I've been tinkering with this a bit. Here's how I'm approaching a similar project. You can do some basic color blob tracking in Processing so... Think of an Arduino based obstacle avoiding robot receiving course "suggestions" via it's serial port from a Processing sketch where the analytics are happening. You can get a netbook and a webcam these days for under $200. The Arduino is plenty capable of running a PING, a GPS, a digital compass, a motor controller and a pan servo. What you can accomplish these days for under $500 is mind boggling!