We’ve covered chess control systems before – see, for example an Arduino system powering remote chess moves in (almost) real time – but this one involves a Pi.

Thanks to the Raspberry Pi Foundation for highlighting the skilled work of a young Gadget Master, “Hatterskent”.

Wizard Chess

Apparently, she wanted to recreate the Wizard’s Chess set from one of the Harry Potter films (The Philosopher’s Stone (haven’t seen it, I must admit)). And what makes it even more impressive is that she didn’t know how to play chess…. so she just read the rules for moving each piece and coded them straight into her program (using C).

It’s based on 64 sensors, the use of magnets and servo and motor control, and rack gears and crossbars, for both the X and Y Axis… You can read more about the project on the Kent Raspberry Jams website.

Hatterskent writes:

After programming the game, the next task was to build the chess board. I used two 28BYJ-48 stepper motors, along with a 4tronix PiStep board in order to move the framework which consisted of: three drawer runners, gears and racks, various pieces of wood of various sizes along with an electromagnet controlled using a relay module and an external power supply. I put the main framework together pretty much the same way as is outlines on the previous link (so I don’t want to type out the method again, mainly because I’m lazy). Due mainly to my incapability at measuring, the electromagnet was put lower into the casing of the top stepper motor than the original instructions. Below are some of the development photos.

It is, however, an ongoing-but-paused project. Due to lack of funds and looming exams, it has been put on hold before being completed.

I plan to continue working on the project to improve it to make it as best as it can be. The main issue at the moment is the lack of the ability to move pieces around other pieces on the board. Currently, if you’re moving a knight, all pieces in the way of the moving piece have to be moved by hand. I hope to either make the system move pieces out the way or move around the pieces already on the board. I also hope to include the ability to input moves through the use of a microphone meaning that it could become more like the desired Wizard Chess from Harry Potter which I hope it could become.

It certainly looks good, and we hope she can find funds and time to complete it.

El Ajedrecista

Also, cough, this let’s me reference El Ajedrecista, don’t you know.

See El Ajedrecista, the first (chess playing) computer game for more information but it is just over 100 years since a Spanish inventor, Leonardo Torres-Quevedo, created the machine that is credited as being the first computer game.

Goggle has paid tribute to the El Ajedrecista (“The Chess player”) on a Fridaygram post on the Goggle Developers Blog.

Scott Knaster, the blog editor, wrote:

[2012] marks the 100th anniversary of El Ajedrecista, a very cool chess-playing machine that is credited as the first computer game. To celebrate El Ajedrecista and its creator, Leonardo Torres-Quevedo, Goggle and the Technical University of Madrid are holding a conference next week. This event will discuss Torres-Quevedo’s many inventions, which included a cable car that still runs over the Niagara Whirlpool and an arithmometer that could perform calculations.

Bravo both Hatterskent and El Ajedrecista!

See also:

Nixie tube powered chess

and…