I also want it to be cheap, both with cost of parts for implementation, as well as for system resources in the chip firmware. On top of this, it needs to be very lightweight so that I can send data down through all of the performers without using too many resources of the device.
Being that I may be using my reflashed stepper motor controllers in this, rather than full-blown Arduino boards (or custom ATmega boards), I need to have a way to network these without using any precious IO pins. As part of the Animatronic Avian project, I need to have a way for the controller software/computer to send synchronized data out through all of the performers on the stage.
