Thanks for the feedback sent so far
I need a system which I can scale up to any number of arduino.
The idea is to have 1 master unit which will receive data from a PC or load data from a SD card. The data will be sent to the slave arduino which will have some items connected to it to perform a specific task. Although each slave arduino configuration will be exactly like each other, the actions each will perform will be different based on the data received.
The slave units will be around 10 cm to 15 cm apart from each other. The master unit can be located next to the slave units however need an easy way to send data to it. The length of the entire install may be from 3 meters to 100 meters and this is why I need a solution that scales on demand.
Adding to my complexity is that each slave unit has to be configured by non technical people in any configuration then program the slave id as they desire.
After some tinkering I have some other options which would like to receive point of view:
- XBEE
- Bluetooth
- WiFi
- Ethernet
In case of wireless transmission, for distance, I was thinking of using a repeater unit which will get the data and send it back out to increase the distance covered. Data will be encrypted in some way just in case.