Just a brief comment... last night I got the digital control to work. This includes actual voltage / current readings (via ADC) as well as setpoints for voltage / current (via I2C DAC).

The only tricky bit was getting the I2C DAC wired up. I don't have any breakouts for MSSOP-10 packages, so I just dead bugged it using (very) thin wire on a bit of perfboard. It took a bit of fine-ironing skills, but it worked first try. A layer of hot glue for protection on top, and we are in business.