Sync multiple machines wirelessly

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nlecaude

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Hello,

I've been working with a "Bicycle Musical orchestra" for a couple of years. It's basically 4 wheelchair motor powered machines with a bunch of speakers, musical instruments etc.
Each machine currently has a Macbook which does audio playback as well as midi playback to control RGB lights (via a teensy). At this time the machines are connected via an adhoc wifi network. There is a master machine that sends a "go" signal to the other machines and each machine starts audio/midi playback. Songs need to be in sync. Since all the laptops are the same model I don't need to synchronize during playback, as long as they start together they usually keep in sync well. The main problem I have is that when the band plays in crowded areas with a lot of WIFI networks, we get a lot of interference.
Could anyone suggest another wireless protocol that could work for this type of application ? Speed is not really an issue, the important thing is that each machine gets the go signal at the same time. The Macbooks will also eventually be replaced by raspberry pis. I was also thinking about using an RTC with the teensy to ensure that the go signal is triggered at the right time.

Thanks !
 
Reliably getting a "go" signal in a noisy rf environment sounds hard....

I would investigate how accurately one can synchronize the time between the machines using NNTP.

Lack of a realtime OS on the MacBooks and (maybe) the Raspberry PIs also sounds like it might present difficulties. Since you'll need to add wireless to the Raspberry PIs anyway, you might make things simpler and cheaper by using hackable wireless routers instead.
 
That's why I was thinking about using a very precise RTC. I would send the go signal and then the computers would start based on the clock rather that the signal itself. I was also wondering if some kind of infrared system could work also...
 
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