Sensory chessboard and method for detecting positions of chess pieces on a chessboard and transmitting those positions to a computer or other electronic recording device
11369862 · 2022-06-28
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
A63F2003/00457
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A63F9/24
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A63F13/21
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
A63F13/21
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A63F9/24
HUMAN NECESSITIES
Abstract
A chess board, comprising a top layer comprising sixty-four (64) squares of alternating color arranged in eight parallel ranks and eight parallel files, and a bottom layer comprising a circuit board, the circuit board comprising sixty-four (64) radio frequency identification antennas arranged in registration with the sixty-four (64) squares of alternating color in the top layer, and an electronic circuit operatively arranged to sense positions and movement of chess pieces on the sixty-four (64) squares of the top layer and communicate the positions and movement to a computer.
Claims
1. A chessboard, comprising: a top layer comprising sixty-four (64) squares of alternating color arranged in eight parallel ranks and eight parallel files, wherein the ranks are arranged perpendicularly to the files; a bottom layer comprising a circuit board, said circuit board comprising sixty-four (64) radio frequency identification antennas arranged in registration with said sixty-four (64) squares of alternating color in said top layer; and, an electronic circuit embedded in said circuit board operatively arranged to receive a unique digital code stored in a radio frequency identification tag in each chess piece positioned atop said chessboard and to sense positions and movement of said chess pieces on said sixty-four (64) squares of said top layer, and communicate said positions and movement to a computer, wherein said circuit board includes a circuit comprising said sixty four (64) radio frequency identification antennas, wherein each antenna comprises a coil etched into said circuit board, with each coil centrally located within a square of said chess board, wherein the width of each said coil is approximately 55% of the width of each square of said chess board.
2. The chessboard recited in claim 1, wherein said radio frequency identification tag in each chess piece is positioned below a metal weight in each said chess piece, wherein a ferrite sheet is positioned between said radio frequency identification tag and said metal weight in each said chess piece.
3. The chessboard recited in claim 1 wherein said top layer is made of wood.
4. The chessboard recited in claim 1 wherein said top layer is made of vinyl.
5. The chessboard recited in claim 1 wherein said top layer is made of polyester fabric with open cell sponge rubber.
6. The chessboard recited in claim 1, wherein each antenna is tuned to have an inductance of approximately 1.92 μH.
7. The chessboard recited in claim 1 wherein said circuit further comprises a microcontroller operatively arranged to control the sixty-four radio frequency identification antennas, by scanning each square on the chessboard in sequence, to detect and identify each chess piece, if any, on each said square.
8. The chessboard recited in claim 1, wherein said each chess piece further comprises: a body having a cavity therein; a metal weight positioned within said cavity; a ferrite sheet positioned below said metal weight and in proximity thereto; and, said radio frequency identification tag is positioned below said ferrite sheet, said radio frequency identification tag is secured to said body.
9. The chessboard recited in claim 8, wherein said each chess piece further comprises a base pad fixedly secured to said radio frequency identification tag.
10. The chessboard recited in claim 8, wherein said metal weight is made of lead.
11. The chessboard recited in claim 8, wherein said body is made of wood.
12. The chessboard recited in claim 8, wherein said body is made of plastic.
13. The chessboard recited in claim 8, wherein said body is made of bone.
14. The chessboard recited in claim 8, wherein said body is made of ivory.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) The invention is described in detail below with reference to the drawings, wherein:
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(23) At the outset, it should be appreciated that like drawing numbers on different drawing views identify identical, or functionally similar, structural elements. It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the disclosed aspects.
(24) Furthermore, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the particular methodology, materials and modifications described and as such may, of course, vary. It is also understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.
(25) Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. It should be understood that any methods, devices or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the example embodiments.
(26) It should be appreciated that the term “substantially” is synonymous with terms such as “nearly,” “very nearly,” “about,” “approximately,” “around,” “bordering on,” “close to,” “essentially,” “in the neighborhood of,” “in the vicinity of,” etc., and such terms may be used interchangeably as appearing in the specification and claims. It should be appreciated that the term “proximate” is synonymous with terms such as “nearby,” “close,” “adjacent,” “neighboring,” “immediate,” “adjoining,” etc., and such terms may be used interchangeably as appearing in the specification and claims. The term “approximately” is intended to mean values within ten percent of the specified value.
