3 ms·

Magnets is how I imagined this would work, but I wasn't expecting a physical arm underneath. I wonder if it would be possible to make this without any moving pa

Magnets is how I imagined this would work, but I wasn't expecting a physical arm underneath. I wonder if it would be possible to make this without any moving parts, with just an array of electromagnets underneath which turn on and off to move the pieces. That would make it a lot quieter.

TheDudeMan 5y ago
I'd like to see this. Sounds difficult. You'd need very strong magnets and a very low friction surface. Perhaps tiny omni-directional steal wheels on each piece... Oops, those are moving parts. It would also enable the movement of multiple pieces at once (for captures and make-room moves).
danielyaa5 5y ago
Brookstone had one like that
billfruit 5y ago
Magnet based approach would make captures cumbersome, an arm that lifted and removed pieces would be more natural during captures. Squareoff handles it by first having the captured peice walk slowly off the board, then the capturing piece moves into its place; Looks rather immersion breaking to me.
- saurik 5y ago
  To be clear, I had this device when I was a kid, and it does use magnets; it is just that it had to move the magnet with motors underneath the board. You can also see it doing captures in the video: it does them the same way you say that "Square Off" ("rip off"? ;P) one does: by first moving the captured piece off the board. I found a video of someone pitting the Grandmaster vs. the Square Off (which won, though of course that seems obvious given that we have gotten much better at gaming AI in the past few decades)! https://youtu.be/SWy9z3WKNyg https://youtu.be/SWy9z3WKNyg FWIW, I honestly don't remember it being this loud, and am wondering if it is because it is old or because I am old ;P.
_tom_ 5y ago
That was my first question, but then I realized you’d need more than just one magnet per square, as it’s possible for a knight to capture something without an exit path. Or you would need some path finding software. To figure out what pieces you’d need to move first, to be able to remove the captured piece. And I wonder what this board does when you promote a second queen?

TheDudeMan 5y ago

I'd like to see this. Sounds difficult. You'd need very strong magnets and a very low friction surface. Perhaps tiny omni-directional steal wheels on each piece... Oops, those are moving parts. It would also enable the movement of multiple pieces at once (for captures and make-room moves).

danielyaa5 5y ago

Brookstone had one like that

billfruit 5y ago

Magnet based approach would make captures cumbersome, an arm that lifted and removed pieces would be more natural during captures. Squareoff handles it by first having the captured peice walk slowly off the board, then the capturing piece moves into its place; Looks rather immersion breaking to me.

saurik 5y ago
To be clear, I had this device when I was a kid, and it does use magnets; it is just that it had to move the magnet with motors underneath the board. You can also see it doing captures in the video: it does them the same way you say that "Square Off" ("rip off"? ;P) one does: by first moving the captured piece off the board. I found a video of someone pitting the Grandmaster vs. the Square Off (which won, though of course that seems obvious given that we have gotten much better at gaming AI in the past few decades)! https://youtu.be/SWy9z3WKNyg https://youtu.be/SWy9z3WKNyg FWIW, I honestly don't remember it being this loud, and am wondering if it is because it is old or because I am old ;P.

_tom_ 5y ago

That was my first question, but then I realized you’d need more than just one magnet per square, as it’s possible for a knight to capture something without an exit path. Or you would need some path finding software. To figure out what pieces you’d need to move first, to be able to remove the captured piece. And I wonder what this board does when you promote a second queen?