# How many arduino controllers can be used on a pc **URL:** \ **Category:** General Guidance\ **Created:** [June 18, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194 "2022-06-18T13:45:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrcommandblock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@mrcommandblock](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/mrcommandblock)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/1 "2022-06-18T13:45:25Z")
im planning to use 2 arduino pro micros as controllers, will they work on a single pc? ---
**Author:** ![UKHeliBob](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/arduino/user_avatar/forum.arduino.cc/ukhelibob/32/215663_2.png) [@UKHeliBob](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/UKHeliBob)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/2 "2022-06-18T13:47:22Z")
Are you thinking of using 2 Pro Micros to control the same PC ? ---
**Author:** ![mrcommandblock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@mrcommandblock](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/mrcommandblock)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/3 "2022-06-18T13:47:38Z")
yeap, are they able to separate the different button presses from the different arduinos? ---
**Author:** ![UKHeliBob](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/arduino/user_avatar/forum.arduino.cc/ukhelibob/32/215663_2.png) [@UKHeliBob](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/UKHeliBob)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:50pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/4 "2022-06-18T13:50:34Z")
I have never tried it but it will probably work. After all you can plug in multiple mice and keyboards into a PC and they work There may, of course, be a better way to do what you want, so why not describe what you want to achieve rather than asking about a possible solution to an unknown problem ? ---
**Author:** ![UKHeliBob](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/arduino/user_avatar/forum.arduino.cc/ukhelibob/32/215663_2.png) [@UKHeliBob](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/UKHeliBob)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:51pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/5 "2022-06-18T13:51:32Z")
> [@mrcommandblock](#): > > are they able to separate the different button presses from the different arduinos? Unlikely as one keyboard input looks much like any other ---
**Author:** ![mrcommandblock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@mrcommandblock](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/mrcommandblock)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:51pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/6 "2022-06-18T13:51:49Z")
well, im think about using two arduinos to control buttons, switches, and rotary encoders for a sim racing game. There will be a lot of keybinds to use so i will need two arduinos for all of the buttons ---
**Author:** ![jfjlaros](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/arduino/user_avatar/forum.arduino.cc/jfjlaros/32/716915_2.png) [@jfjlaros](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/jfjlaros)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/7 "2022-06-18T13:54:21Z")
I presume you will use a serial connection to communicate with these boards? If so, you will be communicating over two different ports, so distinguishing between the two will be easy. ---
**Author:** ![UKHeliBob](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/arduino/user_avatar/forum.arduino.cc/ukhelibob/32/215663_2.png) [@UKHeliBob](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/UKHeliBob)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/8 "2022-06-18T13:54:36Z")
> [@mrcommandblock](#): > > There will be a lot of keybinds to use so i will need two arduinos for all of the buttons Why not use one Arduino with lots of inputs, such as a Mega and have it pass suitable keyboard inputs to the PC using a Pro Micro ? ---
**Author:** ![mrcommandblock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@mrcommandblock](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/mrcommandblock)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/9 "2022-06-18T13:54:48Z")
no money... ---
**Author:** ![taschi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@taschi](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/taschi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/10 "2022-06-18T13:54:54Z")
If those two Arduinos use different keys, that should work. ---
**Author:** ![mrcommandblock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@mrcommandblock](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/mrcommandblock)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/11 "2022-06-18T13:55:25Z")
im going to search about serial connections, also i was planning to use the usb data port from the arduino it self to communicate with my pc ---
**Author:** ![UKHeliBob](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/arduino/user_avatar/forum.arduino.cc/ukhelibob/32/215663_2.png) [@UKHeliBob](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/UKHeliBob)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/12 "2022-06-18T13:57:48Z")
> [@jfjlaros](#): > > I presume you will use a serial connection to communicate with these boards? I would guess not, bearing in mind the mention of Pro Micros, which gives the possibility of using the Keyboard library, but we will see ---
**Author:** ![mrcommandblock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@mrcommandblock](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/mrcommandblock)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/13 "2022-06-18T13:58:11Z")
on second hand, simulating keyboard presses will actually be easier to to use instead of using "serial connections" which i have no idea how they work so using simulated button presses should be good enough ---
**Author:** ![groundFungus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groundFungus](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/groundFungus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/14 "2022-06-18T13:58:32Z")
> [@mrcommandblock](#): > > There will be a lot of keybinds to use so i will need two arduinos for all of the buttons Not necessarily. If you want to use 2 Arduinos because one does not have enough pins then 2 Arduinos is the wrong way to go. Use one Arduino with pin exapnders or shift registers to increase the number of pins that 1 Arduino can use. For instance the MCP23008 8 bit I2C expander, the MCP23017 16 bit I2C exapnder, the MCP23S08 8 bit SPI expander, the MCP23S17 16 bit SPI expander or the 74HC595 parllel in to serial out Serial in to Parallel out shift register. Edit: correction, thanks to @sterretje. ---
**Author:** ![sterretje](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/arduino/user_avatar/forum.arduino.cc/sterretje/32/391294_2.png) [@sterretje](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/sterretje)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/15 "2022-06-18T16:04:53Z")
> [@groundFungus](#): > > the 74HC595 parllel in to serial out shift register. Other way around ;) ---
**Author:** ![groundFungus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groundFungus](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/groundFungus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/16 "2022-06-18T16:10:33Z")
> [@groundFungus](#): > > 74HC595 Oops. You are, of course, right. Don't know what I was thinking. Serial in to parallel out. Corrected post. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/arduino/user_avatar/forum.arduino.cc/system/32/1140315_2.png) [@system](https://forum.arduino.cc/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://forum.arduino.cc/t/how-many-arduino-controllers-can-be-used-on-a-pc/1004194/17 "2022-12-15T16:10:54Z")
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