A plasma cutting system comprising: a plasma torch comprising a head; a housing; and a power supply disposed within the housing and in communication with the plasma torch, the power supply configured to provide an output current for generating and maintaining a plasma cutting arc by the plasma torch head, the power supply including: a multi-node communication bus; one or more control processors; and a plurality of autonomous switching circuits in communication with the one or more control processors via the multi-node communications bus, wherein each of the plurality of autonomous switching circuits comprises a unique identifier, each of the plurality of switching circuits including a microcontroller configured to: control the generation of a portion of the output current based on one or more messages received from the one or more control processors; monitor one or more operating parameters of the autonomous switching circuit; and modify a control parameter of the autonomous switching circuit independent of and asynchronous to the other autonomous switching circuits of the plurality of autonomous switching circuits when one or more of the operating parameters exceeds a predetermined threshold; wherein the microcontrollers are configured to enable or disable operation of an autonomous switching circuit of the plurality of switching circuits based on a value of its unique identifier. a plasma torch comprising a head; a housing; and a power supply disposed within the housing and in communication with the plasma torch, the power supply configured to provide an output current for generating and maintaining a plasma cutting arc by the plasma torch head, the power supply including: a multi-node communication bus; one or more control processors; and a plurality of autonomous switching circuits in communication with the one or more control processors via the multi-node communications bus, wherein each of the plurality of autonomous switching circuits comprises a unique identifier, each of the plurality of switching circuits including a microcontroller configured to: control the generation of a portion of the output current based on one or more messages received from the one or more control processors; monitor one or more operating parameters of the autonomous switching circuit; and modify a control parameter of the autonomous switching circuit independent of and asynchronous to the other autonomous switching circuits of the plurality of autonomous switching circuits when one or more of the operating parameters exceeds a predetermined threshold; wherein the microcontrollers are configured to enable or disable operation of an autonomous switching circuit of the plurality of switching circuits based on a value of its unique identifier. a multi-node communication bus; one or more control processors; and a plurality of autonomous switching circuits in communication with the one or more control processors via the multi-node communications bus, wherein each of the plurality of autonomous switching circuits comprises a unique identifier, each of the plurality of switching circuits including a microcontroller configured to: control the generation of a portion of the output current based on one or more messages received from the one or more control processors; monitor one or more operating parameters of the autonomous switching circuit; and modify a control parameter of the autonomous switching circuit independent of and asynchronous to the other autonomous switching circuits of the plurality of autonomous switching circuits when one or more of the operating parameters exceeds a predetermined threshold; wherein the microcontrollers are configured to enable or disable operation of an autonomous switching circuit of the plurality of switching circuits based on a value of its unique identifier. control the generation of a portion of the output current based on one or more messages received from the one or more control processors; monitor one or more operating parameters of the autonomous switching circuit; and modify a control parameter of the autonomous switching circuit independent of and asynchronous to the other autonomous switching circuits of the plurality of autonomous switching circuits when one or more of the operating parameters exceeds a predetermined threshold; wherein the microcontrollers are configured to enable or disable operation of an autonomous switching circuit of the plurality of switching circuits based on a value of its unique identifier.