Sonodar

Sonodar is sensor technology from the cartoon portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

See how his pinky sticks out? That means he's classy.

Sonodar is a type of sonic-based sensing technology used by the Transformers. Ironhide has a built in sonodar sensor array built into his forearm which extends to reveal a dish-like emitter. The findings of the array appear in the windshield on his chest. With the sonodar, Ironhide was able to detect the dinosaur fossils buried in a cavern in the volcano surrounding the Autobot ship. The discovery of these fossils led to the creation of the Dinobots. S.O.S. Dinobots

Notes

• While the dialogue script spells it "sondar", the original script spelling is "sonodar"—which makes more sense, as "sono" is Latin for "sound".