TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a device, a system and a method for automating two dimensional movements of objects in a tabletop games. Table top games like, chess, checkers (draughts), abalone, ludo and the like which are commonly played. This invention aims to record digitally and reproduce the physical movements of the objects and reproduce the game context in a remote location for remote participation with the help of the device, the system, and the method of the present invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Every known game that is played today has some noticeable and unnoticeable capabilities that generate interest in the players. If we closely observe the players of the traditional tabletop games like, chess, checkers (draughts),abalone, ludo and the like, we notice that they are deeply engrossed in the game for hours and hours with absolute concentration. Is it the rule of the game which create this much of interest? Or is it the different contexts produced by the game-logic which attract the players? It is to be noted clearly that, the traditional players will be showing less interest in computer simulated tabletop games than the traditional ones.

When the players passionately move the objects or hit one with another during the play (in draughts or chess), they get a kind of unnoticed pleasure out of the physical actions. Let us call these moments of enjoyments as 'Sensitive Contexts'. So beyond the rules of the game and enjoyable contexts created by the game-logic, there are some hidden 'Sensitive Contexts' in every traditional game. The importance and significance of these 'Sensitive Contexts' are that by some specific physical movements of the body parts, one can bring forth certain emotional expressions. Every traditional game that is played has 'Sensitive Contexts' in one way or another. The main reason why people are not really very much to play the computer activated games and why there are no tournaments conducted for computer games and why computer game competitions are not widely watched by large spectators is due to the lack of presence of these 'Sensitive Contexts'. So the concept of 'Sensitive Contexts' demands much attention. A game designer should be very much aware of the concealed 'Sensitive Contexts' which happened to be a part of the traditional games through their evolution. Unfortunately in a computer activated game, the graphical figures representing the objects of the game are moved with the help of a keyboard, mouse or a Joystick making it completely impossible to maintain or produce the 'Sensitive Contexts'. Something very core to the enjoyment of traditional games or something very fundamental is missing or lost in such computer games. The very essence of enjoyment of traditional games is lost in the present day computer games.

This is why the traditional game players have not at all satisfied with the computer activated games. A great percentage of the traditional players have not reached to the realm of computer activated gaming. Attracting this huge portion of the players to computer activated gaming- environment with all of its traditional 'Sensitive Contexts' has a great marketing potential.

The object of the present is to introduce a new concept and a method which we call as Second Generation Computer Games (SGCG). Because computer games were so far controlled by keyboard, mouse, joystick and the like, by completely avoiding the 'Sensitive Context' which is a basic psychological reason behind the interest toward the game shown by the players and spectators.

With the introduction of the present invention, features of computer and computer network are integrated with table top game systems to provide exciting 'Sensitive Contexts'.

The SGCG system has been developed after four years of intense research into the field. This gaming method takes care of the absence of the 'Sensitive Contexts' elements in the computer related games as well as utilizes the creative potentialities of the computer and computer network by extending the facility for including a remote player and by automatic the physical objects used in the game.

When a person is deeply engrossed in a game, it's obvious that his or her brain cells are highly alert and active due to the vigor and vitality shown to the game. AU information that enters into the brain through the active senses are recorded deep in their brain cells. Our experiments encouraged us for go ahead and exploit these vulnerable situations and use the SGCG environment for educational and training purpose.

If we look a bit deeper into this, the information that are fed or 'stamped' into the sub¬ consciousness, are brought back into the consciousness automatically and inspires the person to act upon whenever necessary. SGCG has been developed in such way to utilize these situations in a very effective way. There are many contexts in a game where the player's score increases or decreases based upon certain rules and game- logic. Let us call these contexts as 'Score Contexts' .

In an SGCG environment all the Score Contexts are previously analyzed and programmed to be notified on the occurrences. The end users or game organizers of the game can use these Score Contexts for enhancing the game for training and educational purpose by enabling question answer session to add competitive spirits in the Score Contexts.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the above described problem, the present invention provides a device, a system and a method for automating the two dimensional movements of objects in table top games for the table top game players which maintains most of 'Sensitive Contexts' of the traditional games and is more interesting than the computer based game simulations which are played with graphic representations and controlled by mouse, keyboard or joysticks: • provides more amusements and fun than traditional games and games played in computer; • can be connected to a server application for remote participation; • can be used by one or more players; • is capable of accepting rules of the games through a software interface (With the help of a wizard program for adding more game rules or for defining new/games); • is capable of previously setting different emotional contexts for producing context sensitive music, voice messages or graphic display; • is capable of generating contextual help, guidance and training; • is capable of saving and restoring the game in all contexts; • is capable of generating questions and evaluating answers in critical gaming contexts for extra scoring, by accepting computer files of a format with questions, answers, graphics and sound; and • is capable to function as a standalone with or without the help of a PC.

