instructables

Automated Chessboard

by Greg06

Welcome,
I like playing chess game and up to now I played a lot on the Internet or with di erent Apps. But I was frustrated to pass
all this time behind a screen.
I started to look into the electronic chess games, but I rapidly realize that the best choice was to do it by myself. I took
time to learn about AI, game engine, chess pieces detection to nally design my own chess game.
So, this Instructable describes an automated chessboard with two game modes. The rst one, Human vs Human, with a
control of the chess pieces displacements. The second one, Human vs Computer, with an automatic chess pieces
movement for the computer player. The computer player chess pieces have a phantom displacement thanks to a hidden
moving mechanism.
The automated chess board is composed of an XY table with an electromagnet on the moving trolley. The chessboard is
placed above the XY table and the chess pieces are equipped with magnets. When the electromagnet is below the chess
piece a magnetic contact can be generated through the chessboard, so that the chess piece follows the trolley when it
moves.
LCD screen and arcade buttons are added to interact with the players (select the game modes, timer control, inform
about the events…)
Overall dimensions : 460mm x 460mm x 100mm
Chess pieces size : Staunton 3
Programming Language : Arduino C/C++
Powering : 12V / 2A

https://youtu.be/pr_EUNSYxKE

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Step 1: Parts List

XY table :
2 x V slot 20x20 linear rail, Length = 345 mm
1 x V slot 20x20 linear rail, Length = 315 mm
1 x V slot 20x20 linear rail, Length = 350 mm
1 x V slot 20x20 linear rail, Length = 395 mm
10 x 90 degree Corner Bracket

Transmission :
2 x GT2 Pulley, 20 teeth, 5mm bore
8 x GT2 Toothless pulley
3.5m x GT2 Belt

Electronics :
1 x Arduino Nano
2 x Stepper Motor - Adafruit - Nema 17 size - 200 steps/rev, 12V 350mA
2 x Stepper Motor Driver Carrier - Pololu - A4988
1 x LCD Module - I2C Serial - 2.6“
2 x Arcade button - Bore hole 23.5 mm
1 x Electromagnet - 5Kg Holding Force
1 x Freewheeling diode - 1N4001
Automated Chessboard: Page 5
 1 x Power Transistor - TIP 120
2 x Micro Limit switch roller
64 x Reed Switch - Dia 2 x 14.5 mm
1 x Resistor - 1K ohm
4 x MUX breakout - SparkFun - CD74HC4067
1 x Terminal Block - DC Jack
Female Headers
10 x Screw Terminal
3 x Prototyping Board - 50 x 100 mm
4 x HE10 Connectors
8 x Ribbon Cable - 8

Chess :
1 x Chess pieces set - Staunton 3
1 x Chessboard Sticker - Squares size : 37 x 37 mm
32 x Magnet, Dia 8 x 3 mm

Box :
1 x Foamboard - 462 x 462 x 5 mm
1 x Foamboard - 462 x 462 x 10 mm
2 x Foamboard - 462 x 80 x 10 mm
2 x Foamboard - 442 x 80 x 10 mm

Bolting :
8 x Mini V Wheel
4 x Aluminium Spacer - ID : 5mm - Height : 6mm
4 x Eccentric Spacer - M5
4 x Hex. Locking Nut - M5
4 x Thin Hex. Nut - M5
8 x Mini Precision Shim - OD : 8 mm - ID : 5 mm - Thickness : 1 mm
26 x T-Nuts - M5
14 x Hex. Socket Button Head Cap Screw - M5 x 8 mm
12 x Hex. Socket Button Head Cap Screw - M5 x 12 mm
2 x Hex. Socket Button Head Cap Screw - M5 x 35 mm
2 x Hex. Socket Button Head Cap Screw - M5 x 30 mm
2 x Hex. Socket Button Head Cap Screw - M5 x 25 mm
8 x Hex. Socket Button Head Cap Screw - M5 x 15 mm
4 x Slotted Head Screw - M2 x 15 mm
4 x Nut - M2
8 x Hex. Socket Head Cap Screw - M3 x 10 mm
1 x Hex. Socket Head Cap Screw - M4 x 15 mm
4 x Slotted Countersunk Head Screw - M5 x 20 mm
4 x Nut - M5

3D Model :
Automated Chessboard: Page 6
All the structural parts were designed for 3D printing.
Download the les from Thingiverse

Automated Chessboard: Page 7

Automated Chessboard: Page 8
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Step 2: XY Table

Presentation :
The XY table performs the displacements of the electromagnetic trolley (described on the next step). The XY table is
composed of two motorized linear slides, one for the X axis motion and one for the Y axis motion.

