitalWrite(i+6, signals[i]-'0');    // write to pin; converts the bit of the string to HIGH or LOW
  //Serial.print(signals[i]);
}

}
else
loop();

}

Answer 1

As mentioned in a comment, your code has some fundamental flaws. Do not call loop() from within loop()! Aside from the code errors, your question has a legitimate element.

Testing the tri-state behaviour of an input pin will let you know if it is genuinely high, genuinely low, or floating (disconnected). The technique was given in this answer to similar problem I was encountering.

In short:

Connect a large (1MOhm) resistor to each input between the pin and ground, then for each pin:

• Turn off internal pullup;
• Read value of input pin;
• Turn on internal pullup;
• Read value again.

If the value changes from the first to the second digitalRead(), the input was not connected to anything. If the value remains the same then it is a genuine value from a connected device.