The system can function as a standalone gaming device or can be combined and integrated with computer and computer network. With this device two-dimensional movements of the tangible objects of a game, can be recorded, analyzed and reproduced in another location. The chessman moves from square to square (through the x, y co-ordinates). Even though a chessman is lifted upwards while it is moved from one square to another, the upward movement is not a part of the game and so the measurement towards the z axis does not require to be recorded for reproducing the physical movements of the chessman accurately, in another remote location. Our attempt, in short is to digitally record and reproduce the physical movements of chessman and reproduce the game contexts in another remote location for remote participation with the help of the device described hereafter.

In a standalone context without the intervention of computer, the system can act as a player, do the automation of the physical movements of the tangible objects used in the go me. The method is capable of utilizing all the resources of the computer and internet while maintaining all the 'Sensitive Contexts' of the traditional table games. By merging these two game environments (traditional & computer) into one, the tabletop games are made more interesting and demanding.

The present invention provides a device for automating two dimensional movements of objects in table top games which comprises an electronic game board having plurality of touch-pads, each touch-pad being provided with at least two concentric electrically conductive surface on its top side, plurality of electro magnetic coils disposed below each said touch-pad, plurality of object housing permanent magnets, capable of being moved are disposed on the top surface of said game board, each said object having at least two concentric electrically conductive surfaces, alignment with corresponding electrically conductive surfaces provided on the top surface of said touch-pad, an electronic circuit connecting all said touch-pads and electromagnetic coils disposed below, said circuit capable of being broken when the base of the object is not in alignment with the top of said touch-pad, each object being provided with a resistor of different values, for recognizing the object in which the same is provided, said resistor capable of making or breaking the circuit with the objects when in contact or otherwise, a programmable micro-controller, micro processor or any programmable device connected to said circuit for moving the objects as desired by the players.

This invention further includes a system for automating two dimensional movements of objects in table top games comprising a computer connected to a device comprising an electronic game board having plurality of touch-pads, each touch-pad being provided with at least two concentric electrically conductive surface on its top side, plurality of electro magnetic coils disposed below each said touch-pad, plurality of object housing permanent magnets, capable of being moved are disposed on the top surface of said game board, each said object having at least two concentric electrically conductive surfaces, alignment with corresponding electrically conductive surfaces provided on the top surface of said touch-pad, an electronic circuit connecting all said touch-pads and electromagnetic coils disposed below, said circuit capable of being broken when the base of the object is not in alignment with the top of said touch-pad, each object being provided with a resistor of different values, for recognizing the object in which the same is provided, said resistor capable of making or breaking the circuit with the objects when in contact or otherwise, a programmable micro¬ controller, micro processor or any programmable device connected to said circuit for moving the objects as desired by the players.

The present invention includes a method for combining and integrating games based on two dimensional movements of objects with computer/computer network comprising the steps of providing means of making the objects move to a desired area /location, with a device such as herein described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

The advantages and features of the invention will become more clearly apparent from the following description which refers to the accompanying drawings given as a non- restrictive examples only and in which :

Figure 1 shows the perspective view of the device of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows the front view of the chessmen.

Figure 3 illustrates the layout of the electromagnets.

Figure 4 demonstrates the movement of object 401 being moved from A2 location to F7 location.

Figure 5 exhibits the etching done on the bottom led of the object with plated through hole technology.

Figure 6 reflects the touch-pad, the electrically conductive etching.

Figure 7 illustrates the bobbin with which the electromagnet is made.

Figure 8 to 10 shows the different layouts of electromagnetic coil deployment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS.

The present invention provides an 'electronic game board1 10, a USB cable 26, power cord 27 (Figl), a box containing chessman, draughts (object used in a tabletop game) which are uniquely designed for SGCG and two CDs of application software(Standalone and Server based applications). The 'electronic game board' 10 has a programmable micro-controller, micro processor or any programmable device (not shows) in it, controlling the activities of the SGCG system. The 'electronic game board' 10 can be connected to a computer with the USB cable 26 and powered with the power cord 27. The game board can have appropriate design (columns, square of chess, draughts, ludo etc) on it. For the easy explanation, let us call the system including the hardware and software, as Second Generation Computer Games, in short SGCG.