Automated Chessboard: Page 10

Description :
The main functionalities of the linear slides (guiding and moving) are inspired by the 3D printer universe.
Guiding :

The guiding of the linear slides is based on the V-slot concept. The V-slot design uses standard aluminum pro le with a V
machining at the central grooves, to allow the centering of a speci c wheels. The beam is acting like a linear rail when the
wheel is seated into the V groove.

The main advantage of these beams is to combine two functionalities, provide rigid supports for the frame structure and
linear rails for the guiding of the wheels.
For the X displacement, the guiding is performed by means of 4 wheels, two at each extremity of the lateral beams.

For the Y displacement, the guiding is performed by means of 4 wheels as well, two on each side of the trolley beam.

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For a proper functioning of the sliding, the contact force or gap between the wheels and the beams is essential. If the
gap is too tight, the sliding will be di cult and if it is too slack, the guiding will be not accurate.
It is impossible to obtain the good contact force only from construction, so a set up system shall be implemented.
Eccentric spacers are used to set the good gap adjustment between the wheels and the beams. Turning the eccentric
spacers increases or decreases the gap and will give the best compromise between the guiding and the sliding.

Exploded view of wheels arrangement:

Moving :

The trolley motorization is based on the Core XY concept. Two motors with two belts are used to move the trolley
following the X and Y axes.
The main advantage of the Core XY concept compared to cartesian kinematics is to avoid having a motor on board the
trolley beam. Thus, the horizontal beam is more compact and allow to have a bigger working envelope.

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The Core XY requires more attention, the belts arrangement is more complex and there are more pulleys to align. But the
automated chessboard does not need the same accuracy than a 3D printer.
How it works :
If only one motor turns a diagonal displacement will be generated. Changing the motor rotation direction will give an
inverted displacement.
If two motors turn in the same direction a horizontal displacement will be generated.
If two motors turn in opposite directions a vertical displacement will be generated.

CW : Clockwise / ACW : Anti Clockwise

At the start-up, the X & Y coordinates of the trolley will be unknown, so at each commencement, the system needs to set
the 0 for the X and Y axes. The setting consists in moving the trolley following the X and Y axes up to limit switches. The
limit switches are xed to the frame so that at each new start the 0 will be at the same location.

https://youtu.be/BgguuRcPPps

https://youtu.be/XdwE9bxk4nM

Automated Chessboard: Page 13

https://youtu.be/oL0wla8_nPY

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Step 3: Electromagnetic Trolley

Presentation :
The trolley is assembled on the XY table. It is equipped with an electromagnet. The electromagnet can generate a
magnetic eld which creates the link between the trolley and the chess pieces. So, when the trolley moves the chess
pieces follow it.
Description :
An electromagnet is a type of magnet which produces a magnetic eld from an electric current. The main advantage of
an electromagnet compared to a permanent magnet is that the magnetic eld is on demand. The electromagnet creates
a magnetic eld only if an electric current run through it, if the electric current is turned o the magnetic eld stops.
The Arduino cannot directly power the electromagnet with its output pins because they cannot deliver enough power.
So, the electromagnet must be connected to an independent electric current. A power transistor component piloted by
the Arduino is used as a switch to power the electromagnet when needed. The advantage of the power transistor is that
a low amperage is enough to control it, so it can be piloted by the Arduino.
Power transistor :

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The power transistor is used like a switch. If it receives a low power to the pin B (Base), it allows the current to ow
through the pin C (Collector) to the pin E (Emitter).

