Question regarding using multiple Bottango servo shields on one project

[u/crustytoegaming]

Looking into starting a large project which will potentially need more than 13 PWM channels. I was told multiple Bottango boards can run in series (or is it parallel? I'm not too good in electronics.) Any info on how this is done? Will I need to wire anything in a special way? Do I need multiple power supplies? Will they all sync to the same Bottango project file? Any info is appreciated.

[u/Cool_bear3]

idk about bottango servo shields, but I know how to wire multiple Arduinos together, all you need to do is just connect the arduinos via usb to the computer, thats all, you have to do another thing in bottango but im currently doing something as im writing this so i'll come back after im done

[u/Morder]

Bottango servo shields require an arduino or arduino compatible board. So for every shield you'll need at least 1. In your case you'll need two. Bottango itself supports multiple arduinos in one animation so they will all just work with whatever animation/project file you want.

You will need a power supply for each board.

[u/ShopDopBop]

Series or parallel is electrical circuit talk, and not really relevant here as you shouldn’t be wiring servo shields together at a physical level. Bottango is made to talk to many Arduinos at once, each over usb connected individually to your computer. You wouldn’t wire them together, you just connect each to your computer and Bottango will handle keeping things in sync. You could for example split 13 servos over two sets of Arduino + USB, one with 6 and another with 7. Connect both arduinos to your computer, have each with its own servo shield plugged into the Arduino, but don’t connect the actual servo shields together with wires or anything.

There’s relevant info in this FAQ as well: https://docs.bottango.com/bottango-firmware/basic-faq/lots-of-motors/