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From Cnet.com
By Matt Hickey
Monster Chess pits LEGO bots in game of awesome
I hate playing chess. I don’t hate the game; in fact it’s pure strategy,
something I love. But despite years of practice, I still almost never win. And
now, it would seem, I have further cause to be pessimistic about my chances of a
victory, as even robots made out of LEGO are here to beat me.
Observe the video below. That’s a huge, 156-square-foot chess board and pieces
made entirely out of LEGO Mindstorm parts--more than 100,000 of them. It’s
called Monster Chess, and it’s awesome.
The battery-operated, Bluetooth-controlled pieces use downward-facing sensors to
read grids built into the individual squares on the board. They then communicate
with the controlling computer to keep track of their location in relation to
other pieces. The computer tells each piece which direction to go, and how far,
on its turn.
And the knights are animated. Watch the video and tell me that’s not cool.
It took a year for four people on Team Hassenplug, led by Steve Hassenplug, to
put Monster Chess together at a cost of around $30,000. It can be played as
human vs. computer, computer vs. computer, or human vs. human via the
controlling computer. It uses international standardized rules from an enhanced
version of the ChessBot software package. And no, sadly, you can’t buy one.
Also sadly, the pieces are a bit pokey, so watching a full match isn’t the most
thrilling thing in the world, but still, this proves something I’ve held true
for a while: LEGO are for grown-ups as much as they are for kids.
Cnet.com
If you are visiting the Wheeling, IL area, just outside of Chicago. Over the
weekend of June 19-20, 2010 at the Westin Hotel. Check the Monster Chess in
person. Check the site Brickworld for more
information.
On YouTube.com
Video is 5:28 long.
Enjoy!
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