For the usage in a standalone computer, the standalone application software has to be installed. In case if the device needs to be completely independent from computer, this software can be provided in a flash hard disk or any other similar device mounted inside the SGCG system. The Server application software can be used for offering the games of said category in a web or network based environment where players sitting at remote locations can join for the game with the help of the 'electronic game board' 10, connected to the network and the server application installed.

The electronic game board 10, may be manufactured for the purpose of playing a specific game or the board may be designed to play multipurpose board games. In either case, the board design can be pre-marked (or glued) for a single game or multiple games on the glass epoxy sheet 16 (Figl) which is the outer most layer of the game board 10.

Inside the objects of the games of SGCG (105A, 105B Fig 2), there is a permanent magnet with the polarity adjusted in the same direction. (Neodymium magnet can be used for reducing the weight and for high magnetic intensity). The chessman, objects of the abalone etc will thereafter referred as Objects'. Each of the objects, has a glass epoxy lid under, on which an electronically conductive material etching is done with gold plating as shown in fig5. The two parts of the etching is connected on the other side of the glass epoxy with the 'double sided plated through hole' printed circuit board (PCB) making technique, with a resistor. This resistor has different value in each object. It is better to have the same bottom diameter, weight and magnetic intensity for all the objects. The game does not insist otherwise where different bottom diameter is required. A typical chessman may have 19mm bottom diameter and 6 grams of weight. The intensity of the permanent magnet kept inside the object could be adjusted not to have repulsion problems with each other. The squares of the chessboard may have 40mm sides and there can be a 2mm redline drawn in between all 40mm squares. With these dimensions, a chessman can pass through two chessmen kept in adjoining squares. For the movement of 'knight', captured objects, and during the time of the Castling, Queening etc., it may be required to make an object pass in between two objects kept in the adjoining squares. Similar position may occur in all the games like draughts, ludo, abalone.

On the glass epoxy sheet, 16 Fig 1 of the game board 10 on which the squares of the game if any can be printed on every 2cm x 2cm area (this area can be varied according to the market requirement and cost of production. This will be referred hereafter as unit area), there is a numbered (addressable) touch-pad etched as shown in figure 6. Each touch-pad has two circular copper rings etched with gold plating (610A, and 610B Fig. 6) and a gap between the two circular copper rings (620 Fig. 6). Also each touch-pad has separate circuit line etched on the other side of the glass epoxy. When an object comes into the touch-pad the gap 620 (Fig. 6) will be connected through the resislor 510 (Fig. 5) and the unique circuit line for that touch-pad will be short. From this the arrival of an object on a particular position in the game board can be recognized, and a small DC voltage applied to this touch-pad gives a resultant changed voltage due to the resistor inside the Object. As each object has a unique resistor value, from this change of voltage, the object can be identified. In this way in SGCG the arrival and removal of object on a particular location are sensed and objects are recognized by the micro-controller, micro processor or any programmable device.

Under each touch-pad of the glass epoxy sheet 10, there is a numbered (addressable) electromagnet mounted on another PCB which can be turned on and off, energized for different voltage and the polarity can be changed with the help of the micro-controller, micro processor or any programmable device to make the object move from touch-pad to touch-pad (Fig 3).

Bobbin of a typical electromagnet for this purpose can have an 8mm x 8mm hole 701 (Fig. 7) at the center and can be of length 40mm. The outer side (720 Fig. 7) can be of 20mm length. Transformer Lamination (for core of the magnetic coil) plates of 0.35mm thickness and 8mm x 40mm can be inserted at the center 701 (Fig. 7) for mounting to the PCB (Printed Circuit Board). Winding wire of 38 swg can be used and 2400 rounds are required for achieving minimum strength for electromagnet.

TIi e electromagnets could be mounted on a PCB as shown in the coil layout Pattern A (Fig. 8), Pattern B (Fig. 9) or Pattern C (Fig. 10). The PCB for electromagnets is designed to address each electromagnet separately. As the objects need to go out of the board, there must be electromagnetic coil outside the squares of the game. The PCB on which electromagnets are mounted and the PCB on which the touch-pads are etc bed, are connected to the micro-controller. And the micro controller, according to the program, is turned on/off, change voltage, change polarity of the electromagnets, for making the objects move.

All the dimensions mentioned herein are only for a model and suitable dimensions can be adopted according to the size and other requirements of the game.