https://youtu.be/BWxKoAFrFTk

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Step 4: Chessboard

Presentation :
The role of the chessboard is of course to represent the 64 black and white squares but not only. It also needs to localize
the chess pieces position and interact with the human player.
Description :
Chessboard :

Standard chessboards are made of high density wooden material and a high thickness, which can heavily disturb the
electromagnetic eld.
Foamboard material was preferred. It is easier to model, has a good atness and does not disturb the magnetic eld so
much. A foamboard sheet of 5mm thickness was used.
A chessboard sticker was applied on it to materialize the chess squares. You could nd on the internet some chessboard
stickers on demand with your own dimensions.
Localization of chess pieces :

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The chess pieces localization is essential. The objective is to inform the software of the displacement of the human player
chess pieces.
Magnetic sensors are placed below each chess piece square. So, when the magnet of the chess piece is above the sensor,
the sensor will be activated. By comparing the activated sensors before and after the move, the chess piece
displacement can be determined.
The magnetic sensor or Reed switch is composed of a hermetic glass envelope with two exible metal contacts inside.
The contact is normally open when there is no magnetic eld and close if a magnetic eld is present.

The 64 chess squares must be equipped with the sensors to be sure to properly monitor and avoid missing any
displacements.
That means 64 sensors, which is impossible to connect all of them directly to the Arduino Nano, there are simply not
enough pins on the boards. Multiplexers are used to increase the Arduino pins. The multiplexers are described in step 7.
Game interface :

Arcade buttons and LCD screen are placed on the chessboard to interact with the players. They allow to set the game
modes and specify if the moves are not authorized.
They allow to manage the countdowns time too, 10min are allocated for each player. Each player must press his button at
the end of his turn. So, his countdown is stopped and the countdown of the opponent is started.

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https://youtu.be/FEcARIQu50U

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Step 5: Box

Presentation :
The box allows to hide the mechanism, give a good esthetic and x the distance between the electromagnet and the
chessboard.
Description :
Nothing complicated, just some foamboard sheets of 10 mm thick are assembled to form a box.
Foamboard was preferred for its ease of being constructible.
The height of the box walls is important, it xes the distance between the electromagnet and the chess pieces magnet.
Depending on your setup and material selection you need to investigate the good distance to allow a good magnetic
eld interaction and allow the chess pieces to move.

A hole on one wall is added to plug the power supply connector.

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Step 6: AI - Artificial Intelligence

Presentation:
In human Vs human mode, the software will check that the moves are authorized and for the human vs computer mode,
the software needs to decide what will be the next best moves. An AI (Arti cial Intelligence) algorithm is used to make
the decisions.
Description:
The AI proposed by this Instructable is based on an existing one. There are several e cient AI chess programs available
on the internet.
For this project, the Micro Max chess program from H.G. Muller and ported for Arduino by Diego Cueva was preferred. It
is a very smart, e cient and it is particularly small (<2kB).
The other main advantage is this program being an open source, so we can freely play with it, special THANKS to H.G.
Muller & Diego Cueva.
The principle of this program is based on Minimax (or MinMax) and Alpha-Beta algorithms.

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 Minimax:

The Minimax algorithm works exactly like a human brain. When it is its turn to play, the AI will analyze all its next possible
moves. Evaluate all the possible answers from the Human player and what will be his answers etc., etc.
This analysis can be represented by a decision tree graphic:

This graphic does not represent a real chess game, there are so many boxes to show, it is a simpli ed version.
At the top (A), the current chess piece position to analyze and the aim is to de ne what is the best move to play (B1 or
B2).
Each blue box (B, D) represents all the possible moves for the AI and each green box (C, E) all the possible moves for the
human.
How it works :
The bottom boxes (E) are rated by an evaluation function which will attribute a value to them. The rating is calculated
depending on the following criteria :
Remaining chess pieces values
Chess pieces positioning
Isolated pawn
Check or checkmate position

The objective of the evaluation function is to rate the current chess pieces position in the aim to know if the position is
advantageous or not. Higher the rating is, better the AI has a chance to win.

