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Re:Ask HN: What did you make during lockdown? by jstanley on Sunday June 21, 2020 @02:38PM (#23594184)
Thanks, but it's really not a consumer-quality product, and I don't think I have the engineering chops to turn it into one. The frame is made by hand out of plywood. A lot of the wires inside are just taped in place. The Raspberry Pi takes several minutes to boot up to the game screen, during which time you can't interact with the board in any way, and you just get a load of Linux nonsense on the touchscreen.

It's also extremely time-consuming to assemble because of all the wiring required for the magnet sensors, and if you short one of the power connections, there's quite a lot of binary-searching over possible joints before you work out which one needs fixing. I would not like to make another one :).

If you want to buy a commercial one you should check out https://squareoffnow.com/ - it has the advantage that it is actually a product you can buy, but the disadvantages that it has no clock display, no button to confirm your move inputs, doesn't support lichess, and requires use of their smartphone app.

Re:Ask HN: What did you make during lockdown? by acs4u on Sunday June 21, 2020 @08:18PM (#23596401)
Working with a contract manufacturer should be able to alleviate those issues you're mentioning. Feel free to DM me if you have more questions. Awesome project!!
Re:Ask HN: What did you make during lockdown? by jstanley on Monday June 22, 2020 @04:41AM (#23598311)
I'd be interested in learning about how contract manufacturing works, although not necessarily for this particular project.

Hacker News has no DM function.

Re:Ask HN: What did you make during lockdown? by quickthrower2 on Sunday June 21, 2020 @11:09PM (#23597098)
That said I think the prototype doesn’t give you much more than starting with nothing in terms of a kickstarter. Other than the marketing advantage of being able to show what the eventual gameplay will feel like. But no head starts on the product itself that would need to be designed for bulk manufacturing.
Re:Ask HN: What did you make during lockdown? by bonchicbongenre on Friday June 26, 2020 @11:43PM (#23659363)
Just wanted to chime in saying I'd be very interested in purchasing one/supporting a kickstarter for a lichess-connected board — even if a bit hacky, it would still be wonderful