Pulling your car into a garage is kind of like trying to see through a Magic Eye painting. The back wall always seems either closer or farther than it actually is, and unless you have a tennis ball hanging from the ceiling, there’s an ever-present risk you’ll accidentally bump into the wall or knock the trash cans over. If you’ve been having a problem with this, try using a Raspberry Pi gadget to clearly indicate how close you are to the wall.
This Raspberry Pi parking sensor makes use of an ultrasonic distance sensor working in concert with a set of red, yellow, and green LED lights. The sensor is placed at the back of the garage and tracks the distance between it and your car. When your car is more than 25 cm (about 10 inches) away, the light turns green, showing that you have plenty of clearance. As you approach, the light switches to yellow, urging caution, and finally to red when it’s time to stop. Not only does this help keep you from bumping the wall, it also helps you to gauge the perfect distance so your car isn’t clumsily sticking out of the door.
