Big change to serial code - moved out to its own class and thread. Serial comm is now run on a separate thread. This code now certainly leaks a small amount of memory but that'll get fixed.

serialworker.h

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#ifndef SERIALWORKER_H
+#define SERIALWORKER_H
+
+#include <QObject>
+#include <QSerialPort>
+#include "can_structs.h"
+
+enum STATE //keep this enum synchronized with the Arduino firmware project
+{
+    IDLE,
+    GET_COMMAND,
+    BUILD_CAN_FRAME,
+    TIME_SYNC,
+    GET_DIG_INPUTS,
+    GET_ANALOG_INPUTS,
+    SET_DIG_OUTPUTS,
+    SETUP_CANBUS
+};
+
+class SerialWorker : public QObject
+{
+    Q_OBJECT
+
+public:
+    SerialWorker(QObject *parent = 0);
+    ~SerialWorker();
+
+signals: //we emit signals
+    void error(const QString &s);
+    void receivedFrame(CANFrame *frame);
+
+private slots: //we receive things in slots
+    void readSerialData();
+
+public slots:
+    void setSerialPort(QString portName);
+
+private:
+    QString portName;
+    bool quit;
+    QSerialPort *serial;
+    STATE rx_state;
+    int rx_step;
+    CANFrame *buildFrame;
+
+    void procRXChar(unsigned char c);
+};
+
+#endif // SERIALTHREAD_H