Because garage door buttons are boring and demand a futuristic improvement, Instructable user danthemakerman went and created detailed DIY instructions for taking your garage door button to the next level with a 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired HAL 9000 upgrade. “I am completely operational, and my circuits are functioning perfectly.” Are they, though, HAL, are they?

Dan’s original plan was to have the garage door be voice-activated, so he could say, “HAL open the pod bay doors,” and it would respond with the classic, “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Unfortunately, after some research, he realized that it was going to be more difficult than he anticipated without getting Amazon Alexa or Google Home Assist involved (which he was trying to avoid), so he settled for a HAL 9000 push-button garage door opener instead. Settling during projects – I know all about it.

The final result is quite impressive, and it’s almost a shame HAL 9000 has to sit in the cold garage all day and night. I’d rather have it somewhere in the home where it’s on display all the time – like in the kitchen, where I spend most of my time. You know they say most accidents at home happen in the bathroom, but clearly, whoever said that has never seen me in the kitchen.

[via Instructables]