(27) Adverting now to the drawings, as described above,
(28) In use, electronics in the circuit board (RFID antennas, etc.) sense the position and identity of each chess piece and transmit that position and identity to the computer as will be described in detail infra. The computer then displays the position of the pieces on the monitor. The moves and positions are also stored, both in an on-board memory, and also on the computer hard drive.
(29) As described previously,
(30) As will be described in more detail infra, each chess piece in
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(32) The size and spacing of the antenna coils is important. The coils cannot be so large, and so close to an adjacent coil that the antenna cannot discern the identity of a piece placed therebetween; nor should the coil be so small such that when a piece is close to the edge of a square, it won't be detected. In a preferred embodiment, with reference to
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(34) There are major technical problems associated with sensing a chess piece atop a chess board, regardless of the method of detection used. One of these problems is caused by the traditional weighting of chess pieces by metal slugs, such as lead. The problem is the generation of eddy currents about the surface of the weighting slugs, and subsequent interference with communication between the piece and the board electronics as a result of disturbance of the electromagnetic field.
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(37) Finally,
(38) It should be appreciated that, although the RFID tag and the ferrite layer may be two separate elements, that these elements could be combined as a single unit, and are known in the art as RFID anti-metal tags, RFID tags for metal, anti-metal RFID labels, and metal adhesive RFID labels. They are typically made of special rubber magnetic sticky film in combination with an electronic tag on a back side. This type of tag technically successfully solves the issue of eliminating electromagnetic interference in reading an RFID tag when it is attached to a metal surface.
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(40) The microcontroller also communicates with EEPROM 135, shown in
(41) The microcontroller is also operatively arranged to communicate with WiFi module 140, shown in
(42) Microcontroller 110 is also operatively arranged to connect via a serial connection to an external chess clock, such as a digital chess clock. This connection allows the clock time display for each player to be communicated to a computer and displayed on the computer monitor. It also permits the times of each move to be recorded in EEPROM 135. It is also envisioned that the clock times could be communicated from the clock to the system wirelessly via WiFi module 140.
(43) Voltage regulator 130 converts the 5V USB bus voltage supplied by USB connector 125 to 3V. Most of the circuit components of the invention operate at 3V. In a preferred embodiment, voltage regulator 130 is Model TC1185 manufactured by Microchip Technology Inc.
(44) LED assembly 115 includes LED.sub.1 and resistor R.sub.1. In a preferred embodiment, LED.sub.1 is green. If this LED is active, the user knows that everything is operating normally. LED assembly 120 includes LED.sub.2 and resistor R.sub.2. In a preferred embodiment LED.sub.2 is red. If there is an issue with the board, the circuit, or the software, LED.sub.2 will light red.
(45) RFID module 150, shown in
(46) Optoisolator 145 is a switch which controls relay 155 which, in turn, communicates the multiplexing signals between RFID module 150 and the first multiplexing switch RS.sub.1, in the system. Any solid state switch could be used in lieu of optoisolator 145, as is well known in the art. In a preferred embodiment optoisolator model LCA110L by IXYS Integrated Circuits Division is used in the multiplexing circuit of the invention. Relay 155 is a standard relay well known in the art, and is only necessary if the first switch/multiplexer RS.sub.1 in the array needs the RFID signal to be off before changing its on/off state. In a preferred embodiment, relay 155 is Model 9007 by Coto Technology, Inc.
(47) Relay 155 controls RF switch RS.sub.3, the first in a line of identical RF switches, as will be discussed infra. The microcontroller also controls switch RS.sub.1 via control lines CNTL-5 and CNTL-6. In a preferred embodiment, these switches, which include RS.sub.1 through RS.sub.21, are all identical, and are all Model 42440, manufactured by Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. All of the switches are controlled by the microcontroller via control lines. The four outputs C, D, E and F of RS.sub.1 become the inputs for RF switches RS.sub.2, RS.sub.3, RS.sub.4, and RS.sub.5, as shown in
Circuit Operation
(48) To begin operation, a user would connect the board via a USB port in a computer. The computer in combination with the board, will sense the initial position of the pieces and know that a new game is about to begin. Upon connection of the board to the computer the microcontroller will control a complete fresh scan of all 64 squares on the board. In a preferred embodiment, the microcontroller is programmed to scan all 64 squares in order from a-1 to a-8, from b-1 to b-8, from c-1 to c-8 . . . to h-1 to h-8, although the order of scanning all the squares on the board can obviously be changed. In a preferred embodiment, the scanning is done at a rate of approximately 5 ms per square, which is equivalent to approximately three scans of the entire board every second. Each time a square is scanned the result of the scan is transmitted to the microcontroller where it is stored in RAM memory, and also transmitted immediately to the computer via the USB connection. It is important to note that only one antenna is active at any time. So, only one square is being queried at any given time. All 64 squares are scanned in a rapid succession. If there is no response when querying one particular antenna, then the board electronic circuit assumes that there is not a chess piece or token at that square and it moves to the next square. When a change in the state of any square is detected (because a piece has left the square, or been placed on the square, etc.) this change of state is also communicated to the EEPROM, since this indicates that a move has been made, and the electronics of the invention records all moves made during a game.
