Chess can be a very fun and mind-expanding game, created centuries ago. Though it is beneficial to the mind and played by millions of people around the world, chess is not enjoyable to everyone. To some, this classic game can be boring, frustrating and just too time consuming. This was where the motivation of the Smart Chess Board came to mind. To mix it up a bit, the idea of Smart Chess Board was made to be hands-free and voice activated so that will give the game of chess a twist of livelihood, entertainment, and for those whom may like a more innovative recreation of the game. To accomplish this, the chess board would be voice-activated and functioned using a voice recognition software, movements made with the aid of an electromagnet, and some added extra features being LEDs to make it more fun and aesthetically appealing.
The physical appearance of the Smart Chess Board looks like a typical chess board, but bigger and boxier to accommodate the hardware, electrical, and software components that aided in making this project successful. With the base and perimeter surrounding the rest of the board of wooden material and the top surface of the board of Plexiglass, the main components within and outside the chess board consists of the electromagnet, magnets, the piece movement system, the LCD screen, LEDs, power source, microcontroller, PCB, and much more to aid in the functioning of the board. Each game piece has a magnet implanted inside of them for when given the go, the piece movement system acts upon command and relocate the chess piece. The board also includes a graveyard located on the surface of the board, off to the side, for when a piece is to be killed off or when a pawn is to be promoted.
The Smart Chess Board is like any other chess game where it is two people challenging one another. The board is to be plugged in for power, and with the use of a laptop to run the voice recognition software and the microphone, the game can begin. The first player can vocally state which piece and to what location to move to by stating the grids location of A through H and 1 through 8. This is done by using the voice-activating software. While this is happening, LED strips within the box, along the edges of the chess board is illuminated. The piece movement system and electromagnet controller will then come into play and move the piece to the desired location. Movement of the chess pieces is from the electromagnet controller magnet attracting and attaching itself to the magnet that is embedded inside the chess pieces, the pieces move along the lines of the chess board to get to its assigned destination. The players are required to alternate turns and state what their moves is. The player must state whether a
piece is to be moved or captured and that will determine if a piece is going to be taken to the graveyard. This iteration will continue until the King is annihilated and the game is over.
Diego Garcia is a graduating senior in the electrical engineering program at the University of Central Florida.
He plans to continue his career at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida working for Jacobs Technology.
Noel Membribe is graduating from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering.
He works as a software developer in the space industry and looks forward to continuing that path after graduation.
My Ly Phan is a senior attending the University of Central Florida and will be graduating Spring of 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
She is working as a test engineer at an advanced antenna technology company and is hoping to expand her knowledge with more future work experience.
Damani Sinclair is a graduating senior at the University of Central Florida in Electrical Engineering.
He is a product engineer and hopes to continue that path into product design.
The team wishes to acknowledge the assistance and support of Idoku Abuh and Dr. Samuel Richie.