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After the evaluation of all the bottom boxes, their ratings go up the tree structure.
For the computer player turn, the AI will retain the max value, which Maximize its chance to win. And for the human
player turn, the AI will consider that the human will play his best move so it will retain the min value, which Minimize the
AI chance to win. Hence the name of Minimax.

The rating of the E3 boxe is go up to the box A, so the best move to play for the AI is B1.
For a few moves to evaluate and a low game depth (like tic-tac-toe game), this algorithm is pertinent. But for a chess
game with a lot of moves to evaluate and with a higher game depth, the required processor resources to evaluate all the
possibilities are not possible with an Arduino board.
We need to prune the branches and it is the role of the Alpha-Beta algorithm.
Alpha-Beta:

It is not necessary to evaluate all the branches of the decision tree. If the rating of one box is not pertinent, there is no
reason to continue to evaluate the rest of that branch. It is exactly the role of the alpha-beta algorithm, it is to prune the
decision tree.
For example, let us focus on the interest to evaluate the position E5 of the above decision tree graphic.
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The brother of the position E5 is the position E4, they are in the same branch. Their parent D2 will select the Min, so if the
position E5 is evaluated above 2, it will not be retained and if it is below 2, it will be retained. So, whatever the value of
the position E5, we can be sure that the rating of D2 cannot be above 2.
In addition, the grandparent C1 of the positions E4 and E5 is also the grandparent of the positions E1, E2, E3, and it will
choose the Max of his two children D1 and D2.
So, to change the value of the grandparent C1, the second brother D2 must be superior to the rst brother D1. And it
cannot be the case because D2 cannot be above 2.
So, it is not necessary to continue to evaluate this branch.

All the gray boxes are not necessary to be explored.

The Alpha-Beta algorithm compares all the branches in the aim to prune the decision tree and reduce the calculation
time.

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Step 7: Wiring

Motor:
The stepper motors used are bipolar, which means that they need a double H bridge circuit to power alternatively their
coils. The A4988 Stepper Motor driver board was selected to control the motors.
Switch:
The arcade buttons and limit switches are connected to the Arduino with the internal pull up resistors. The arcade button
A and the X limit switch are connected to the same pin, same for the arcade button B and the Y limit switch. The pin
number available is limited so two pins are used for 4 switches. The arcade buttons and the limited switches are not used
at the same time, so there is no risk of confusion.
Electromagnet:
Power transistor is used as a switch to pilot the electromagnet and free-wheeling diode is used to protect the Arduino
from the discharging current, see step 3.
Screen:
The LCD screen is connected via the I2C (Inter Integrated Circuit) communication, in the aim to limit the pin number
used, only two pins are necessary to communicate with the screen (SCL and SDA).
It means for the Arduino nano board, the SCL line shall be connected to the A5 pin and SDA line to the A4 pin.
Reed Switch:
There are 64 reed switches, it is impossible to connect them directly to the Arduino board, there are not enough pins
available. Multiplexers are used to increase the pin number. Only 9 pins are necessary to connect the 64 reed switches.
One multiplexer can control 16 sensors, so 4 multiplexers were used for the 64 sensors.
The reed switches are connected to the multiplexers by means of channel pins (C0 to C15). Each channel pin has a
speci c 4-bit binary address. For example:
- C0 = 0000
- C1 = 0001
- C4 = 0100
- C10 = 1010
The four select pins (S0 to S3) allow to activate the channel. Meaning that, if S0=0, S1=1, S2=1 and S3=1 the channel C7
will be activated. In case you do not realize why 0111 corresponds to 7, it is may be time to review how to count in binary
;).
Once the channel is selected, its signal of the reed sensor can be recovered by means of the pin SIG.
So, to know the status of all the sensors, the rst multiplexer is activated, all the channels are explored and the
multiplexer is switched o . The second multiplexer is activated, all the channels are explored, and so on for the other
multiplexers.

