Robot for testing Control Engineering concepts

Hello,

I am en electrical engineer that is trying yo update myself in the field of
Digital Control Engineering: FIR IIR Filters & PID regulators. I would like
to build a system where I can measure Impulse Responses and use the
collected data to build e.g. PID regulators where I test for stability etc.

I have been thinking about the Lego Mindstorms robots, but I am not sure I can program in PID controllers etc. in these robot, or can I :?:

What the robot does is not that important, but if it's something "cool "
that doesn't hurt. I would also appreciate if somein can suggest Literature.

I am using MatLab and Mathematica.

I have currently started at reading a book called "DSP First" to refresh
some of my past knowledge, and I am thinking about ordering the several Control Engineering books.

You don't really need to make any measurements to make a good PID controller. Its fairly easy to tune a PID controller by simple adjusting the three values separately. You can build a PID Controller using a quad opamp and resistors and Capacitors.

In one of my classes we built an electromagnet that could levetate a metal ball. We used a simple lead compenstator controller.

Brent