Dual/Redundant control Rig (2 Arduinos, LEDs, Buttons, Encoders

Welcome!
Take a look at CAN, that is a two wire differential buss that can communicate with each of the items you mentioned. Code can be identical on each board except for its ID. With this you can add as many additional nodes as you like. Going above 16 is dependent on the transceiver chip but most will work with many more.

CAN is extremely reliable and is used extensively in Automotive and many other industries.

1 Like