Automated Chess Board

Moves chess pieces around the board invisibly and seemingly magically.

Oct 24, 2018

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75149 views

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90 respects

games

robots

Components and supplies

Linear Bearing Block

Medium Density Fiberboard

Arduino UNO

Electromagnet

Steel Rod Stock

Capacitor 100 µF

Acrylic Sheet

Dual H-Bridge motor drivers L298

NEMA 17 Stepper Motor

Stepper motor driver board A4988

Micro Limit Switch

Tools and machines

Hacksaw

Power Drill

Project description

Code

Automated_chessboard

arduino

Code will: *Home magnet with end stops at position A1. *Receive square address (Letter, Number) from Serial Monitor for piece to be moved. *Translate input into number of steps to be completed by stepper motors. *Receive square address (Letter, Number) from Serial Monitor for new piece location. *Turn on electromagnet. *Translate input into number of steps to be completed by stepper motors. *Turn off electromagnet. Notes: *Stepper motors will run simultaneously (during zeroing and moving with the magnet off ) until one reaches its max steps and then the other will continue until it reaches the specified square. *When the magnet is on and moving a piece the steppers initially offset to the corner and moves along the line between squares to prevent pieces interfering with each other. For example, this allows someone to move their knight before moving the pawns in front of it.

1const int stepsBetweenSquares = 318;
2const int stepPinX = 3; 
3const  int dirPinX = 4; 
4const int stepPinY = 5;
5const int dirPinY = 6;
6const  int limitSwitchX = 8;
7const int limitSwitchY = 9;
8const int magnetPinPos =  10;
9const int magnetPinNeg = 11;
10int x1 = 0; int x2 = 1;
11int y1 = 0; int  y2 = 1;
12int xsteps;
13int ysteps;
14int x = 0;
15int y = 0;
16
17void setup()  {
18  Serial.begin(9600);
19  pinMode(stepPinX,OUTPUT); 
20  pinMode(dirPinX,OUTPUT);
21  pinMode(stepPinY,OUTPUT); 
22  pinMode(dirPinY,OUTPUT);
23  pinMode(limitSwitchX,  INPUT);
24  pinMode(limitSwitchY, INPUT);
25  pinMode(magnetPinPos, OUTPUT);
26  pinMode(magnetPinNeg, OUTPUT);
27  
28
29//_________________________________________________________________________________________________
30//  Zero position to square A1
31//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
32  zeroDiagonal();
33}
34
35
36void loop() {
37//___________________________________________________________________________________________________
38//  Recieve position adress of piece to be moved from Serial monitor (Letter, Number)
39//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40  Serial.print("Piece to be moved letter adress:  ");
41  while (!Serial.available());
42    x1 = readSerialLetter();
43      
44  Serial.print("Piece to be moved number  adress:  ");
45  while (!Serial.available());
46    y1 = readSerialNumber();      
47
48
49//______________________________________________________________________________________________
50//  Move to Position of piece to be moved
51//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
52  xsteps = stepsBetweenSquares*(x1-x2);
53  ysteps = stepsBetweenSquares*(y1-y2);
54  
55  movePieceDiagonal(xsteps, ysteps);
56 
57
58//_______________________________________________________________________________________________
59//  Recieve position adress of piece new location from Serial Monitor (Letter, Number)
60//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
61  Serial.print("New location letter adress:  ");
62  while (!Serial.available());
63    x2 = readSerialLetter();
64
65  Serial.print("New location number adress:  ");
66  while (!Serial.available());
67    y2 = readSerialNumber();
68  Serial.println();
69
70  
71//________________________________________________________________________________________________
72//  Turn on magnet
73//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
74  digitalWrite(magnetPinPos, HIGH);
75  digitalWrite(magnetPinNeg, LOW);
76
77  
78//________________________________________________________________________________________________
79//  Move piece to new location
80//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
81  xsteps = stepsBetweenSquares*(x2-x1);
82  ysteps = stepsBetweenSquares*(y2-y1);
83  
84  digitalWrite(dirPinX, HIGH); digitalWrite(dirPinY, LOW);
85  offsetPiece();
86  delay(50);
87  movePiece(xsteps, dirPinX, stepPinX);