(49) The end of a game can be indicated and sensed in any number of ways. For example, a “White Wins” token can tell the computer that the player with white pieces was the winner of the game. Also, tokens like “Black Wins” or “Draw” can tell the computer that black won or the game was drawn respectively. Alternatively, certain pieces, such as Kings, can be placed on certain squares on the board to indicate game result. For example, placing the Kings on e4 and d5, two white squares, might indicate that White has won the game, while placing the Kings on d4 and e5, two black squares, would indicate that Black has won the game. Placing one King on a white square and one King on a black square might be used to indicate that the game has ended in a draw.
(50) It should also be appreciated that, although in a preferred embodiment, a USB connection is established between the board and a computer, and the chessboard position is transmitted to the computer via this connection, that this information can also be transmitted using a Bluetooth or WiFi connection. A module is used to implement these two wireless connections. The WiFi connection can connect to a WiFi network's router or a smart cell phone. A chess game can thus be watched live in a website by using any of the three available connections.
(51) Thus, it is seen that the objects of the present invention are efficiently obtained, although modifications and changes to the invention should be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art, which modifications are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. It also is understood that the foregoing description is illustrative of the present invention and should not be considered as limiting. Therefore, other embodiments of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
(52) 10 sensory chessboard 20 top layer of chessboard 24 square on printed circuit board 26 radio frequency identification antenna(s) 28 printed circuit board 30 white chess pieces 40 black chess pieces 50 computer 60 computer monitor 70 USB connector 80 body of white Rook WR 82 lead weight in white Rook WR 84 ferrite layer 86 RFID tag 88 felt, billiard cloth or leather base pad 89 unweighted chess piece 100 sensory chessboard system 110 microcontroller 135 EEPROM 140 WiFi module C.sub.1 22 μF capacitor C.sub.2 22 μF capacitor C.sub.3 470 nF capacitor C.sub.4 10 μF capacitor C.sub.5 10 μF capacitor C.sub.6 56 pF capacitor C.sub.7 56 pF capacitor C.sub.8 56 pF capacitor C.sub.9 56 pF capacitor C.sub.10 56 pF capacitor C.sub.11 56 pF capacitor C.sub.12 56 pF capacitor C.sub.13 56 pF capacitor C.sub.14 56 pF capacitor C.sub.15 56 pF capacitor C.sub.16 56 pF capacitor C.sub.17 56 pF capacitor C.sub.18 56 pF capacitor C.sub.29 56 pF capacitor C.sub.20 56 pF capacitor C.sub.21 56 pF capacitor C.sub.22 56 pF capacitor C.sub.23 56 pF capacitor C.sub.24 56 pF capacitor C.sub.25 56 pF capacitor C.sub.26 56 pF capacitor C.sub.27 56 pF capacitor C.sub.28 56 pF capacitor C.sub.29 56 pF capacitor C.sub.30 56 pF capacitor C.sub.31 56 pF capacitor C.sub.32 56 pF capacitor C.sub.33 56 pF capacitor C.sub.34 56 pF capacitor C.sub.35 56 pF capacitor C.sub.36 56 pF capacitor C.sub.37 56 pF capacitor R.sub.1 300Ω resistor R.sub.2 300Ω resistor R.sub.3 4.7 kΩ resistor R.sub.4 4.7 kΩ resistor R.sub.5 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.6 4.7 kΩ resistor R.sub.7 100 kΩ resistor R.sub.8 100 kΩ resistor R.sub.9 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.10 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.11 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.12 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.13 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.14 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.15 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.16 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.17 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.18 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.19 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.20 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.21 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.22 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.23 1 kΩ resistor R.sub.24 1 kΩ resistor WR white Rook X.sub.1 4 MHz quartz crystal oscillator