Recently, I've bought WiiMote (Nintendo Wii Controller), which can be tethered
to a regular PC via Bluetooth. You can then use for example this library - http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/archive/2007/03/14/1879033.aspx - to read
WiiMote buttons, IR and accelerometer data.
I've combined this with a simple shipyard crane, which I've built recently and
here's the result - WiiMote controlled crane (video; http://picasaweb.google.cz/nikola.tepper/LegoCrane/photo#5156195290988387314)
Please note, that the weak Lego motors have to be geared down heavily to achieve
neccesary torque and lift the load, hence the very slow crane motion.