88  movePiece(-ysteps,  dirPinY, stepPinY);
89  delay(50);
90  digitalWrite(dirPinX, LOW); digitalWrite(dirPinY,  HIGH);
91  offsetPiece();
92
93//__________________________________________________________________________________________________
94//  Turn off magnet
95//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
96  digitalWrite(magnetPinPos, LOW);
97  digitalWrite(magnetPinNeg, LOW);
98}
99
100
101/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
102//  FUNCTIONS ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
103/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
104
105int  readSerialLetter(){
106  int i;
107  while(i < 1 || i > 8){
108    i = Serial.read();  
109    i = i - 64;
110    }
111  Serial.println(i);
112  Serial.parseInt();
113  return i;
114  }
115
116//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
117
118int  readSerialNumber(){
119  int i;
120  while (i < 1 || i > 8){
121    i = Serial.parseInt();
122    }
123  Serial.println(i);
124  Serial.parseInt();
125  return i;
126  }
127
128////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
129
130void  zeroDiagonal(){
131  digitalWrite(dirPinX, LOW);
132  digitalWrite(dirPinY, HIGH);
133  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchX) == HIGH && digitalRead(limitSwitchY) == HIGH){
134    moveDiagonal(1.5);
135  }
136  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchX) == HIGH){
137    moveLinear(stepPinX, 1.5);
138  }
139  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchY) == HIGH){
140    moveLinear(stepPinY, 1.5);
141  }
142  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchX) == LOW){         //Backoff switch
143    digitalWrite(dirPinX, HIGH);
144    moveLinear(stepPinX,  1);
145  }
146  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchY) == LOW){         //Backoff switch
147    digitalWrite(dirPinY, LOW);
148    moveLinear(stepPinY, 1);
149  }
150}
151
152///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
153
154void  movePiece(int steps, int dirPin, int stepPin){
155  if (steps > 0){
156    digitalWrite(dirPin,HIGH);
157  }
158  else{
159    steps = abs(steps);
160    digitalWrite(dirPin, LOW);
161  }
162  for(int i = 0; i < steps; i++) {
163    moveLinear(stepPin, 2.5);
164  }
165  }
166
167////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
168
169void  movePieceDiagonal(int xsteps, int ysteps){
170  if (ysteps > 0){
171    digitalWrite(dirPinY,  LOW);
172  }
173  else{
174    ysteps = abs(ysteps);
175    digitalWrite(dirPinY,  HIGH);
176  }
177  if (xsteps > 0){
178    digitalWrite(dirPinX, HIGH);
179  } 
180  else{
181    xsteps = abs(xsteps);
182    digitalWrite(dirPinX, LOW);
183  }
184  x = 0; y = 0; 
185  while (x < xsteps && y < ysteps){
186    moveDiagonal(1.5);
187    x++; y++;
188  }
189  for(x; x < xsteps; x++){
190    moveLinear(stepPinX, 1.5);
191  }
192  for(y; y < ysteps; y++){
193    moveLinear(stepPinY, 1.5);
194  }
195}
196
197/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
198
199void  offsetPiece(){
200  for (int i=0; i < stepsBetweenSquares/2; i++){
201    moveDiagonal(2.5);
202  }
203}
204
205///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
206
207void  moveDiagonal(int delayTime){
208    digitalWrite(stepPinX, HIGH);
209    digitalWrite(stepPinY,  HIGH);
210    delay(delayTime);
211    digitalWrite(stepPinX, LOW);
212    digitalWrite(stepPinY,  LOW);
213    delay(delayTime);
214}
215
216////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
217
218void  moveLinear(int stepPin, int delayTime){
219  digitalWrite(stepPin, HIGH);
220  delay(delayTime);
221  digitalWrite(stepPin, LOW);
222  delay(delayTime);
223}

const int stepsBetweenSquares = 318;
const int stepPinX = 3; 
const  int dirPinX = 4; 
const int stepPinY = 5;
const int dirPinY = 6;
const  int limitSwitchX = 8;
const int limitSwitchY = 9;
const int magnetPinPos =  10;
const int magnetPinNeg = 11;
int x1 = 0; int x2 = 1;
int y1 = 0; int  y2 = 1;
int xsteps;
int ysteps;
int x = 0;
int y = 0;

void setup()  {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(stepPinX,OUTPUT); 
  pinMode(dirPinX,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(stepPinY,OUTPUT); 
  pinMode(dirPinY,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(limitSwitchX,  INPUT);
  pinMode(limitSwitchY, INPUT);
  pinMode(magnetPinPos, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(magnetPinNeg, OUTPUT);
  

