Embedded Ethernet?

[Andrew Blair]

In my quest for an interesting and challenging senior project, I have begun to look into building a small remotely/autonomously operated rc car. The idea is this: run a slave Ethernet controller(connected to rc car's motors, perhaps a sensor or two) and webcam through a wireless router and voila!- poor man's robot controller, only inverse. A computer with wireless takes all the data from the webcam and Ethernet device and sends back instructions.

So you say: Andrew, why not just cruise Ebay and pick up a $20 computer that already has Ethernet capability? Problem is, I then have to build a serial/USB/parallel motor/sensor controller, all just to relay the data back to another computer. Plus, I have to build a larger robot to haul that heavy piece of silicon antiquity around. So weight/size is at a premium.

Bottom line- If I decide to pursue this, I need a small, light, and most of all, cheap, ethernet controller to act as a slave. I've looked at Rabbit, NetBurner, Ethernut, and some others, and the best price I've seen is $150 from Rabbit. Maybe Mini-ITX would work. Any ideas?