Electronic Components Control with Computer

Hey guys(and girls),

I am very new to the whole electrical thing, so bear with me. I am designing a project for school and i have no idea where to start with the Controlling System.

Here is the basic rundown, a student comes to the IT dept to collect a new battery for their school laptop, they scan their ID card and the system will record their info etc, then if allowed they will collect a battery, this is where i am having trouble. How do i make the computer dispense the battery, at the moment their is simply 2 motors to control 2 different dispensers, their will be more and sensors as well. So my question is, how do i control stuff and receive input from stuff via a computer. i am open to any ideas that you have, Ideally i would like it to be controlled via an RS-232 command to make it easier for the system to work(i.e. "dispense battery type-2" or what ever)

I apologise for my dumbness on the matter, but i am quite new.

Bdman32

Hello.
You need some sort of device that connects to both your dispenser and your computer.
For example a ready made industrial input/output card would let you switch things and measure voltages with your computer.
For example: http://www.adlinktech.com/DAQ/Digital-Input_Output.php

or (more adventurous)
an Arduino.... (http://www.arduino.cc/) + some extra interface electronics (shields or diy)
It would allow different sensors to be used and you are in full control of the instructions it will listen to via rs232. It would need to be programmed to do that. This is not a trivial task if you never played with them before.

Anyhow
I would recommend first determining exactly what you need in terms of sensors and motorcontrol. Make a little drawing with the control thingy as a black box and try to make it work by operating it by hand with switches and led's/multimeter. Then find out the electrical requirements (amps, volts, on/off or precise etc) and then look for a solution to control that with your computer.