The original odormeter was invented in the annum 2333 by an unknown engineer working for Har-D-Har Labs, a manufacturer of practical joke materials such as fake vomit and schnauzes. Intended to complement their growing line of whoopee cushions, the odormeter was designed to excrete a violently putrid odor which resembled human-generated methane gas. So successful was the odormeter in this purpose that it caused nearly 4000 asphyxiation deaths (mostly men between the ages of thirteen and twenty-three) before Har-D-Har Labs recalled all odormeters and discontinued the product.

Then, in 2338, an independent research and development robot named Kelvin-88 reverse engineered one of the last remaining Har-D-Har odormeters, transforming it into an intake device. Coupled with olfactory sensors so powerful that they can even smell fear, the odormeter became the de facto in local emission detection.

Since then, odormeters have been installed in every closed environment space frequented by robots and humans alike.