Roboticsinfo,
first, I didn't use Basic, but I heard alot of people prefer it for projects.
second, I used Pic controller while ago. I believe it is for newbie.
well, Pic is not hard anymore, people were afraid from Assembly programming. Now, alot of compilers are available around. Besides, there are zillion of books about Pic16. Pic is not the best in the market.
third, besides working on designing a robot for the AAAI competition, I am working on designing a robot through a PocketPC Intel PXA processor. I believe this is away so advanced. If you think I am a newbie because I signed in this website recently, you must be really a foolish!