The LM-3S would work fine for this. Load the LM-3S Accessory 1.00 program onto the module and now you have an accessory module. There are a few pre-programmed projects that you can download and look at to see how the programming works. Then use what you learned to create your own program to do all the functions you need to make a working crane. You set your own buttons, functions, and everything. The LM-3S would easily do all this, plus have custom sound if you did it right.
-Kevin