2001: A Space Odyssey not only pushed the boundaries of filmmaking, but introduced us to one of the most enduring villains in all of media. The HAL 9000 artificial intelligence was human-like but inhuman, a singular uncanny red light on a wall, tasked not only with control of a spaceship and its inner workings but also with being a companion for its occupants. It’s gone on to be the inspiration and basis of many projects around here, where it is generally given much less scope than control of a space ship and instead is tasked with something like monitoring air quality in a home.
Called the PAL 8000 by its creator [Arnov], this uses a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 at its core which monitors a volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor to take air quality measurements. The device features a custom 3D printed enclosure with glowing LEDs and plays contextual audio responses based on air quality levels, completing the HAL 9000 theme. The project also includes a local web dashboard which reports on its data, allowing users to see information in real time rather than relying on HAL’s voice reports alone.
For those looking to build other HAL-inspired projects, [Arnov] has made many of the printing files available on the project’s site. It’s a well-polished build faithful to the source material and could be a great addition to any home automation system for many other tasks beyond air quality monitoring. Perhaps something like a more general-purpose voice assistant, minus the megalomania.
as someone who has temperature sensors in my house, i have to say unless it has a control function, the last thing i want is usually continual monitoring. i think this will be common to most environmental sensors. you want to know the diurnal cycle (highs and lows), seasonal cycles (ac vs furnace, or windows open vs closed), the effect of appliances (especially stove). but once you’ve seen those, you don’t really want to monitor them in detail, certainly not be interrupted by it. either your house is so sealed up that it’s got bad air, or it is open enough that you’ve got fresh air coming in from outside. either you live on a freeway or you don’t. it will sometimes change much from minute to minute but generally that change will be repeated on each day. “my house fills with smoke when i cook” – you might want to quantize it once but i can’t imagine wanting your wall to tell you about it each time. “yes, hal, i know.”
anyways i’m saying that not to denigrate this project so much as just part of my continuing struggle to make personal use of environmental monitoring.
Also install several sensors from several manufacturers so you’ve got an air quality reading fitting your current mood.
Dave, the next time you light up, I’ll leave the cigarette alone and put YOU out
“I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can smell that”