Hi there,
I’ve not read through this whole conversation in detail, but sounds like most f the discussion was on software, so figured I’d chime in with some info about the hardware additions that @WayneSeltzer asked about.
Addressable LED strips are pretty easy to add with the servo headers. MicroPython includes this library that you can use to control the strips: neopixel — control of WS2812 / NeoPixel LEDs — MicroPython latest documentation Just make sure you’re conscious about how much power you’re drawing from the LEDs!
You could also use the servo headers for adding buzzers and just outputting a PWM signal from the IO pin. The RedBot Buzzer can actually be connected directly into the servo headers, though the volume may be a bit quiet: SparkFun RedBot Buzzer - ROB-12567 - SparkFun Electronics
I2C devices can also be added via the Qwiic connector, though the software is a little tricky at the moment. We’ve got low-level driver implementations working with the XRP for a number of our existing Python libraries, and are currently working on making this easy to implement within XRPCode, though no promises on if/when that will happen. If you want to try it out now, I wrote some instructions a while back that I think should still work: (Where) is Qwiic demo code available (such as from the webinar)? - #6 by SparkFro
Hope this helps!