We did camera tracking on the driver station last year. I'm helping another team do it this season. It was all done in Labview.
Camera calibration is key. Being able to change the settings on the field is a plus, but, with proper calibration you shouldn't need to. Still it's good to have just in case.
Be sure to read this white paper on vision processing especially the parts on exposure and white balance found here:
http://wpilib.screenstepslive.com/s/3120/m/8731
You really can't run it on the Classmate, there's just not enough processing power there. So you need a faster machine with more ram than that. Just remember you need enough processing cycles for the driver station to remain in regular contact with the field as well as perform what ever else you need.