[Klaus] wanted some sort of aid for parking his car, and after running across a $4 ultrasonic sensor, decided to build his own speaking distance sensor (.de, Google Translation). Inside [Klaus]&#82… ...

As Randy points out in the video below, by giving the toy an Arduino, you’ve not only breathed a little bit of life into an old product, but you could tinker with this further–for instance ...

With a standard old HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor, an audio module and a servo to drive a custom gauge needle he’s made a device which can warn people around you if they’re too close for comfort.