Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
66 Blitz Board!
James Tang
Nick Bingenheimer
Owen Shin
Hanyin Shao design_document2.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
other1.txt
other2.txt
photo1.jpg
photo2.png
photo3.jpg
photo4.png
presentation1.pptx
proposal1.pdf
# The Blitz Board!

Team Members:
- Owen Shin (owenjs2)
- Nick Bingenheimer (nbinge2)
- James Tang (cttang2)

# Problem

When one plays chess against a remote player or bot on chess.com, there is no physical component- the board is replaced with a display and mouse. A good solution is a two-axis motor system to move pieces underneath the board on behalf of a remote or virtual opponent, but this method is slow for "takes" when the same moving electromagnet must move two pieces. This is unfavorable, especially in fast games of chess like "blitz." A faster method of automatically moving chess pieces is warranted.

# Solution

Our solution looks beyond traditional methods for creating a singular, physical, and robotical opponent on the board. Rather, we look to speed up the action by using multiple small, remote controlled and independent robots that can each pick up pieces on their own. These robots will remain within the table, allowing them to charge, play, and move about entirely uncared for by the user. This will speed up the process of moving and discarding of pieces, and allow for faster move time on the behalf of the computer opponent, thus allowing for game modes like blitz chess.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 (In Board robots and their control module)
The in-board robots will be similar to small rc bumper cars. They will receive power through metal “antennas” that make contact with a copper “ceiling”. It is important to use copper as it won't affect use of electromagnets to grab pieces. They will navigate using small DC motors and have electromagnets mounted on top. Using radio communications, we will be able to control the rc cars and automate their communication using a small control module. The control module, most likely a Raspberry PI, will utilize an API to connect to chess.com or other online chess bot, allowing us to minimize software work and amount of internal computation needed to play. We will then translate the moves received from chess.com into directions for the robots. The controller will call upon robots as needed and use proximity for choosing which robot will make the move/take. It will also be able to call on multiple at once in order to speed up taking pieces specifically.

## Subsystem 2 (LEDs and sensors for real-time data on pieces??)
LEDs embedded in the board will display the most recent move by highlighting the moved piece’s current and previous positions. They will be driven by an off the shelf multiplexer. The board will be able to sense and report the positions of pieces using small hall effect sensors just underneath the board floor that detect the presence of the magnetic field generated by the magnets within the pieces. A possible model is the A3144/OH3144/AH3144E (found on amazon at 20units/~$8). These will not affect the use of the electromagnet for moving pieces as they won’t be sensing during the robots work.

## Subsystem 3, Chess Clock
A chess clock on the side of the board will reflect the time limits for both players according to chess.com. The clock’s display will be seven-segment LCDs and will have the see-saw switch often seen on chess clocks. The user pressing the switch will finalize a move, allowing it to be sent to chess.com. A solenoid under the switch will press the switch when the computer’s move is made or to reverse the switch in case the user makes an illegal move. Note, when an illegal move is made, the LEDs will all light up RED and the board will automatically undo the move. The API and microcontroller will check if moves are legal.


# Criterion For Success

The in board robots should be able to perform movement of and discard of taken pieces faster than other boards on the market (Square off averages 1s/square of distance on the board for normal moves and up to 10s per take of pieces)

Robots can reliably perform tasks without too much user interference (such as needing help charging like my roomba), and can withstand unforeseen circumstances (the table being bumped or getting stuck, losing power, etc.

A working chess-clock that allows for timing of moves along with chess rules. Robot will effectively hit its clock at the end of its turn, as well as begin moving at the hit of the player’s clock.

Recovery-Monitoring Knee Brace

Dong Hyun Lee, Jong Yoon Lee, Dennis Ryu

Featured Project

Problem:

Thanks to modern technology, it is easy to encounter a wide variety of wearable fitness devices such as Fitbit and Apple Watch in the market. Such devices are designed for average consumers who wish to track their lifestyle by counting steps or measuring heartbeats. However, it is rare to find a product for the actual patients who require both the real-time monitoring of a wearable device and the hard protection of a brace.

Personally, one of our teammates ruptured his front knee ACL and received reconstruction surgery a few years ago. After ACL surgery, it is common to wear a knee brace for about two to three months for protection from outside impacts, fast recovery, and restriction of movement. For a patient who is situated in rehabilitation after surgery, knee protection is an imperative recovery stage, but is often overlooked. One cannot deny that such a brace is also cumbersome to put on in the first place.

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Solution:

Our group aims to make a wearable device for people who require a knee brace by adding a health monitoring system onto an existing knee brace. The fundamental purpose is to protect the knee, but by adding a monitoring system we want to provide data and a platform for both doctor and patients so they can easily check the current status/progress of the injury.

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Audience:

1) Average person with leg problems

2) Athletes with leg injuries

3) Elderly people with discomforts

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Equipment:

Temperature sensors : perhaps in the form of electrodes, they will be used to measure the temperature of the swelling of the knee, which will indicate if recovery is going smoothly.

Pressure sensors : they will be calibrated such that a certain threshold of force must be applied by the brace to the leg. A snug fit is required for the brace to fulfill its job.

EMG circuit : we plan on constructing an EMG circuit based on op-amps, resistors, and capacitors. This will be the circuit that is intended for doctors, as it will detect muscle movement.

Development board: our main board will transmit the data from each of the sensors to a mobile interface via. Bluetooth. The user will be notified when the pressure sensors are not tight enough. For our purposes, the battery on the development will suffice, and we will not need additional dry cells.

The data will be transmitted to a mobile system, where it would also remind the user to wear the brace if taken off. To make sure the brace has a secure enough fit, pressure sensors will be calibrated to determine accordingly. We want to emphasize the hardware circuits that will be supplemented onto the leg brace.

We want to emphasize on the hardware circuit portion this brace contains. We have tested the temperature and pressure resistors on a breadboard by soldering them to resistors, and confirmed they work as intended by checking with a multimeter.

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