Reactive Glow Chess

We love chess, our love inspired us to create something special for this years Make it Glow contest. After a long brainstorming process we decided on create something amazing. A reactive light up chess board. We thought our chess board should include these main ideas.

• Be able to detected where pieces are/ have moved
• Light up on detected squares (duh!)
• (Hopefully) Inspire others to want to learn and play chess!

With the formalities out of the way lets

Copper Tape

Reed Switches

Soldering Iron

Solder

Wire

Masonite

Acrylic (Black, clear)

Acrylic Weld

Hot Glue

Magnets

LED Diodes

Switch and Plug

Laser Cutter

Sandblaster

Find attached files. Upload the files to a laser cutter and watch the magic happen. Ensure the laser cutter is properly focused and the settings are correct for the material. While waiting on parts to cut move on to step 2.

For this step you will need. Needle Nose Pliers, Soldering Iron, Solder, Reed Switches and LEDS

Start with the LEDS

1. Find the shorter end (the negative side) and bend it out (180*)
2. Next find the longer side (the positive side) and bend it upwards
3. Refer to photos for help and reference

Now lets start with the Reed switches (Note reed switches are very sensitive use the pliers to hold the side your bend

1. Start with using your pliers to grip the side you're starting on.
2. Grip somewhere close to the glass of the reed switch (this is to mitigate damage the bending might cause the internal wires)
3. Now bend the rest of the wire upwards like the LED (These sides will connect)
4. On the other side bend only the tip of the reed switch (Both sides should be pointing in the same direction)

Perfect now lets connect them!

1. Using the soldering iron connect both the sides that are turned upward (Note you only need a small amount of solder for the connection)

Great now lets move on!

Before we assemble the board first we need to lay down our copper tape

1. Lay a strip of copper tape along and across the side of 8 of the dividers
2. Lay another strip of copper tape along each row of squares on the bottom of the middle flat board
3. Lastly add 2 more strips of tape which cross the other strips to connect them all together. (With the copper tape along the top dividers, solder wire to connect the pieces of tape)

Next we need to connect the LED and Reed switches to the board

1. Feed a reed switch through the left hole of a square and insert the led into the middle hole
2. Hot glue the led to the board so that it cannot fall out of place
3. Solder each end to the copper tape on each side
4. Repeat this on each square on the chess board

Lastly we need to solder the switches to the board to complete the circuit

1. Solder each end of the switch to the connected length of copper tape. (Make sure to connect the positive wire to the copper tape of the top of the board and the ground wire to the copper tape on the under side of the board)
2. Insert the switch into the larger diameter hole and screw the nut on to secure it in place
3. With the power port make sure to insert it and hot glue it to secure it into place

Cut Out Parts

1. Use the attached file to cut out the parts using 1/8" acrylic. Ensure that the laser cutter is properly focused and the settings are correct for 1/8" acrylic. You will run the file twice, once for each color set of pieces.

Assemble the Pieces

1. Once the parts are cut out, sort them out into the matching parts and colors. If there is paper on the parts, take it off of the main parts, while leaving it on one side of the bases.
2. Slot the two main pieces into their correct places in the base, and put acrylic weld in the vertical seams between the main pieces, as well as the horizontal seams where the main pieces touch the base (see attached picture for visual representation of where to put acrylic weld).
3. Take two magnets and attach them to each other. Put a drop of glue in the bottom hole of the base piece, and then put the magnets into the hole.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for the rest of the pieces. Each color should end up with 8 pawns, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks, 1 queen, and 1 king.

1. Use the attached file to cut the board out of 1/4" acrylic.
2. Use a sandblaster on the back of the board so that it is completely fogged. This will obscure the electronics that are beneath the board.

1. Use the acrylic weld to attach the two parts of the bottom plate.
2. Use the acrylic weld to attach the four side pieces to the bottom plate.
3. Insert the main board assembly into the outside box.
4. Place the main board on top.