Example I

Suppose there is an object at position A2 (401 Fig 4) which is required to be moved to position F7. There are addressable touch-pads in all these positions and addressable elcc'romagnets beneath them. In order to make the object move from A2 to F7, it has to cross through B3, C4, D5 and E6. At first to make it move from A2 to B3, electromagnet on B 3 is energized for attraction with voltage 12v (this voltage may vary according to the weight of the object, strength of electromagnet used, strength of the permanent magnet inside the object, and size of the squares of the game board). A2 is energized with voltage 6v (this voltage may also vary according to above mentioned changes) for repulsion by the micro-controller, micro processor or any programmable device. The object moves to B3 when the edge of the copper etching (the electrically conductive surface)under the object touches the edge of the touch-pad on B3, that particular circuit gets short and the electromagnet under B3 is turned off by the micro-controller, micro processor or any programmable device and electromagnet C4 is energized for the above said voltage for attraction. The object moves to C4. When the edge of the copper etching under the object touches the touch- pad on C4, electromagnet beneath it is turned off and electromagnet D5 is energized for attraction with the above said voltage. This process continues till it reaches F7.

Am "her way to program the micro-controller is to energize for attraction all the elec'romagnets under the locus of the path of the object to be moved except the first one (here B3, C4, D5, E6 & F7). An initial impetus can be given by energizing the electromagnet under the first touch-pad of the locus (here A2). The object starts to move. When the object touches the edge of a touch-pad, the electromagnet beneath it can be turned off. The object will than be under the attraction of the next electromagnet and will continue in the state of motion. The process repeats until the object reaches the destination.

When a manual move happens, movements of the objects are noted by the short circuit of the numbered touch-pad which can be recorded, transmitted and re¬ produced. The valid movement of object(s) of a time is named as 'game-stroke'. In chess, normally one object moves at a time; and on the contexts like castling, capturing pawn-enasaant, queening, etc., two objects move on a game-stroke.

In the SGCG protocol, the movements of object(s) of a game stroke is kept inside []. The characters between '[' and ']' represent the movements of one stroke. 1. The initial and final positions of an ordinary obj ect are kept inside '{' 1 and ' } ' . .

2. The initial and final positions of a special object if any are kept inside '(' ' )'.

3. If the route of an object gets a turning point (just like the Knight in chess) that turning point is kept between @ and $.

The SGCG system can be used for most of the tabletop games and not uniquely made for chess alone. So there can be SGCG chess and SGCG Ludo etc.(or we can call as eChess, eLudo etc). The SGCG can be played in one location , and one player can be the computer itself. (As mentioned earlier, flash hard disk can store the necessary software and be mounted inside the SGCG device to offer the device completely free from computer intervention). A wire less control unit can also be offered (using technologies like infra red, blue tooth etc.). The SGCG game can also be played remotely, connected with a computer network or internet where the server application is installed and properly configured in the server computer.

The accompanying software application has the capability to accept files with a unique extensions (,sgm ) of a particular format which contains numbered questions & answers, graphics, music and voice messages. If the question answer session is enabled in a particular Score Context, question from this file will be displayed in the monitor with graphics, music and voice messages. If the text-to-speech option is enabled the textual question will be read out. If the player who is supposed to get a score at this context, is able to answer the question correctly by pressing a button, he gets extra score benefits which makes more winning possibilities for him. The evaluation of the answer and scoring are done by the application software. Here the competitive spirit shown to win a game is indirectly linked to reinforce the player to learn' something from a syllabus or of a training session. Asking questions in the different contexts and giving scores properly are done by the computer.

The contents of the .sgm files can be anything from a school or university syllabus to information of a specific mass awareness campaign of a corporate company. An application program can produce .sgm files which can be utilized by the driver application of the device according to the contextual requirements. Some of the concepts of teaching in a competitive environment are based on the Educational principles formulated by Edward Lee Thorndike one of the greatest educationalists.

Example II

AN SGCG GAME WITH A REMOTE PLAYER

(for all the games played remotely, the server application is used).

After connecting the game board 10 to a computer and installing the server application coming along with the SGCG pack, in a website, two players can login to the site and start the game. One of the players can press the button 24A(Figl) to start the game. Tlτ e server application displays a dialog box on the computer monitor on which the player has to select one of the games to play, such as chess, ludo, abalone etc,. Suppose the player selected the game chess. Then the player needs to select one of the names from the friends, list who are logged in to the website to participate the game. In this context suppose the name of the person who initiated the game is Jack and he selected Jill from the friends list. The server application immediately sends an invitation of Jack to Jill to play SGCG chess. When Jill accepts the invitation, the client module will be downloaded to the Jills computer if Jill is playing SGCG for the first time. After the downloading, the client-module checks whether Jill is equipped with SGCG device and ready to start the selected game. If the client-module of Jill's computer finds him to be ready to start the game, a message is displayed on the Jack's monitor to start the game.

