how to choose a microcontroller » http://www.instructables.com/id/EKRQRQHQDIEWH1IMC9/?ALLSTEPS

• the pic-archive has a good collection of docs, projects and links about http://come.to/thepicarchive
• http://www.gnupic.org/
• Graphical, PLC-like programming with the PIC16x84 > http://members1.chello.nl/~f.vdburgh/picbit/
• http://picnic.sourceforge.net/
• LISP-likes
  • Taiichi Yuasa > XS LISP on Lego MindStorms.
  • Marc Feeley and Danny Dubé → PICBIT, Scheme on a PIC
    • http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~feeley/papers/ll3.pdf
    • http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~feeley/papers/sw03.pdf
• tutorial on using puredata and pics for data aquistion and analysis > http://www.0x09.com/physcomp/

• http://www.arduino.cc/
• open-source physical computing platform based on a simple i/o board, and
• a development environment for writing Arduino software.
• Arduino programming language is an implementation of Wiring(http://wiring.org.co/), itself built on Processing.
• The Arduino board is a cheap (roughly 30euros/board, fully assembled), robust i/o board based on the AMTEL ATmega8
• http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=2004.
• It has
  • 13 digital pins (3 of which allow PWM output)
  • 6 analog inputs
• USB and serial versions boards / pcb schematics available.
• Can be interfaced from osx, windows and linux

• Sensor Technology
• USB/sensor interface from CREATE > http://www.create.ucsb.edu/~dano/CUI/
• the Cerf Board is more a microcomputer, than microcontroller.