AFwcxx

I need to know some additional hardware needed to incorporate the follow unit in the system 1. RFID sensor 2. Photoelectric Laser Sensor. 3. Alarm I may need to add terminal to joint all the photoelectric sensor (i'm using 20 photoelectric laser sensor). Therefore, my questions are: Do i need to use a controller to be incorporate with this system? I'm using Visual Basic 2010 to create the application and integrate with this system. Therefore MScomm is needed. Is it possible? To make it more clear, the system is simple. Someone has to tag his ID. once approved, he will then pick up the stuff from a rack which has the photoelectric sensors. Once the stuff has been picked up and triggered the sensor, it will communicate with the application information database to record the personnel ID, date and time. Some steps are also needed such as rules that may trigger an alarm if a personnel pick more than 1 stuff from the rack. Therefore, is a controller a necessity and be able to communicate with Visual Basic 2010? I just need to know what hardware is needed in this system to make into reality. Thanks.