please help with my arduino My problem is when I run code like this:

char directioN;

void setup() {   
  Serial.begin(9600)   
}

void loop()
{
  if (Serial.available())
  {
    directioN = Serial.read();

    switch (directioN)
    {
      case 'F':
        break;

      case 'B':
        break;

      case 'R':
        break;

      case 'L':
        break;

      default :
        break;
    }

    Serial.print("direction is:");
    Serial.println(directioN);
  }
}


My serial monitor add another input, but the second one is empty; this happened here with char both as with int.

But when i tried the same code in tinkercad it worked fine.

So do I really need a new ATMEGA328 or it can be done by software or something?

**I use an Arduino Uno
So why you don't just ignore it?

if(directionN &gt;= 32){   //check if char is readable ascii character
  Serial.print("direction is:");
  Serial.println(directioN);
}