Greetings, Jim (from a fellow Hoosier!)
Your picture makes me want to build something like that myself. It would be a fun way to try out different gizmos and new programming ideas. What would be cool would be to add a small linear actuator of some kind, and some limit switches. (Maybe even a small motor and encoder, if it suits your inputs.) Nice work!
Paula
[Small suggestion for future reference: Consider keeping related posts in one thread, instead of beginning a new one -- it just makes for better continuity as others follow your progress. Not a big deal, though.]