Tiic accompanying program has a module named Rulestngine which works based on a dni abase on which rules of the most commonly known tabletop games are stored. The program checks whether the selected game can be played by the number of players entered. If not agreeable, an error message is displayed and the user is given chance to enter correct number of players or to choose another game fit for the number of players present. When the number of players and game selected are mulching, the system starts scanning all the objects required for the game and it checks whether all the objects are kept in the proper initial position. It maintains a set of records in a table named 'CurrentGameStatus'. The records, are kept according to • the position of the object. If any required object (s) is not present in its appropriate position, an error message is displayed and the player is asked to place the required object(s) in the proper location. The different actions required during the play according to the context and based on the game logic are done by calling different functions specifically coded for micro-controller.

When the application program has confirmed the presence of all required objects, it displays a dialog box for the toss. If it is the context of one player and the computer, then the player can select one of the options, or else the toss program makes a random selection for the first player. If the game selected is for more than two players then 'Choose Direction' dialog box is displayed from which the user can select 'Go clockwise1 or 'Go anticlockwise' for the occurrence of the turn of players.

Suppose Jack is making a move of the pawn before the King, two squares ahead. The movement is uniquely understood by the SGCG system with the help of the touch-pad scanning. The removal of the pawn from its initial position and the arrival of it to the new position are noted with the help of the uniquely addressed touch-pads. When an object is arrived in a new position its resistance is checked for confirmation. This event is digitally recorded by the micro-controller in the device according to the SGCG protocol and packed as a Game-stroke. Now the current Game-stroke for the currently selected game at Jack's computer is transmitted and it goes to the client module of Jack through the USB, then to the client program on Jill's computer through the; server application on the website.

The client program on Jill's computer, sends the message to micron-controller through the USB and the micro-controller realizes the values; as per the SGCG Protocol and makes movement accordingly. When the client module passes the instruction to the micro-controller it gives the instruction as a stream of characters representing the proper circuit numbers to be turned off/on, polarity changed or resistance checked. This is achieved through the delimiters, defined in the protocol. Now it is the turn for Jill to play. The movement of chessman in Jill's device is noted in the same manner and transmitted to Jack's computer. The 'Rulestngine' remains in the client machine and is frequently contacted to know the context according to the currently selected game.

Rule-breaking practices of the game - Suppose a person, lifted a bishop and dropped a queen from outside. This will be understood by the SGCG and considered as invalid by checking the resistance inside the dropped chessman.

Suppose a person, lifted his opponents chessman and not brought back. This will be noted by the system and a message displayed, asking to replace the lifted object before moving.

If the game needs to be adjourned before completion, it can be saved at any time by saving the CurrentGameStatus table as an .xml document and restored later if required. Just before restoring a previously saved game, all the objects have to be placed on the board as normal. As soon as the restore command is given, all the objects will automatically move to their respective positions on the board as per the previously saved context. And all the passed coins will move out of the board.

Computer games including chess which has to be played with the mouse and keyboard have been offered in the internet already. Server Application of SGCG works almost in the same manner. But here we give features to the tangible objects move making one feel the thrill of playing an ethnic game, which is the important aspect of the present invention.

The SGCG server application can be offered as a service along with the Messenger Service or an independent service in the web or in a local network. The server application coming along with the SGCG has to be properly installed in the server of the website which offers the SGCG. When a user first attempts to start the SGCG, the client module is downloaded with the permission of the user and resides in the user's computer ready to record the necessary data during the game and do some input data validations giving instant replies. Working of stand alone application - In the stand alone application the computer can take the role of a player. It makes random response according the skill level selected. The players' movements are keenly noted any illegal movements are denied In most of the contexts it behaves like the server application, instead of reproducing object movements in remote location, it produces a reply movement in the local machine.

Alternatives:

1) The size, shape and symbols of the game board can be varied according to the requirements of different kinds of game board. 2) Instead of the touch-pad, web camera and pattern recognition software can be used. 3) Instead of USB, Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity can be used for codeless operation. 4) Devices like flash hard disk can be used to offer the device free from computer.

Though the present invention was shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiment and examples, such are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not to be construed as limitation thereof and various modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore not intended that the present invention be limited to the disclosed embodiment or details thereof, and the present invention includes all variations and/or alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.