It looks like several people voted while I was responding to Coyote X.
I too vote for *duino, for several reasons:
1 - it's available assembled for $33 or in kit form for $24. So anyone who can afford a car can afford one.
2 - it runs the ATmega168, which four of us have voiced preference for, and one has already purchased. Which has 23 i/o points, up to six analog in and three out, three timer/counters, PWM, and more. This should do almost anything we desire.
3- apparently, the programmer in built in.
4 - it's a standardized platform, and we can move right on to programming, instead of designing circuit boards.
Lostcause: the timer/counters are on digital inputs, not analog. But Coyote has that covered in post #18. I'm sure he can set whatever threshold we want on the input board. We'll just need to count the pulses and the widths.