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Step 8: Code

Presentation:
The code drives all the actions of the Automated Chessboard. Interact with players, detect the human player moves,
compute the AI moves and control the XY table motors.
Description:
General :

This instructable is based on the Arduino environment and the C language, if you are not familiar with them, you need to
take time to train you. They are a lot of e cient Instrutables and tutorials on Internet to help you.
To use the code, you need to install these two libraries:
- Wire.h
- LiquidCrystal_I2C.h
For a better readability, the global variables and the AI were placed on separate les.
- Global.h
- Micro_Max.h
- Micro_Max.cpp
AI:

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The proposed AI is based on the Minimax concept, see step 6.
The AI code is extremely optimized, all the variables have one character name, so for the variables meaning click on this
link.
Human player moves detection:
The IA needs to know the human players displacement to perform its calculation. For that it needs to know the
departure coordinates and the arrival coordinates of the move.
The coordinates are de ned by a letter for the column and a number for the line.
For example, displacement of the central white pawn: e2e4

Chess game representation of the serial monitor

(Capital letter for white player and lowercase letter for black player)
To determine the displacement of the human player, the code compares the status of the reed switches before and after
the move. For the above example (e2e4), the reed switch mappings will display:

The reed switches are connected by means of the internal pull up of Arduino, it means that for the chess piece presence
the sensor indicates 0 and 1 if there is no chess piece.
So, if a 0 becomes 1 it means departure of the move and if 1 becomes 0 it means arrival.
XY Table:

The departure square and the arrival square of the move are de ned. For the above example (e2e4), the horizontal
displacement will be 0 because the departure and the arrival are in the same column (e). And the vertical displacement
will be of 2 squares because there are 2 squares of di erence between the departure (2) and the arrival (4). So, the
direction and the distance are known, the motors can be activated.
Special moves:
Some chess pieces movements need to cross other chess pieces, like a bishop and castling displacements. To avoid any
contact between the chess pieces, the displacement path imposes to move between two squares and not to the middle.

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Same for the capturing. A captured piece is pushed out of the chessboard, this displacement follows the intersection of
two squares and do not pass through the middle of the squares.

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FMX/FOB8/L4R1DNUM/FMXFOB8L4R1DNUM.ino

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/F66/KOPZ/L4R1DNUJ/F66KOPZL4R1DNUJ.h

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/F4S/KQ4F/L4R1DNUK/F4SKQ4FL4R1DNUK.cpp

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FQ1/6SMN/L4R1DNUL/FQ16SMNL4R1DNUL.h

Automated Chessboard: Page 32

Step 9: Assembling

XY Table & Trolley :

1. Assemble the trolley
2. Slide the trolley to the trolley beam. Adjusted the friction gaps with the eccentric spacers in the aim to
obtain an easy sliding. Assemble and add the two pulley supports at each extremity of the trolley beam
3. Assemble the main frame. Ensure to have a good parallelism between the beams.
4. Assemble the pulley supports
5. Slide the trolley beam to the main frame and set the friction gaps. Add the pulley supports
6. Add the stepper motors
7. Add the belts. Adjust the bels length to have a good driving by the motors, again it is a compromise
between too much tension and too much slack.

Chess Board :
1. To the top face, place the sticker and cut the holes for the arcade buttons and the lcd screen
2. To the bottom face, draw the chessboard corresponding to the top face in the aim to have the
chessboard squares to the bottom face at the same location that the top chessboard squares
Automated Chessboard: Page 33
 3. Assemble the 8 sets of the 8 reed switches by means of ribbon cable. The distance between the reed
sensors shall be corresponding to the chessboard square size.
4. Glue the reed switches sets, add the arcade buttons and the lcd screen
5. Finalize the wiring

Chess pieces :
1. Removed the bottom felt
2. Glue the magnet and its support inside the chess pieces

Box :
1. Cut the walls following the dimensions given to the step 2, take care to have a good parallelism of the
sides of the walls
2. Assemble the walls with glue

Automated Chessboard: Page 34

Electronic :
1. Assemble the prototyping boards
2. Place the headers and the connectors
3. Glue the prototyping boards to their supports. Solder the headers, connectors and the wires following
the wiring schema, see step 8
4. Place the boards to their supports

