Multi-Board Servo Controller Support

Yes - this is a very reasonable use case, and ARC can support multiple hardware controllers in a project, but the Custom servo Controller skill would need to be designed for multi-instance use first.

What’s happening now

The current skill is built to connect one controller per instance and map selected Vx virtual servo ports to that single serial device. That means:

• One skill instance = one COM port
• The skill likely acts as a singleton or uses shared resources internally
• So adding a second copy in the same project may conflict, even if the second board is on a different COM port

Your proposed design

What you described is a solid architecture:

• Instance 1
  • COM port A
  • board index 1
  • virtual ports V0-V37
• Instance 2
  • COM port B
  • board index 2
  • virtual ports V0-V14

That would let ARC send servo commands to different boards independently. The key requirement is that the robot skill must namespace its port mapping and connection state per instance so the two copies don’t overwrite each other.

Best path forward

If this functionality isn’t already in the skill, the way to add it is to build or update the robot skill as a multi-instance plugin.

Here’s the overview for creating a robot skill:

• Create robot skill overview: https://synthiam.com/Support/Create-Robot-Skill/Overview

And if you want a model for how ARC handles custom hardware skills, this existing skill is the one you’re using:

• Custom servo Controller Robot Skill: https://synthiam.com/Support/Skills/Servo/Custom-Servo-Controller?id=22238

Important note for servos

ARC’s servo ports are already constants, so if you’re using multiple boards, the skill should map each controller to its own selected set of Vx ports rather than trying to reuse the same virtual port range for both boards.

Recommendation

If you’re developing this yourself, I’d suggest:

1. Make the skill support multiple instances
2. Add a config option for:
   • COM port
   • baud rate
   • board ID / label
   • selected virtual servo ports
3. Keep each instance’s serial connection and servo mapping isolated
4. Confirm each board responds only to its assigned port range

If you’re trying to work around this today

A possible workaround is to:

• Use one skill instance per board
• Ensure the second instance uses a completely separate port mapping
• If the current skill blocks that, it confirms the plugin needs an update for multi-instance support

If you want, I can help with either of these next steps:

• outline how the plugin should be structured for multiple instances
• help draft the JavaScript/Python side of a test script for verifying both boards
• explain how to modify the skill so each board gets its own COM connection and servo range

If this is for development, the ARC AI Assistant inside ARC can also help rewrite plugin logic and scripts quickly:

• https://synthiam.com/Products/AI-Assistant

If you’d like, I can sketch a simple multi-board mapping design for the skill.

Can you provide me with the source code for the original Custom servo Controller skill and suggest what to modify in order for the skill to function as I suggested?

I’ll have the GitHub updated if it’s not listed in the manual. But either way that should be a quick and easy fix. I can even do it when I get home for ya.

Taken care of here..

Custom Servo Controller by Synthiam

Control up to 99 servos over serial with Vx virtual ports using custom firmware on Arduino or microcontroller controllers.

Requires ARC v3

Servo

DJ thanks for the help really appreciate it Just got a chance to test the updated Custom servo Controller seems to work great as far as board selection. However seems you still can't open two instances of the skill in a project yet, only one board can be used at a time still.