The Propeller
I can say the Propeller is on the bench. But not the one that spins in the water. This is the Propeller that will serve as the brains of the project. The Parallax Propeller computer chip is actually the larger (.9 x.9 inch) chip near the top of the blue circuit board.
This is a kit for learning how to program and use the Propeller. I am 95% certain it won't be the same propeller I will use in the actual project. (I'll buy another, they're not very costly.) The red and black wires you see on the board, I have just installed. They serve as the "basic wiring" to energize the Propeller on the test board. They are now a permanent requirement for the set-up to power up the processor. You can see the wiring on the box lid.
The USB connection is needed only to program the computer or read text as output in the debug mode. The 9 volt battery powers the Propeller, which incidentally only requires 3.3 volts. There is a regulator included on the Blue board.
I'll soon have an XBee plugged into the Propeller board.