Ben Heck's Hackmanji Board Game Part 1 Episode -- Episode 238

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Logic Gate Board Game

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Ben and crew take a suggestion from the community. The idea was to create a real life Jumanji board game with pieces that seem to move all by themselves. In this episode Karen figures out the general design of the board game and Ben creates a mechanism for moving the pieces across the board using magnets and servos.

Watch also:

Episode
241: Ben Heck's Hackmanji Board Game Part 2 Episode

Episode
245: Ben Heck's Hackmanji Board Game Part 3 Episode

See more puzzle tips on Ben Heck's Hackmanji Logic Puzzles.

Top Comments

cbensi over 8 years ago in reply to beacon_dave +1

WTF, that is amazing. It's the perfect real world version of pong. I want one, NOW!!!!. But yes, that is what I was thinking of and it looks like it would have been really easy to implement but still harder…

bearfootleather over 7 years ago

For general layout etc might I suggest something based on the old style corded telephone switchboards sometimes referred to as a dolls eye board.
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spademjc over 7 years ago

should try and move the peices via linear motor
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cbensi over 8 years ago in reply to beacon_dave

WTF, that is amazing. It's the perfect real world version of pong. I want one, NOW!!!!. But yes, that is what I was thinking of and it looks like it would have been really easy to implement but still harder to program any specific paths.
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beacon_dave over 8 years ago in reply to cbensi

Something a bit like the physical pong project perhaps ?
It uses an XY mechanism to magnetically move the ball across the table top surface.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTBcxr9KBuQ
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cbensi over 8 years ago

I would have gone with a CNC machine type thing, still using the magnets, that way you could move the pieces almost anywhere in any direction. Programming the paths would probably be a bit more time consuming but I bet it would be worth it.

Anyway, what really got my attention was the power gloves. If the ultrasonics were used to track the orientation and position of the glove could something similar be used to track the location of specific items in a room such as battlebots, drones, remote control/slot cars and, my want, model trains? Sort of like a mini GPS system. Would this be even possible with an accuracy of about 1/2 inch?
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DAB over 8 years ago

I am not a gamer, but I enjoyed seeing the design and test build.

DAB
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