Hal 9000 Panel

Very very nice build. Always wanted to tackle the HAL 9000 Panel.

I had an idea, inspired by DaveG over in his The Abyss Submersibles Project thread in Studio Scale Models.

He created a sort of lens from acrylic domes and mineral oil. Here's what he wrote in his thread.

"The front domed viewport. This part was created by glueing two non-concentric acrylic domes to a ring of plexiglass and then filling the space in between with mineral oil, which has the same index of refraction as glass. The end result mimicked the look of the lensing effect created when the real domes were underwater. After 23 years not a drop of oil has leaked from any of the four domes known to exist!"

Here's the link to his post if you want to take a look at the result. https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=129858&p=1959775&viewfull=1#post1959775
 
Alright, I swear I'm done :) I installed a sound system in the back of my Hal 9000. It's run by the excellent Adafruit FX Soundboard. This little board is incredible – and cheap. Nothing to program. Just drag sounds on it from your computer, hook up a battery, button and speaker and you're in business. I have a small momentary button at the top of Hal that cues a series of random Hal-isms.


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Yep, as you said in your previous post: "what can go wrong?":D I'm impressed by your prop: aced all the way:cool
 
This is pretty nice I built several the same way. I'm going to make a console for myself like the Master Replicas one. You can easily and cheaply add the video part of it with a photo frame. The buttons of course readily available. Making the frame it all goes in will be a little work.
 
I posted some of this in another thread, but wanted to log it here as well. I've been slowly modifying my HAL 9000 focussing on the lens itself.

First, I randomly bought this vintage slide projector off craigslist. As I was dissembling it I noticed the large glass lens on the inside was a perfect HAL lens. It slipped right into my housing! And yes, glass makes a real difference.

Other projectors might have a similar lens size, but this one is SO close I wanted to mention the model. It is a Realist 400 Model 3115. You can find them online for under $30.

The glass lens I pulled from the projector is 70mm across. The Thingiverse ring takes a 68.5mm lens (from an acrylic ball). I rebuilt my ring to accommodate this slightly larger glass lens. The bulge of this lens is terrific. It is very close to the screen used fisheye.

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Since I'm rebuilding the ring, I incorporated the engraved lettering on the ring in my model. I'll be printing this out on a SLA printer so the copy holds up. I'll fill the engraved letters with white paint an get a pretty realistic look. Below is a test file I had printed showing the lettering ... a little messy... I'm still paying with the technique.

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Valor I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for sharing the tip about the slide projector. I bought one off eBay for my Moebius Hal kit and the lens is indeed perfect. I only had to reduce the inside diameter of the ring ever so slightly with careful sanding and the lens slid right into place. While the plastic lenses included with the kit were very nice, you are right nothing beats real glass. Thanks again!

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Valor I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for sharing the tip about the slide projector. I bought one off eBay for my Moebius Hal kit and the lens is indeed perfect. I only had to reduce the inside diameter of the ring ever so slightly with careful sanding and the lens slid right into place. While the plastic lenses included with the kit were very nice, you are right nothing beats real glass. Thanks again!

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What's the quality like on the Moebius kit? I was considering buying it and using it as a base/template to swap bits out with.
 
What's the quality like on the Moebius kit? I was considering buying it and using it as a base/template to swap bits out with.

I like it. The pieces are very detailed, for example the faceplate has the brushed aluminum texture molded into the plastic so all you need to do is paint it black. The plastic lenses that come with it are not half bad, definitely better than the christmas ornaments from Michaels. Materials wise it is just a plastic kit, maybe slightly over priced for what it is. But for someone like me who wants a Hal but doesn’t have the tools or the talent to scratch build one it’s perfect.
 
But for someone like me who wants a Hal but doesn’t have the tools or the talent to scratch build one it’s perfect.
Apart from outsourcing a lens, a HAL panel would be a fantastic first-scratchbuild. You'd need something that can cut the aluminum, but even a hacksaw could do it well enough. If you did it in all plastic, it could be even simpler. You've gotta start building that talent somewhere.
 
Apart from outsourcing a lens, a HAL panel would be a fantastic first-scratchbuild. You'd need something that can cut the aluminum, but even a hacksaw could do it well enough. If you did it in all plastic, it could be even simpler. You've gotta start building that talent somewhere.

I picked up the kit today. I'm thinking of mostly using it as a template and at least making the main body and trim out of MDF and aluminum to give it some heft. Valor posted some great progress shots, so there isn't even much to figure out. Might have to get someone to make the actual cuts for me as I don't have a shop or even the tools to do it it, but I don't imagine that will be too expensive.
 
Alright, I swear I'm done :) I installed a sound system in the back of my Hal 9000. It's run by the excellent Adafruit FX Soundboard. This little board is incredible – and cheap. Nothing to program. Just drag sounds on it from your computer, hook up a battery, button and speaker and you're in business. I have a small momentary button at the top of Hal that cues a series of random Hal-isms.


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I've been thinking about adding sound to my model, yours sounds very high quality. Would be able to provide info on the hardware please?
TIA

PBateman
 
I've been thinking about adding sound to my model, yours sounds very high quality. Would be able to provide info on the hardware please?
TIA

PBateman

If you want your HAL to respond to real-life events (i.e. motion of people in the room), this is what I did:
Take an Arduino (it does not matter which, but Nano and pro mini have small footprints) and add a motion sensor. I used the PIR sensor (which needs a 1" opening) but these days, I might try a RWCL-0516 "microwave proximity sensor" (which you could hide inside the case). When the sensor triggers motion, the Arduino plays a (random) sound clip using the DFPlayerMini (see: e.g.: Playing sounds from the Arduino with DFPlayer).
I have made a full set of HAL's sound clips in high quality available at: mawob/HAL9000
 
Hi Markus,
Thanks for that.
Motion sensor wow, well that's not required, as the Mrs would probably hurl it at my head if it kept making noise. Anyhoo, what I would like though is to have a bit better sound than those greeting card boards and be able to have an audio out port maybe. Perhaps the option of an SD card slot for the sound files. Oh yes, and usb connection and a couple of exterior buttons.
 
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OK, so I broke a wire going into the led of the Mobieus kit. :( can't reattach as it broke off right inside the bulb. Can anyone recommend a replacement? Is it a 5mm bulb?
 
I've been thinking about adding sound to my model, yours sounds very high quality. Would be able to provide info on the hardware please?
TIA

PBateman
It's run by the excellent Adafruit FX Soundboard. This little board is incredible – and cheap. Nothing to program. Just drag sounds on it from your computer, hook up a battery, button and speaker and you're in business. I have a small momentary button at the top of Hal that cues a series of random Hal-isms.
 

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