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Step 10: Conclusion

Playing chess online brings a lot of advantages, you could play anytime, with a lot of di erent players (human or AI),
record the game and take time to analyze it. But playing real chess brings another vision of the game, a di erent
experience. Be not behind a screen, touch the chess pieces, have 3d vision allow to think di erently.
This Instructable proposes to combine the advantages of these two worlds, take the bene ts of the digital model and the
advantages of playing real chess with an additional funny touch for the phantom displacements.
Moreover, the AI proposed for this Instructable is powerful but limited due to the Arduino board performances. But it is
possible to add a more powerful computation system with a Raspberry board or with a PC.
Other useful feature, you could create your own AI or improve the existing one by adding some functionalities. For
example, I like the Scotch opening, so I have added several releases of this opening into the AI (the 6 rst moves are
randomly selected among various Scotch openings and the AI takes the relay for the rest of the game) in the aim to
practice and improve my understanding.
I truly hope this Instructable will inspire you & give you the desire to be creative.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Automated Chessboard: Page 40
ENJOY!

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the motors are not working what should i do

Hello.
Many probable situations. The first...
1. Do you probe the motor and the driver, to work alone, with Arduino? like this attached. (Or
search in youtube similar one to test it alone)

Hello, I just add images of my advance...I change the wiring for PCB.

Hey, I really want to make this, but I'm having a really hard time finding the right parts. Do you
have a specific website you ordered your parts from? Many of the parts you listed have several
different types of that part. Thanks!
$100, including everything, I have it ready for you, but not including shipping, UPS air.

Can you send me the list?

I like open source DIY very much, and I have learned a lot. You can privately message me your
(delivery information) (name, phone address, zip code), and I can send you all the items in the
BOM list for free, UPS freight collect.
I ordered most of them from Amazon, just watch out when you order the angle brackets, mos of
them are too large. I finally found 20 mm angles, but I had to grind one of the sides flat, they have
protrusions that are designed to fit in the slot of the extruded 20x20 mm rail.
The electromagnet can be ordered from Adafruit, it's a 5 VDC unit, so you need to power it from
the 5 volt out connection on the Arduino. Not wanting to risk the Arduino with a voltage spike
coming from the inductive load (if the flywheel diode failed, for example) I used an LM7805
regulator that is powered from the 12 volt input and delivers 5 volts for the electromagnet.
Hello.
I made a lot of mistakes in purchases. I have been spendindg the last 6 weeks on purchasings.
Of course I bought bad angle brackets, finaly i found the 20mm (Becouse you have diferent
models for the V bosch 2020)
Anotherone, the wheels...they are Mini wheels (15mm exterior)
Anotherone, the microswitch ...then i made zoom on one picture of the original proyect and see
the brand: Below the link:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Micro-Switch-ECE-ESS-05...
Mistakes on the Electromagnet it's 12V and no 5V (Greg answer that in other question) But...in
Argentine, the name of that is "Ventosa", For reference, see the page: The problem: The heigh
dimension is 15mm and not 20mm and the hole for the bolting, it´s diferent.
https://www.tecnicagama.com.ar/contenido.asp?id=62...
I recomend to see the sizes in the *.step model to see dimensions of each thing before buying it.
Regards.

Automated Chessboard: Page 42

The best way to succeed in your project is to appropriate the functionalities. If you have different
limit switches, no worry, understand how they work and redesign the support to match with the
new dimensions
Much needs to be changed in the design to use the TMC2208 instead of the A4988?

Absolutely fantastic project! Congrats!

This is so cool! I plan to share with my autonomous systems class, super clever and great
supporting graphics with your descriptions. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks

Hello, I am making a robotic chessboard but with a different design but can you post the link for
the magnets you used? I see the size but can I see the exact ones. I have done a ton of testing
with different kinds and can't find ones that work well with each other(Don't push each other when
moving around each other). Thank you so much and great project! I wish I had though to core XY
instead of what I am doing now!
Yes , there is a risk of attraction between the magnets of the chess pieces if they are close. I
increased the dimensions of the chess game squares in the aim to avoid this phenomenon.
I used these magnets : https://www.velleman.eu/products/view/?id=404966