//_________________________________________________________________________________________________
//  Zero position to square A1
//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  zeroDiagonal();
}


void loop() {
//___________________________________________________________________________________________________
//  Recieve position adress of piece to be moved from Serial monitor (Letter, Number)
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Serial.print("Piece to be moved letter adress:  ");
  while (!Serial.available());
    x1 = readSerialLetter();
      
  Serial.print("Piece to be moved number  adress:  ");
  while (!Serial.available());
    y1 = readSerialNumber();      


//______________________________________________________________________________________________
//  Move to Position of piece to be moved
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  xsteps = stepsBetweenSquares*(x1-x2);
  ysteps = stepsBetweenSquares*(y1-y2);
  
  movePieceDiagonal(xsteps, ysteps);
 

//_______________________________________________________________________________________________
//  Recieve position adress of piece new location from Serial Monitor (Letter, Number)
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Serial.print("New location letter adress:  ");
  while (!Serial.available());
    x2 = readSerialLetter();

  Serial.print("New location number adress:  ");
  while (!Serial.available());
    y2 = readSerialNumber();
  Serial.println();

  
//________________________________________________________________________________________________
//  Turn on magnet
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  digitalWrite(magnetPinPos, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(magnetPinNeg, LOW);

  
//________________________________________________________________________________________________
//  Move piece to new location
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  xsteps = stepsBetweenSquares*(x2-x1);
  ysteps = stepsBetweenSquares*(y2-y1);
  
  digitalWrite(dirPinX, HIGH); digitalWrite(dirPinY, LOW);
  offsetPiece();
  delay(50);
  movePiece(xsteps, dirPinX, stepPinX);
  movePiece(-ysteps,  dirPinY, stepPinY);
  delay(50);
  digitalWrite(dirPinX, LOW); digitalWrite(dirPinY,  HIGH);
  offsetPiece();

//__________________________________________________________________________________________________
//  Turn off magnet
//----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  digitalWrite(magnetPinPos, LOW);
  digitalWrite(magnetPinNeg, LOW);
}


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//  FUNCTIONS ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

int  readSerialLetter(){
  int i;
  while(i < 1 || i > 8){
    i = Serial.read();  
    i = i - 64;
    }
  Serial.println(i);
  Serial.parseInt();
  return i;
  }

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

int  readSerialNumber(){
  int i;
  while (i < 1 || i > 8){
    i = Serial.parseInt();
    }
  Serial.println(i);
  Serial.parseInt();
  return i;
  }

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

void  zeroDiagonal(){
  digitalWrite(dirPinX, LOW);
  digitalWrite(dirPinY, HIGH);
  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchX) == HIGH && digitalRead(limitSwitchY) == HIGH){
    moveDiagonal(1.5);
  }
  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchX) == HIGH){
    moveLinear(stepPinX, 1.5);
  }
  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchY) == HIGH){
    moveLinear(stepPinY, 1.5);
  }
  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchX) == LOW){         //Backoff switch
    digitalWrite(dirPinX, HIGH);
    moveLinear(stepPinX,  1);
  }
  while (digitalRead(limitSwitchY) == LOW){         //Backoff switch
    digitalWrite(dirPinY, LOW);
    moveLinear(stepPinY, 1);
  }
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

void  movePiece(int steps, int dirPin, int stepPin){
  if (steps > 0){
    digitalWrite(dirPin,HIGH);
  }
  else{
    steps = abs(steps);
    digitalWrite(dirPin, LOW);
  }
  for(int i = 0; i < steps; i++) {
    moveLinear(stepPin, 2.5);
  }
  }

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

void  movePieceDiagonal(int xsteps, int ysteps){
  if (ysteps > 0){
    digitalWrite(dirPinY,  LOW);
  }
  else{
    ysteps = abs(ysteps);
    digitalWrite(dirPinY,  HIGH);
  }
  if (xsteps > 0){
    digitalWrite(dirPinX, HIGH);
  } 
  else{
    xsteps = abs(xsteps);
    digitalWrite(dirPinX, LOW);
  }
  x = 0; y = 0; 
  while (x < xsteps && y < ysteps){
    moveDiagonal(1.5);
    x++; y++;
  }
  for(x; x < xsteps; x++){
    moveLinear(stepPinX, 1.5);
  }
  for(y; y < ysteps; y++){
    moveLinear(stepPinY, 1.5);
  }
}

