Thanks a lot for the information, I will look around for the kit you're talking about.
The only reason I need a PLC is that the control program is going to be slightly more involved than I originally thought, plus a lot of the motion controls and force / torque sensing I will be doing is going to be experimentally calibrated and I am going to need to program and reprogram this thing quite often when I am in the shop with the first prototype.
The Pico is too limited, 3 contacts and an output per rung will not allow me the functionality I need. I'm currently looking into other options, and let me tell you, I had no idea there were so many different PLC companies. Thanks for the help everybody.