One of the biggest risks to the project is a delay in ordering or receiving the PCB, as well as the possibility of the PCB not working correctly. To reduce this risk, we will test the components on a breadboard and build a small 1 × 8 prototype before ordering the full 8 × 8 PCB. If problems occur, we can continue software testing with the prototype while correcting the PCB. Another significant risk is the reliability of the computer vision system. Things like lighting, camera position, shadows, or similar looking pieces can cause the system to incorrectly identify the actual board state or identify a move being made. To reduce this risk, we will have to test the camera under different lightning conditions and use a fixed camera position. We can also compare the detected board state with info from the Hall effect sensors to improve reliability. The main software risk that we determined on was keeping the physical board state synchronized with the digital chess state. Incorrect detections, missed moves, or communication errors between different components might cause the digital representation of the board to be inaccurate. To manage this risk, the software will validate detected moves against the current board state and chess rules before updating the game. Individual software will validate detected moves against the current board state and chess rules before updating the game.
No changes have been made to the main system design since the proposal presentation. In terms of schedule update, the component delivery task has been moved from last week to next week. This gives us time to review our order plan and component choices with our TA before submitting the order.
