Obviously, QPID is going to need some form of microprocessor to do what it needs to do. It also needs the ability to read voltages, control motors, and connect to the internet. Thankfully, there's an open-source hardware platform known as Arduino that fits the bill perfectly.
I decided to use the Arduino Duemilanove which is based on the Atmel ATMega328 microcontroller. It includes 6 10-bit analog-to-digital converters, 14 digital I/O lines, and is capable of generating pulse-width-modulated (PWM) signals (ideal for controlling servos and motors). And to make things even easier, an optional Ethernet board is also available along with a software library.
The Arduino platform also includes a set of open-source tools for editing, compiling, and debugging code, and it includes standard libraries for reading analog values, generating PWM signals, etc. Thus, I can spend my time working on QPID instead figuring out a proprietary toolchain and development environment.
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