easiest way to communiate between multiple (>2) Arduino Minis

I have a couple of arduino minis (A.M.). I want that (at least) one of them can send data to all the other processors, but without any extra components.
is this possible?

I can connect them as a ring, where every A.M. forward the data that it receive.Or I can connect them as a star so that all A.M. receives the data at the same time. it doesn't matter.

It is very small amount of data being sent. (approx 3 byte)

Can you please give me some advise what communication protocol to use? (simple and cheap :smiley: )

Thanks!

I have a couple of arduino minis (A.M.). I want that (at least) one of them can send data to all the other processors, but without any extra components.
is this possible?

Not if you consider wire an extra component. I do.

Can you please give me some advise what communication protocol to use?

First, you need to define the communication mechanism. Serial? I2C? SPI?

The distance between the Minis is relevant.

I am all open for different suggestions regarding communication mechanisms.
I'm new to arduino (a couple of years since I last used it) and I dont really know what alternatives I have.

I hoped that there was a simple way to communicate between the boards, just 2 wires from one to another, and then 2 new wires from the second to the third, and so on. Each processor forward the message it receive.

What alternatives do I have?

The distance is max 2 meter between each module.

Thanks!

Connect Tx from one to Rx on all the others in parallel. Master sends to all slaves. Slave acts on it if addressed to him, or if addressed globally.

Or, Tx from 1st to Rx on 2nd, Tx on 2nd to Rx on 3rd, Tx on 3rd to Rx on 1st (for 3 unit example)
Message comes in, receiver passes it along if not addressed to him. Intended receiver might send out a repsonse or an ack that gets passed along to original sender.

Nice!

Thats exactly the type of solution I was looking for!

Without any driver, how long do you think I can make the wire between each module?

The 2 meter max you described should be fine. If the data gets flakey, slow down the data rate some.