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

void  offsetPiece(){
  for (int i=0; i < stepsBetweenSquares/2; i++){
    moveDiagonal(2.5);
  }
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

void  moveDiagonal(int delayTime){
    digitalWrite(stepPinX, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(stepPinY,  HIGH);
    delay(delayTime);
    digitalWrite(stepPinX, LOW);
    digitalWrite(stepPinY,  LOW);
    delay(delayTime);
}

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

void  moveLinear(int stepPin, int delayTime){
  digitalWrite(stepPin, HIGH);
  delay(delayTime);
  digitalWrite(stepPin, LOW);
  delay(delayTime);
}

Downloadable files

Automated_chessboard_Layout

Board powered from USB cable for all logic devices. Steppers and electromagnet (Solenoid) are powered from external power brick that is 9 volts and max 5 amps.

Automated_chessboard_Layout

Board powered from USB cable for all logic devices. Steppers and electromagnet (Solenoid) are powered from external power brick that is 9 volts and max 5 amps.

Automated_chessboard_Layout

Comments

Only logged in users can leave comments

masa22

a year ago

Hello, can you please tell me what is the borders of the squares?

zakariyea_

2 years ago

I love this project, it exactly what I was looking for. But I have a question: what happen exactly when a piece took (eat) another piece ?

waifupower

2 years ago

Hello can i ask about the making and building of the project because I have a card time doing it. Can you show how u build the board?

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Can you mention that which stepper motor is X and which is Y in the code by comparing the structure?

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Hello! I really appreciated your project, seeing the pieces on the board moving by themselves. I'm trying to do the same thing, but the game happens between man and Alien (like E.T.). I have a problem; the chess engine loaded on Arduino Mega, sends to your Sketch "Automated chessboard" letter and number together, for example "a2a4" lowercase and all together, instead your Sketch, receives a letter and number at a time and uppercase . How can the string be modified? Serial.print("Piece to be moved letter adress: "); while (!Serial.available()); x1 = readSerialLetter(); Serial.print("Piece to be moved number adress: "); while (!Serial.available()); y1 = readSerialNumber(); Furthermore, if you are interested, I have solved the mechanical problems that you complain, and I also have the chess engine, and many photos. Let me know www.alvaropasseri.it

Mustafiz_mm

2 years ago

How to work on the automated car than is it similar like this ..I actually need to build an autonomous project. Anyone know where I can find such a project??

Anonymous user

2 years ago

ik heb deze schaakcomputer gemaakt en hij werkt zoals het hoort . doch ik heb een probleem . namelijk het volgende als ik een zet doe dan werkt de magneet zoals het hoort , bij de volgende zet werkt de magneet niet , bij de volgende zet weer wel en dit gaat zomaar door dus over andere wel en dan weer niet . ik veronderstel dat dit te maken heeft met de andere speler 1 speler wit en de andere zwart . U zegt dat er een computer is waarop 2 spelers zijn aangesloten ,dit is dus mijn probleem , hoe kan ik 2 spelers aansluiten op dit spel met arduino en een seriele monitor of maak ik hier een fout . wachtend op een gunstig antwoordt dank bij voorbaat m.v.g. remo

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Acrylic Sheet how much urgent... ?

Anonymous user

2 years ago

This is an amazing project and i cant wait to start building my own. one question about it that i had is would it be possible to add a microphone to make it voice controlled and if so how would i go about setting that up?

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Does this project use Big easy diver or easy diver to drive stepper motors? What is the use of Dual H-Bridge motor drivers L298? Please help me, thank you!

maguerero

2 years ago

Thanks! I'm not very familiar with implementing voice control but I did consider using it in a future version of this project. The best way to go about it would probably be using a WiFi or Bluetooth module and connecting to it with your phone or computer which already has voice recognition technology.

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Love it. Thanks for sharing. I also love the games on this site http://bringoldsports.com/. Check it out.

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Can you answer me a question? I want to know why I use the big easy diver and L298 to drive the stepper motor together? Please tell me in detail.Thank you！

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Thank you very much for your help, I understand. I will try my best to make this project complete and as a graduation design for my university in the future, I have already bought the parts and started debugging. Thank you again for your reply, your project is great!

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Thank you for your answer, I understand. But both your schematic and physical images use both A4988 and L298N. Please give me a detailed connection description, for example: STEP-Pin~5, DIR-Pin4. I am very interested in this project, but my personal level is limited, please help me, thank you very much!

