I like XMOS, I've just started playing with it an I think it's a great thing for robo-controlled devices. You program XMOS, stick it in a device and away you go. They're small, efficient and powerful enough to do pretty complex work without communicating back home. Who knows, maybe a robot lunar lander with an XMOS or three on it? It's pretty cheap to get into XMOS, a hundred US bucks will get you pretty much all you need to get started... It programs through the USB on your Mac or PC.