I like it, however I thought how cool would it be to have a RGB LCD screen under a thin clear
surface to pay chess on... The electromagnet would no affect the LCD, the use of reed switches
could still be applied, or discarded by reading symbols off the bottom of the pieces using a CCD
camera as they do with some touch screens. Then the computer can SEE what pieces are there.
Using a CCD camera would eliminate the reed switches, but then a game could be resumed later.
The electromagnet could still move pieces around the board/screen and since LCD screens are
wider than they are large, a portion of the screen could be used to display data, and the Chess
Board portion of the screen could be customized using various color and designed chess boards.
You could also teach it how to play chess, chess pieces only need two symbols to denote black
and white. The difference between Black and White chess pieces or Red and Black checkers
would be two concentric rings on the base for black pieces one ring for white or red. Pawns have
no symbol inside the ring(s), King have a criss-cross or X. Queens use a inner ring since Q are
just rings, only we don't need a tail. Rooks use an uppercase R. Bishops use a lowercase b,
since it less resembles an R. Knights use a minus or slash that connects to the middle ring if
there is one. Checkers would have no symbol on one side, on the opposite side they too would
have a criss-cross or X like the kings in chess. The rings and symbols would be raised so that
they touch the screens surface. A CCD camera could sit close to the back of the screen so it can
see only one piece at a time reducing the depth needed to use it, and ride on the same
mechanism as the electromagnet. They camera scans the board by being moved around it move
over one square for the electromagnet can take it's place to move the piece.

I am sure I won't be up to this as I have little money or resources, and my programming skills are
from 8-bit computers like the CoCo1,2,3, Commodore, et cetera. Today I do some HTML, PHP
and Javascript and the like but have not programmed in python, C++, or even BASIC for more
modern computers. Sound like fun though.
Wow, these comments are very interesting, THANKS.
And I agree, these implementations represent a certain money investment and an important
technical knowledge.
Thanks for sharing
This should win the grand prize!! I'll be adapting this one soon!

Automated Chessboard: Page 43

Grand Prize? We can vote this project in some place? Give me the link for vote, please.

Nah, it's judges only now. More fair.

Thanks

Hi Greg, my son and I love the project. No other option for me, just to make it :).

I have studied the description and have following question:

Adafruit is selling 5V electromagnets, but your schematic shows it is connected to 12V supply. Is
my understanding correct or am I reading something wrong?
I hope during the build I can come back in case of more questions.

Greetings

Oops you right ! I ordered the electromagnet from a french website and I gave an international
link for the partlist of the Instructable. I was not vigilant enough, the electromagnet proposed by
Adfaruit is for 5V and I used an electromagnet for 12V.
If you have the 5V one, you need just modify the wiring and if it is not ordered you could take the
12V one to follow the proposed wiring.
Thanks
Thanks for sharing! It is such a good project! How much did it cost aprox? Thanks from Spain!

Hi, thanks for your comment.

it is difficult to reply, I already had some components, I ordered the missing ones to French
compagnies and I commanded the "official"boards.
But it is around 250€
This is like the coolest DIY project I have ever seen. People were talking about commercializing
this. I strongly agree. With the right approach, you could make millions. Like check out this
automatic chessboard that doesn't even move its own pieces: Nice work, Greg
this is the coolest instructable ever! I agree about how you should commercialize this.

I do not have the ambition and the time to commercialize this project. Thanks for your
encouragement.
your welcome

Hello Greg!

Congrats for this amazing work! I got interested to reproduce it here.

In your opinion, do you believe that is possible to include places outside the board where we can
position the pieces to be automatically moved to their correct position before the game starts?
When you capture the piece the system can automatically move to these proper position, this
way the system can help the player and maybe play alone :)

Thanks for this amazing instructable!

Thanks a lot for your message.

