[sdiy] slightly OT : DIY robotics

[jbv]

Hi all,

As I recently found myself a passion for robotics,
I spent the week end scouring the web for companies
selling cheap robotics kits.
Among others, I found this one :
http://www.hvwtech.com/catalog.htm#robotics

Ans as I was browsing sites & catalogs & datasheets,
I was wondering :

- does anybody have any experience with such kits ?

- why not use such small robots interactions (in group
behaviors for instance) to trigger / process musical
patterns / sequences in realtime ?

- these catalogs feature several parts such as motors &
sensors, and I was wondering if anyone has ever thought
of getting inspiration from these robotics design for designing
new interfaces for electronic instruments...
I mean : we all know the (rather cliched) concept of robots
playing instruments like humans, or electronic instruments
using biological parameters (EEG, muscles activity...) to
trigger / generate MIDI...
But is there a more sophisticated approach, like using various
sensors to build a sort of feedback loop between sound / music
generation and environmental parameters perception...

Well, this is very rough brainstorming so far, and I've no idea
where this is going (or if it's going anywhere)...
Any idea, suggestion, experience, pointers to some litterature ?

Thanks.
JB