MIT + robotics = Rodney Brooks, Director of CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab). You might contact him. Although he's very busy, he's also an extremely helpful guy, and he could provide info on who to contact for more information.

BTW, I know CSAIL is using PIC chips, but I don't know if they're using 8052s.

Good luck, you've set a lofty goal for yourself :-)