Ok, bit of a update on the goal of this robot:
It will be built on a small tracked chassis, and will be controlled indirectly by a small computer, called the Microclient jrDX by Norhtec. it will have dual RS232 for interface of the microcontroller board and the SICK LIDAR. The robot will explore an unknown environment, mapping its surroundings by sending each byte directly to the computer, which will build a small dot map and storing it as some file type (possibly text file, it will be interesting to look at). There will also be several infrared sensors on the robot to ensure that it always has another method of watching its surroundings. There will be a total of 14 proximity sensors on the robot to ensure that it will never get stuck. In the future, we may expand it to include GPS or some kind of wireless interface for video feed.