Yes it is possible to implement your suggestion. but not with the current design, the displacement
of the XY table corresponds to the chessboard dimensions only. you need to increase the XY
table dimensions.
Good suggestion thanks
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Absolutely great!
I was thinking to do the same project but in addition to connect it to chess.com via an API.
Was just an idea; nothing started now.
Could you enhance your project to do it?
The project inside the project was to train me to code the Minimax algorithm. So I did not try to
implement the chess.com API.
I agree with you it will be a great improvement but I'm not sure that chess.com shares their API
without commercial agreement, to be discussed with them.
Nice project! This will easily win the Grand Prize.
Just one question, how do the knights move? do you make them go diagonal to the target square
in order to avoid hitting a piece?
Never mind, I saw the answer in a question below.
Wow. This is an extremely detailed instructable and I leaned a lot from it. It seems you have
solved the problem for all permutations and combinations, but there are a few edge cases I'm
thinking how you handled:
1. How do you handle a rogue human player? For example someone who does not follow the
rules, either on purpose or mistakenly(elbow hit). Like moving two pieces at once or moving the
opponent's piece?
2. When taking a piece, the player picks up the opponent's piece and places his own on that
square. What if the pieces are close enough at all times so the reed switch is not turned off to
register it as a completed action?
A small correction: TIP120 is not a MOSFET, it is a power transistor. But since you won't be
powering the electromagnet continuously for long periods of time, it is good enough for your use
case.
Thanks for your comment.
There are several possibilities to trick the machine. The main reason is the chessboard detects
only the presence of the chess pieces but not value (Queen, Pawn ect. ).
So if the chess pieces are not placed to the correct squares at the beginning or if a rogue human
player inverted some chess pieces during the party the chess board will not detect these
cheatings.
Thanks a lot for your correction, I will implement it.
What if you program each piece on the board with location of piece that will eliminate cheaters. It
will keep track of gameplay and mabie in future models show a playback or have good games
recorded so users can improve on performance.
Absolutely amazing project! I would like to build one myself, only I want to design it with some
bigger homemade chess pieces, and therefor, a bigger field. However, I could not find the "board
dimension" settings in your code. Does the program calculate this by itself after calibration?
Furthermore, did you use a particular scale between the footprint of the pieces and the
dimensions of the individual spaces?

Thank you very much in advance!

Thanks
After the calibration, the trolley is placed to square e7. The displacement of the trolley from the
limit switches to the square e7 is defined by the variables :
const float TROLLEY_START_POSITION_X
const float TROLLEY_START_POSITION_Y
The dimensions of the chessboard squares is defined by the variable : const byte SQUARE_Size
Thank you for your quick answer! Don't see how I could have missed these lines... It might be a
good idea for me not to poke around on Instructables during work hours ;). On e thing though still
isen't clear to me: how did you get these values? I tried to figure them out based on your square
Automated Chessboard: Page 45
size of 37x37 but I did not succeed in doing so.
You could click on this link to find the theory of the Core XY and the associated equations.
https://corexy.com/theory.html
For my project, to find the good motor rotation time to correspond to the distance to place the
trolley to the starting point and the distance to match with the 37x37 squares, I just did some
tests and retained the best values.
Would combining this with a Raspberry Pi require major modifications?

Not for the hardware. but for the software, Arduino used a C language and Raspberry used
Python, so probably you need write a new code. I am not familiar with the Raspberry board.
However there are many projects that use connected Arduino and Raspberry boards. It can be a
good starting point to understand how they do and what are the possible.
I appreciate the detail that went into creating this! It's amazing!

Say I wanted to build two of these chess boards, one with me and the other in another location
with my opponent. What do you think it would take for the two boards to communicate with each
other? Acknowledging each move made. So that I could make a move on my board and I
suppose through an internet connection, make the move on my opponent's board.

For long chess games lol

Hi thanks for your message.
Yes you could use some Ethernet shields to communicate at distance.
Wow! This is amazing! What happens for example with a knight, when it has to jump over a piece,
does it just go around?
Correct !

Really. reallyyyy, well done! Congratulations! One of the best Instructables I have seen!. Well
thought through, well executed, great instructions! As @TiboC1 said, you should really try to
commercialize this. May I make a suggestion? If you can extend this design to be played through
smartphones remotely, this could also make a great coffee table/park bench show piece played
by famous players from anywhere!! - Do go for it! - Kudos!
My apologies to @GerritG3, I missed his post!
Thanks for your encouragement message. My aim is just to share with the community my
pleasure to create. I do not have ambition to commercialize it.
Moreover, to prototype at home is completely different to designing a commercial product.

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