IB is not really suitable for a real-time algo app. Time to move to a serious API. Try the Rithmic offering. It's cheap and a significant step up.
What kind of theory/math did you guys find helpful in building these systems? Time series forecasting/stochastic control theory/machine learning/data mining/signal processing? It's difficult to differentiate fields which are purely academic versus fields that can actually be applied to ATS.
drag0nsheath, my primary algo uses nothing more than BEDMAS. I had a theory based on human emotion, found a pattern, run that pattern over and over, and in the end, it wins more than it loses. The most advanced technical analysis tool that I use is an SMA. I have a data mining prototype put together but haven't found anything useful there yet. If you're looking for more advanced techniques, systquant really seems to know his stuff and might be able to answer some of your questions.
I've been learning a lot my following this thread. I would have assumed that your system would be much more complex, especially integrating an Aurdino controller into the whole setup! But with an SMA being the most complicated technical analysis indicator, that is really interesting.