This is a fun little project I put together over the Christmas weekend using the ArduinoIRC library. This is using an $8-12 NodeMCU ESP8266 board for an IRC Bot. This is the most cost-effective way to host your own personal room bot.
Using this board also allows you to do things like control lights/sounds/etc at your place by using commands or the chat text.
Arduino Library: https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/libraries/arduinoirc/
GitHub: https://github.com/fredimachado/ArduinoIRC
ESPhack Source: https://pastebin.com/RdBpMKzz
If you'd like to play with this project and need any help join #hack on Freenode. if you need any help finding the right board or getting your system set up and running I'd be more than willing to help out.
chat - https://kiwiirc.com/nextclient/?settings=24ce22b3a8f8d2e12d0f7c4e383105f8