DGT Board

Home * User Interface * Sensory Board * DGT Board

DGT Board, a sensory board developed and market by Digital Game Technology. The board in conjunction with a digital chess clock is connected to a host computer and its chess gui or control program via USB, serial interface, or Bluetooth, and acts as a real-time move input device during game play, to monitor or broadcast the game, or to give chess engines a whiff of dedicated chess computers. =Piece Recognition=

Sensor Technology
The patent-registered DGT sensor technology recognizes pieces containing piece-type and piece-color specific passive LC circuits with a resonance frequency of 90 to 350 KHz, the coil on ferrite core. Squares and their respective pieces (if any) are scanned by 2 x 8 silver-ink printed trace loops on a polyester film placed under the board, file and rank sequentially selected by analogue switch multiplexers, feeding back the output signal of an amplifier via the selected inductive coupled LC circuit to its input, forcing oscillation in piece specific resonance. Measuring the signal frequency or its period via a digital input port by the controller firmware to convert it into appropriate piece codes takes about 3 ms per square.

Inside the Board
Inside the DGT Board

Scanning the Board
void scanBoard(char *board) { for (int rank = 0; rank < 8; rank++) { switchRankMultiplexer( rank ); for (int file = 0; file < 8; file++) { connectFileMultiplexer( file ); int f = measureFrequency; /* e.g. in a 0 .. 35 range ~ 3 ms */ *board++ = pieceTable[f]; /* includes empty (0) */ }  } }

=Applications=

Chess GUIs
The DGT Board can be used with most GUI's, such as Fritz GUI by ChessBase, Chess Assistant and Aquarium by ChessOK, Shredder GUI, Arena, PocketGrandmaster, WinBoard and XBoard. The open source dgtdrv library by Pierre Boulenguez under GPL Version 2 or later, can be used to adapt almost every GUI to interact with the DGT board. Since v5.7 (2018), Chess for Android can connect to a DGT chessboard over bluetooth or USB (including older DGT models that use the RS-232 connector) on devices with Android 6.0 and up (or even earlier for USB).

Gavon
Josu Bergara Ede's dedicated User Interface for various open source chess engines, dubbed Gavon, based on the Raspberry Pi is able to interface with the DGT USB or Bluetooth Board. Gavon Bluetooth DGT Board Connection, YouTube Video

PicoChess
Jean-François Romang's PicoChess is a dedicated chess computer based on Stockfish on Raspberry Pi and the DGT Board. The display of the digital chess clock acts as output device of a command line interface. PicoChess on a DGT eboard by Jonas Žnidaršič, BCE, YouTube Video

Revelation II
DGT technology is involved in the Revelation II dedicated chess computer, developed by Ruud Martin's company Phoenix Chess Systems in cooperation with DGT. Revelation II Test by Jonas Žnidaršič, BCE, YouTube Video

DGT LiveChess Software
DGT LiveChess Software allows live broadcast of chess games via the internet, as used for instance in recent ICGA and CSVN computer chess tournaments served by DGT employee, CSVN chairman and tournament director Jan Krabbenbos. Participants are advised to don't use the board for analyzing purposes, as it was quite usual in over the board computer chess with ordinary chessboards.

DGT Board in action for live broadcast at PT 45, round 4, Kallisto - The King Bart Weststrate and Johan de Koning, Marcel van Kervinck and Stefan Meyer-Kahlen

DGT Pi
DGT Pi is a dedicated chess computer expansion hardware for the DGT Board integrated into a DGT3000 digital chess clock, released in October 2016. DGT Pi consists of a Raspberry Pi 3 with built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functionality, and multiple chess engines included.

=See also=
 * DGT Pi
 * Square Off
 * TASC SmartBoard

=Forum Posts=

1998 ...

 * To Bob H.: A Puzzlement about the DGT Board? by Steven Schwartz, CCC, October 28, 1998
 * DGT sensory board update by Robert Hyatt, CCC, November 25, 1998
 * DGT vs Novag Universal by Michael Ginat, CCC, January 19, 1999 » Novag Universal Electronic Chess Board

2000 ...

 * Does someone (Amir?) know the software used in Dortmund with DGT board? by Sylvain Renard, CCC, July 12, 2000
 * A question to other users - DGT board by Peter Berger, CCC, April 11, 2001
 * Your thoughts on the DGT electronic chessboard by Gerald Grimsley, CCC, December 10, 2001
 * How electronic chessboards works by Ben Bulsink DGT Project, rec.games.chess.misc, February 19, 2004
 * Crafty, Winboard, DGT and Move Annoucement by Mike Byrne, CCC, April 24, 2004

2005 ...

 * CEBoard now supports DGT Board by Alain Zanchetta, CCC, November 27, 2005 » CEBoard
 * DGT Board with Robot Arm by Alfredo Delacruz, CCC, January 21, 2006
 * On the DGT piece recognition chessboard by Steven Edwards, CCC, December 07, 2008

2010 ...

 * DGT Winboard interface by Jan Krabbenbos, Winboard Forum, June 19, 2012
 * DGT e-Board by Steven Edwards, CCC, June 09, 2013
 * DGT and Android (or iPhone) by Albert Silver, CCC, October 10, 2013
 * Thoughts on the DGT chessboard by Steven Edwards, Hiarcs Forum, October 10, 2013
 * DGT board arrives -- serious disappointment by Steven Edwards, Hiarcs Forum, November 16, 2013
 * DGT board and piece set arrive -- all issues resolved by Steven Edwards, Hiarcs Forum, November 29, 2013
 * How to make a DGT Board ? by Sean Evans, CCC, December 05, 2013
 * That other DGT e-board by Steven Edwards, Hiarcs Forum, December 07, 2013
 * DGT board C++ interface project by Steven Edwards, Hiarcs Forum, December 07, 2013
 * Re: Where is the USB port entry usder OS/X? by Shivkumar Shivaji, Hiarcs Forum, December 15, 2013

2015 ...

 * DGT will do dedicated units this year by Fernando, Hiarcs Forum, January 01, 2016
 * DGT e-board / Mac,PC,Pico / full coverage / worthy & use by SFK3, Hiarcs Forum, May 30, 2016
 * DGT sensory boards, any experience? by Gerald Grimsley, CCC, June 03, 2017
 * DGT Smart Board by Schachspieler, Hiarcs Forum, October 26, 2017
 * Questions about the DGT Chessboard by Tracy S Miller, CCC, December 13, 2017
 * DGT board question by Ponti, CCC, August 02, 2018
 * Chess for Android and Electronic ChessBoards by Aart Bik, CCC, December 14, 2018 » Chess for Android

=External Links=
 * DGT - Chess e-Boards
 * DGT presents: new clocks, technology – and Vladimir Kramnik, ChessBase News, January 10, 2008
 * Patent US6168158 - Device for detecting playing pieces on a board - Google Patents
 * The DGT Chessboard from Arena Chess GUI
 * Aart Bik's Website - Connecting Chess for Android with a DGT Chessboard » Chess for Android
 * DGT-board from PocketGrandmaster
 * dgtdrv: An input engine for the DGT Digital Chess Board
 * Mychess - Fidelity Electronics: DGT Projets (Spanish)

=References= Up one level