ianbullock

Courtyard chess set

Sam Meyer and I designed and built this courtyard chess set. A CAD model was first used to design a minimalist set of pieces for easy prototyping in plywood.

The wooden pieces below represent the final design, which is pretty similar to the CAD but with some extra detail on the rooks.

We also made some cardboard pieces, which were wrapped with colored duct tape. This approach might not not work so well in an environment where the pieces are more likely to be rained on, but in southern california it was acceptable. Below, a cardboard queen is being wrapped.

The plywood pieces had a satisfying weight, but surprisingly even the cardboard pieces worked out pretty well. Small chunks of cinder block were taped on the inside of the base of the cardboard pieces both to provide a more satisfying feel as well as to prevent wind gusts from trying to participate in the game.

RGB LED control	Real time wireless control of RGB LED lights for ambient room lighting.
Tidal turbine	Generating small amounts of electricity from water motion.
Ice detection	Novel sensing methods for ice buildup on aircraft heat exchangers.
Polyphonic synth	FPGA and PIC microcontroller based polyphonic MIDI synthesizer.
CCD readout	Low noise analog amplification and digital processing of the signal from an astronomical CCD sensor.
Courtyard chess	Large scale courtyard chess set.