On Robots

[Steve B]

here we have a prime example of the heart breaking tragedy of the Novag Robot Adversary
the Adversary it will be remembered is the only chess computer ever released for sale to use a Robotic arm for piece movement

2500 of these babies were made and the defect rate right from the getgo was about 50%
in the last few years i have acquired THREE perfectly working Robots and ALL THREE became defective within 2 hours of playing time
i must have wasted close to $7500 on these things

even today collectors are excited to see a working one and will be seduced into buying one at very high prices
the flaw in this thinking however is that ..although perfectly working at the point of sale..it WILL go belly up after a few hours of playing time
fixing them is basically impossible as the parts for the motors are no longer available
about two years ago i even tracked down the guy who built the Robot for Novag in the early 1980's ,spent hundreds of dollars shipping the Robot to him and he came up with nada..zilch..zero

i offer for your viewing pleasure this auction on Ebay
translating the auction for non German readers we can see this all too common tale come to fore
he mentions that only a short while ago this Robot was working and then suddenly ..out of the Blue..it went haywire
my guess is he just hit the 2 hour playing time window
his anguish and sorrow at having to sell it.. is evident throughout his tearful text in the auction
http://cgi.ebay.com/Novag-Robot-Adversa ... 38QQihZ011

The Heart Break Of the Robots Regards
Steve

[sje]

It is an essentially futile task to build a US$500 or cheaper robotic arm chess computer when a decent industrial quality small robotic arm costs US$2,500 and up.

But I have an idea!

Let's build a chess board and set where each piece moves itself. Seriously, let every chessman will be equipped with:

1) A rechargeable battery

2) A pair of small electric motors powered by the battery

3) Wheels or treads driven by the motors

4) A low power, low bandwidth radio transceiver

5) An embedded microcontroller to coordinate everything

Also, the chessboard will have a recharging station where the pieces will automatically dock as needed. They can line up in order of need.

For the prototype, I'd have each piece have the same shape, size, and mass. to simplify the design. Of course, different colors and top images would be used. This works for both Shogi and Xiangqi, a later design could use traditional shapes and sizes.

[sje]

A cool video of robots that could be used for chess pieces; funny but maybe a little scary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYIkgG1nX4E

[Harald]

It is an essentially futile task to build a US$500 or cheaper robotic arm chess computer when a decent industrial quality small robotic arm costs US$2,500 and up.

But I have an idea!

Let's build a chess board and set where each piece moves itself. Seriously, let every chessman will be equipped with:

1) A rechargeable battery

2) A pair of small electric motors powered by the battery

3) Wheels or treads driven by the motors

4) A low power, low bandwidth radio transceiver

5) An embedded microcontroller to coordinate everything

Also, the chessboard will have a recharging station where the pieces will automatically dock as needed. They can line up in order of need.

For the prototype, I'd have each piece have the same shape, size, and mass. to simplify the design. Of course, different colors and top images would be used. This works for both Shogi and Xiangqi, a later design could use traditional shapes and sizes.

Perhaps you could ask the experts at the "miniatur wunderland" how to do it.
Frederik and Gerrit Braun could certainly do it if they were not too busy to
improve their own wonderful exhibition. But then again the chess pieces would
probably look like red fire trucks with blinking blue LEDs on top.
http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exhi ... echnology/

Harald

[Steve B]

interesting idea Guys
now if we could only find a way to make this baby play at > 2500 Elo and market it for <$500 then...
i am in Regards
Steve

[fern]

A workable idea that even has other uses is to purchase a chinese slave woman and ask her to move the pieces. So you have not only an arm, but also the rest of the gear.
I believe with less than 500 bucks you get the girl and with some extra you can feed her for more than two hours.
A couple of months of good use would be good for any..
Just an Idea to Give Work to those in need regards
fern

[sje]

A workable idea that even has other uses is to purchase a chinese slave woman and ask her to move the pieces. So you have not only an arm, but also the rest of the gear.

Given the current and opposing economic trends in the United States and mainland China, it's rather more probable that hiring an American woman will soon be less expensive. She could be sent overseas so that she can mail her hard currency paychecks to her unemployed boyfriend back in the States. Let's thank the Washington warmongering kleptocrats for opening up these new and exciting career opportunities.

----

We don't have the technology just yet, but soon we could be able to build a set made from miniaturized androids. Dressed in colorful medieval garb and equipped with appropriate weapons and armor, these dolls -- er, "action figures" -- would walk from square to square and dispatch opponent pieces with style. Custom manufacturing would be available so that the owner's likeness and the likenesses of his friends (maybe enemies, too) would be used for the pieces.

[fern]

I am afraid that I wll be dead by then, android time. For now I can just get a kick looking Bush and croonies going trough the sink.

Fern

[Michael Sherwin]

It is an essentially futile task to build a US$500 or cheaper robotic arm chess computer when a decent industrial quality small robotic arm costs US$2,500 and up.

But I have an idea!

Let's build a chess board and set where each piece moves itself. Seriously, let every chessman will be equipped with:

1) A rechargeable battery

2) A pair of small electric motors powered by the battery

3) Wheels or treads driven by the motors

4) A low power, low bandwidth radio transceiver

5) An embedded microcontroller to coordinate everything

Also, the chessboard will have a recharging station where the pieces will automatically dock as needed. They can line up in order of need.

For the prototype, I'd have each piece have the same shape, size, and mass. to simplify the design. Of course, different colors and top images would be used. This works for both Shogi and Xiangqi, a later design could use traditional shapes and sizes.

Hologram projectors in each square would be cheaper.

[Steve B]

OK
you all seem to be having a bit of fun with this Robot thingy

but how many of you have actually seen the Adversary ..up close and personal..??

dont get too close to the screen now...
http://alain.zanchetta.free.fr/videos/missingking.mpg

Ouch Regards
Steve