Why does pulse sensor shows gaps when I move it?

Question

I modified the serial code in this way and I don't think the gap is produced by my edit even because it made it even before:

//////////
/////////  All Serial Handling Code, 
/////////  It's Changeable with the 'serialVisual' variable
/////////  Set it to 'true' or 'false' when it's declared at start of code.  
/////////

void serialOutput(){   // Decide How To Output Serial. 
 if (serialVisual == true){  
     arduinoSerialMonitorVisual('-', Signal);   // goes to function that makes Serial Monitor Visualizer
 } else{
      sendDataToSerial('S', Signal);     // goes to sendDataToSerial function
 }        
}


//  Decides How To OutPut BPM and IBI Data
void serialOutputWhenBeatHappens(){    
 if (serialVisual == true){            //  Code to Make the Serial Monitor Visualizer Work
    //ASCII Art Madness
    Serial.print(BPM);
    Serial.println("");

 } else{
        sendDataToSerial('B',BPM);   // send heart rate with a 'B' prefix
        sendDataToSerial('Q',IBI);   // send time between beats with a 'Q' prefix
 }   
}



//  Sends Data to Pulse Sensor Processing App, Native Mac App, or Third-party Serial Readers. 
void sendDataToSerial(char symbol, int data ){
    Serial.print(symbol);

    Serial.println(data);                
  }


//  Code to Make the Serial Monitor Visualizer Work
void arduinoSerialMonitorVisual(char symbol, int data ){    
  const int sensorMin = 0;      // sensor minimum, discovered through experiment
const int sensorMax = 1024;    // sensor maximum, discovered through experiment

  int sensorReading = data;
  // map the sensor range to a range of 12 options:
  int range = map(sensorReading, sensorMin, sensorMax, 0, 11);

  // do something different depending on the 
  // range value:
  switch (range) {
  case 0:     
    Serial.println("");

  } 
}



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You can find all the code here: https://github.com/WorldFamousElectronics/PulseSensor_Amped_Arduino

In the code I posted there is some code I don'f find useful but I can't delete it for reason linked to variables used for other functions I don't know I'm using. You can also see huge changes in the heart rate that surely don't reflect the reality.

Answer 1

One of the possibilities is when you move your finger, the sensor grip loosened and doesn't count a "beat". So the sensor emits data = 0, and it will cause

Serial.println("");    

in your switch-case.