Chess Puzzle Box with E-Paper Display






 The initial idea behind this project was completely different from the final result. I’ve always wanted to experiment with e-paper displays but never had the right opportunity or use case. After some time, I came up with the idea of using it to display events from two Google Calendars. Since this kind of device is battery-efficient, my goal was to create something that would remain asleep most of the time and wake up only for a few seconds during refresh. For the first iteration, I bought a 4.2" e-paper Waveshare display and an Adafruit Huzzah Feather ESP8266.

My first approach involved generating an image on a server, with the e-paper and Arduino fetching whatever the server sent. I encountered two small challenges along the way. First, handling HTTPS was tricky because Arduino isn’t designed for proper HTTPS requests, and my server’s certificate changes every few months. I solved this by using a Raspberry Pi as a proxy. The second issue was with sleep functionality. When I set the device to sleep for long periods (e.g., four hours), it would never wake up properly. I eventually worked around this by reducing the sleep interval to one hour.

For the case, I modified an existing 3D model from printables.com, and before long, I had my first working prototype. After using it for several weeks, I realized that nobody — not even me — was using this state-of-the-art device! Since the content was generated on the server, it was easy to switch things up, so I repurposed the display to show a local weather forecast.


Again, it didn't get much use. I decided to change the content once more, this time drawing inspiration from my previous projects involving chess puzzles. I wrote a new piece of code to display chess puzzles, which felt much more engaging. However, the reliance on the Raspberry Pi proxy made the device somewhat locked to my household.

Determined to improve the design, I decided to rebuild the device from the ground up. I swapped out the ESP8266 for an Adafruit Feather RP2040, which has no Wi-Fi connection but supports an SD card. I downloaded a collection of chess puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database and stored them locally on the SD card, making the device entirely offline. Another challenge arose: I couldn’t find a good library for deep sleep on the RP2040. To solve this, I took a different approach and added an Adafruit push-button power switch. Now, the device stays off until the button is pressed. After the puzzle is displayed, the device powers itself down by sending a signal to the power switch.

In the end, I built a compact, battery-efficient chess puzzle box that uses an e-paper display and a push-button power switch for minimal power consumption. It doesn’t require an internet connection, making it perfect for offline use. The puzzles are stored locally and sourced from Lichess. The device is simple to use: the first click shows a chess puzzle, and the second click reveals the solution.

If you’re interested in building your own or diving deeper into the code, check out the GitHub repo. You can also see the project in action on YouTube.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Skate Tricks Recognition Using Gyroscope

Image
In this article, we’ll describe how to recognize skateboard tricks using a gyroscope. This sensor is already present in most smartphones, but if you’re not familiar with it, here is a description . Before we dive in, a small disclaimer: This project originated as part of a Slido hackathon with the goal of demonstrating that it’s possible to recognize skateboard tricks using a gyroscope. For simplicity, we’ll focus on recognizing just two basic tricks and won’t consider the skater’s stance on the board. We’ll break down the problem into several smaller tasks: recording the trick, storing the data, describing the trick, analyzing it, and, finally, recognizing it. Recording the Trick Let’s start with trick recording. To obtain precise data, the device with the gyroscope needs to be attached directly to the skateboard. Place it on the bottom of the board to avoid interfering with the execution of the trick. The device should also be compact and lightweight to avoid altering the board’s cen...
Read more

Drone Following Instructions

Image
Reading Instructions from QR Codes and Executing Them Using an Android Application Introduction Recently, I had the opportunity to build a drone prototype controlled by an Android device. The requirements were clear: the drone needed to be small in size and come with an SDK that supported video streaming. After some research, I decided that the Bebop 2 from Parrot was the best choice. Parrot is one of the few companies that offers an open SDK for developers, and they recently released the third version of their SDK. To get started, I worked with the Android application example provided by Parrot. This example covers almost every basic feature: connecting to the drone, moving it around, capturing high-quality photos, and accessing the drone’s media. One of the tasks for this prototype was to enable autonomous landing on a pattern. After researching existing solutions, I found a paper that explained the theory behind autonomous landing. This inspired me to create an Android applicatio...
Read more

Creating a Custom Chess Puzzle Printer

Image
As my son gets ready to start school, I wanted to surprise him with something special. Over the past few years, he's developed a strong passion for chess, playing it every chance he gets. So, I thought, why not combine his love for chess with a little lunchtime surprise? The idea was to create a custom chess puzzle that I could print out and include in his lunchbox as a fun note. The Inspiration and the Challenge I had some experience with thermal printers from previous projects, so I decided to use one for this idea. The challenge, however, was to find a way to generate chess puzzles easily. Creating puzzles manually would be too time-consuming, so I needed a reliable source of puzzles. As far as I know, two major chess platforms offer puzzles: Chess.com and Lichess. Fortunately, Lichess is open source and provides access to a vast database of chess puzzles . This made it the perfect choice for my project. Turning Puzzles into Printable Images With the puzzles secured, the next st...
Read more