This week, I mainly worked on making the case for the chessboard. I chose to use cardboard for the first prototype because cardboard is cheap and easy to cut and drill. I created dxf files using SolidWorks and went to Tech Spark to laser cut them. I also finished gluing the chessboard top, ordered a push button, and connected the LEDs to the RPi and tested controlling the LEDs using the NeoPixel library.
Below is an image of the grids and case glued together with the chessboard on top. The grids are used to separate the light from one LED to other LEDs to ensure that only the correct squares light up. The grids have small holes on the bottom to allow the LED strips to go through. I still have to make the top cover of the electronic case and install the LEDs and push button.
Next week’s goal is to have the full 8×8 LED matrix installed under the board. This will require cutting the LED strip into 64 LEDs and soldering them together. I will test the LEDs lighting up correctly given a coordinate. I will also install the push button once it arrives.