Digital Electronics project - servos and more

[efoote868]

In my DE class, we're required to select a project we would like to do for the rest of the year. I had a fun idea, but I'm not exactly certain how to implement it, so I need help.

What I would like to do is make a robotic arm, and a "dummy". Both would look exactly the same, perhaps the robotic arm would be 2-4x bigger. Anyhow, when the dummy is moved, the other arm would mirror it (I'm looking to have 2 joints, and a turret).

So, the design. In essence, I would be creating three custom servos. I would have 3 pots as inputs (2 joints and 1 rotation), and 3 pots as feedback. I've looked through the web, and I've come across a couple sites with ways to make servos, H-Bridges, and servo pulse to PWM converters.

I'm not exactly sure how much of the circuitry I would have to make, but I'm certain my teacher won't let me use an IFI RC or Hi-tech servos.
I would like to use PID control for the servos I create; but I would definitely need a micro controller for that.

So, I've got a few questions.
1) Is there a better way to approach this, or a better design / what would you use?
2) What would be a decent micro controller that would fit my needs (6 analog inputs, 3 PWM, or 3 pulse outputs, cheap ~$30)
3) Have you done something similar to this, or worked with programming micro controllers?
4) Any solid advice before I start?

thanks!
-e.foote