Well... the idea is to have the system gather power usage statistics from each motor, and possibly speed of each wheel (Stored on EEPROM). It can help keep track of when that breaker is going to pop! Yes, I know the stamp-based controller can do this as well... BUT... I'd rather muck around with a $10 68HC11 than a $1,000,000 Robot Controller!
As for programming... assembler is just fine for me, thanks. I still don't understand why everyone is so scared of it! If you wrap common logic structures with macros, it's even pretty clear to read. I'm sure there are C compilers with a back-end for the 68HC11... (Does gcc have one?)... if not, writing one would make for an intresting project.
What else can you do with 4MHz of Lean-Mean-MCU-Machine? Who knows? But I'd bet at some point somone will think of a sweet use for it. I've heard of teams out-programming the stamp... this would take care of it! Just a thought. And HEY! I've been looking for an excuse to build an embedded system for a while now!