Anonymous user

2 years ago

In addition, the electromagnet does not have sufficient suction to attract debris because the article adsorbed by the electromagnet requires a thickness of 8 mm and the electromagnet does not have sufficient suction across the board. How did you solve this problem?

maguerero

2 years ago

I can't think of what the exact pin connections were for the stepper drivers and I disassembled it a long time ago. There are dozens of good tutorials out there for the A4988 drivers that I followed that explain everything way better than I ever could so go check some of those out. I made this project with almost no background in electronics and using online forums and video tutorials for almost every component and the code. Learning by doing (and failing) is most of the fun for things like this. Good Luck : )

maguerero

2 years ago

The electromagnet worked for me because I was powering it with 9 Volts instead of 5. Also, the most important thing is to make the distance between the magnet and metal ball as small as possible. I used an acrylic sheet that was less than 2 mm thick and had the magnet almost touching the bottom side of it.

maguerero

2 years ago

I tried a bunch of different motor drivers but ended up using two A4988 drivers. I used cheap steppers that needed adjustable current limiting to work properly. I tried the L298N and L293D but they would get way too hot because there not rated for the Amp of current I needed for the steppers.

Anonymous user

2 years ago

It would have been better if there was a logic for the code used in this project

Anonymous user

2 years ago

An interesting project, i have seen a similar setup many years ago designed to include a chess computer with LEDs on the edges of the board to indicate the movement of the computer pieces. Also i noticed that the position of the board seems incorrect where the white square should be in the bottom right according to a players position. here is a reference: https://www.chessvariants.com/fidelaws.html 1.2 The chessboard is placed between the players in such a way that the near corner to the right of each player is white.

Anonymous user

2 years ago

A couple of (chained) shift registers should be enough to handle the LEDs. There are only 8 rows and 8 columns. See https://wcrsyyc.github.io/ardx/circ05.html for an example circuit and code. That code is only for standalone LEDs, so would need to be modified to work with 'delay', to be merged with the code that controls the piece positions.

Anonymous user

2 years ago

For the LEDs you could use the MAX7219 to control them combined with a microcontroller here is some information on the IC: https://tronixstuff.com/2013/10/11/tutorial-arduino-max7219-led-display-driver-ic/ As for the Chess computer i think they used a Z80 CPU here is one that i found for inspiration :) https://www.amazon.com/Sargon-Computer-Program-Dan-Spracklen/dp/0810451557

maguerero

2 years ago

Thanks for the heads up and checking out my project! I did notice the corners weren't correct when I was initially setting up the board but didn't think it was worth moving everything around and flipping it for the demo. I'll take better care to check next time. Also, the LEDs on the edges sounds like a cool idea; I just wasn't sure how to go about it without more I/O pins. The computer isn't the second player in the game though (that's way above my current ability), Its actually just two people playing each other sharing the computer. :)

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Hi, what changes do you think would need to be made in order to make it connect to another board somewhere else so you could have a 1v1 match with someone somewhere else?

Anonymous user

3 years ago

Anonymous user

4 years ago

Can you mention that which stepper motor is X and which is Y in the code by comparing the structure?

atpd518

5 years ago

It would have been better if there was a logic for the code used in this project

Anonymous user

5 years ago

Hi, what changes do you think would need to be made in order to make it connect to another board somewhere else so you could have a 1v1 match with someone somewhere else?

Anonymous user

6 years ago

Jlucky711

6 years ago

Anonymous user

6 years ago

Can you answer me a question? I want to know why I use the big easy diver and L298 to drive the stepper motor together? Please tell me in detail.Thank you！

maguerero

2 years ago

maguerero

2 years ago

maguerero

2 years ago

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Anonymous user

6 years ago

Acrylic Sheet how much urgent... ?

Mustafiz_mm

6 years ago

How to work on the automated car than is it similar like this ..I actually need to build an autonomous project. Anyone know where I can find such a project??

tdawg101

6 years ago

maguerero

2 years ago

Anonymous user

2 years ago

Does this project use Big easy diver or easy diver to drive stepper motors? What is the use of Dual H-Bridge motor drivers L298? Please help me, thank you!

Anonymous user

6 years ago

Anonymous user

2 years ago

maguerero

2 years ago

Anonymous user

2 years ago

maguerero

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6 Projects

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Project description

Code

Downloadable files