https://github.com/autrin/robotic-chess-player
Autonomous Robotic Chess Player
https://github.com/autrin/robotic-chess-player
ai apriltags chess inverse-kinematics pick-and-place python robotics robotics-control robotics-programming ros ros-noetic rospy
Last synced: 1 day ago
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Autonomous Robotic Chess Player
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/autrin/robotic-chess-player
- Owner: autrin
- License: apache-2.0
- Created: 2025-02-25T00:24:12.000Z (about 1 year ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-05-18T08:21:36.000Z (11 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-07-20T14:42:46.055Z (9 months ago)
- Topics: ai, apriltags, chess, inverse-kinematics, pick-and-place, python, robotics, robotics-control, robotics-programming, ros, ros-noetic, rospy
- Language: C++
- Homepage:
- Size: 52.4 MB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
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README
# Robotic Chess Player
[](http://wiki.ros.org/noetic)
[](https://www.python.org/)
[](https://releases.ubuntu.com/20.04/)
[](#license)
## Table of Contents
- [Overview](#overview)
- [Features](#features)
- [System Components](#system-components)
- [Demo](#demo)
- [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
- [How does the system work?](#how-does-the-system-work)
- [Board Detection](#board-detection)
- [Pieces](#pieces)
- [Chess Engine](#chess-engine)
- [Robotic Arm](#robotic-arm)
- [Game Loop](#game-loop)
- [Repository Structure](#repository-structure)
- [Quick Start](#quick-start)
- [Running the Robot](#running-the-robot)
- [With Real Hardware](#with-real-hardware)
- [With Simulator](#with-simulator)
- [Development](#development)
- [Documentation](#documentation)
- [License](#license)
## Overview
Traditional chess engines exist in the digital realm, but integrating artificial intelligence with physical gameplay presents unique challenges. Our project addresses the gap between virtual chess engines and real-world play by creating an autonomous robotic system capable of physically manipulating chess pieces on a standard chessboard while playing at various skill levels against human opponents.
This repository contains a complete ROS workspace for a robotic chess player using a UR10e robot arm with a Robotiq gripper.
## Features
- Autonomous chess gameplay using industrial robotic arm
- Computer vision with AprilTag detection for board state recognition
- Adaptive Stockfish chess engine with configurable difficulty
- Safe, precise movement patterns for chess piece manipulation
- Compatible with standard chess pieces and board
- Robust vision system that works in variable lighting conditions
## System Components
| Component | Description |
|-----------|-------------|
| **Hardware** | UR10e robotic arm, Hand-e gripper, camera, standard chessboard |
| **Software** | Ubuntu 20.04, ROS Noetic, Python 3.8+, OpenCV, Stockfish |
## Demo
Click the image to watch the robotic chess player in action
## Prerequisites
- Ubuntu 20.04
- ROS Noetic (full install)
- Python 3.8 or higher
- At least 16GB RAM
- Camera with USB connection
- UR10e robot arm and Robotiq Hand-e gripper (for hardware deployment)
## How does the system work?
### Board Detection
The vision system uses Perturb-detect-clustering mechanism to detect April Tags even in poor lighting conditions. It will apply randomized affine transformations along with color perturbations to eventually detect the tags.
### Pieces
Each piece is a perfect cube, with an april tag on the top for detection and a letter(e.g. P for pawn, Q for queen) etched into each of the four sides. Black pieces(top of image) are denoted by the lower half of the piece shaded black.
### Chess Engine
We use the Stockfish chess engine to analyze positions and determine optimal moves. The difficulty can be calibrated to match players of any skill level.
### Robotic Arm
A UR10e robotic arm with a Hand-e gripper physically moves chess pieces on the board. The system uses inverse kinematics and sophisticated path planning to ensure precise, safe movements.
## Game Loop
The game follows a standard loop: the robot makes a move, the vision system detects the new state, the player responds with their move on the physical board, the vision system detects the new state, and the cycle continues until checkmate.
## Repository Structure
This is a complete Catkin workspace that includes:
- Our main package (`sd02_joseph-hoane_1`)
- All necessary drivers:
- `robotiq` - Robotiq gripper drivers
- `universal_robot` - Universal Robots description and configuration
- `ur_msgs` - Universal Robots message definitions
- `Universal_Robots_ROS_Driver` - Main UR driver
- `isu_rel` - Additionaly for testing purposes
## Quick Start
```bash
# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/autrin/robotic-chess-player.git
cd robotic-chess-player
# 2. Build the workspace
catkin_make
# 3. Source the setup file
source devel/setup.bash
```
## Running the Robot
### With Real Hardware
1. Launch the UR robot driver
```bash
roslaunch ur_robot_driver ur10e_griper_bringup.launch
```
2. Access external control on the teach pendant
3. Launch the Robotiq gripper driver (if not already initialized)
```bash
roslaunch robotiq_2f_gripper_control robotiq_action_server.launch
```
4. Run the main program
```bash
rosrun sd02_joseph-hoane_1 main test
# OR for production mode
rosrun sd02_joseph-hoane_1 main
```
### With Simulator
1. Start ROS core
```bash
roscore
```
2. Launch the simulator
```bash
rosrun sd02_joseph-hoane_1 simulator.py
```
3. Run the main program in test mode
```bash
rosrun sd02_joseph-hoane_1 main.py test
```
## Development
### Install `jh1` as a Python Library
For development, you can install the Python package in development mode:
```bash
pip install -e ./src/sd02_joseph-hoane_1
```
## Documentation
For more information, see the [Final Report](src/sd02_joseph-hoane_1/Document/SD02-Final-Report.pdf)
## License
This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.
Team SD02 (Spring 2025) at Iowa State University requires attribution for use of this codebase.
See the [NOTICE](NOTICE) file for details.