APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING IDENTITY AND POSITION OF CHESS-LIKE GAME PIECE BY MEANS OF WEIGHT

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for identifying the identity and position of a chess-like game piece by means of weight are provided. By means of a solution buoyancy module, a photoelectric sensing component, and a weight sensing chip circuit in the apparatus, the weight of the piece is calculated based on buoyant force, and the identity of the piece and the real-time position thereof on a board are determined based on the calculated weight.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for identifying the identity and position of a chess-like game piece by means of weight.

BACKGROUND

Currently, the intelligent chess-like game board (hereinafter ‘board’) products on the market are mainly focused on areas such as man-machine battles, that is, for application software or APP. Some intelligent board hardware devices are specifically designed for teaching purposes. The existing intelligent board technology mainly has the following ways:

• • (1) The chess-like game piece (hereinafter “piece”) is moved based on system instructions by identifying the piece through the reflected light and detecting the relative position of the piece using a reflected light sensor;
  • (2) The piece is moved based on system instructions by detecting the relative position of the piece on the board using a Hall sensor;
  • (3) The piece movement position and path are identified through the touch sensing method.

These intelligent board devices mainly have the following problems:

• • (1) The piece identity cannot be identified correctly. Instead, the identity of the piece and the area where the piece should be put need to be determined manually, failing to achieve the uniformed piece identification and path location planning. If the piece is put in an incorrect position, it is not in line with the teaching content in the teaching software, which is likely to mislead beginners. In addition, beginners need to learn the categories and identities of the pieces separately, which cannot realize integrated teaching.
  • (2) The overall touch-sensing structure is complex and costly.

Therefore, a system and method that can improve the defects in the prior art is needed.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In response to the defects of the prior art, the present invention proposes an apparatus and method for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight. By means of a solution buoyancy module, a photoelectric sensing component, and a weight sensing chip circuit in the apparatus, the weight of the piece is calculated based on buoyant force, and the identity of the piece and the real-time position thereof on a board are determined based on the calculated weight.

Specifically, in one embodiment of the invention, an apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight is provided, where, the apparatus includes: a housing with a surface film; a liquid cavity secured to the surface film, where the liquid cavity includes solution and a buoyancy plate, and the liquid cavity has volume scale values for indicating the volume of the liquid; a weight sensing chip circuit, including a master control chip positioned thereon; and a photoelectric sensing component connected to the weight sensing chip circuit, where the photoelectric sensing component is configured to read the volume scale value and feed it back to the master control chip, where, when a piece is put on the surface film and the surface film squeezes downward on the buoyancy plate to at least partially submerge it in the solution, and the master control chip is configured to calculate the weight of the piece based on changes in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put on the surface film, and to identify the identity and position of the piece based on the weight.

In one embodiment of the invention, the housing is used as a square on the board and the square is arranged in a matrix on the board, and the position of the piece is indicated by the rank and file values of the square in the matrix.

In one embodiment of the invention, the piece has a counterweight such that each piece has a different weight and the weight of each piece corresponds to its identity.

In one embodiment of the invention, the weight sensing chip circuit is further configured to calculate the volume of the solution displaced by the buoyancy plate based on a change in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put on the surface film; calculate the buoyant force borne by the piece and the buoyancy plate based on the volume; and determine the weight of the piece based on the calculated buoyant force.

In one embodiment of the invention, the buoyancy plate is a PE foam with a lower density than the solution, and the solution is a black sodium chloride solution with a sodium chloride ratio of 25%.

In one embodiment of the invention, the apparatus further includes a metal shrapnel positioned underneath the weight sensing chip circuit, and the metal shrapnel is used to cause the weight sensing chip to contact the FPC signal line on the board for energizing so as to connect to the mainboard in the board.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight is disclosed, where the method is performed by a weight sensing control module, and the weight sensing control module includes a liquid cavity including a solution and a buoyancy plate, a photoelectric sensing component, and a weight sensing chip circuit, the method including: reading, by the photoelectric sensing component, the volume scale value of the solution in the liquid cavity and feeding it back to the weight sensing chip circuit; under a condition that the piece is put on the weight sensing control module so that at least a portion of the buoyancy plate is immersed in the solution, calculating, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the weight of the piece based on the change in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put; and determining, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the identity and position of the piece based on this weight.

In one embodiment of the invention, the calculating, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the weight of the piece based on the change in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put further including: calculating, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the volume of the solution displaced by the buoyancy plate based on the change in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put; determining, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the buoyant force born by the piece and the buoyancy plate based on the calculated volume; and calculating, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the weight of the piece based on the buoyant force.

In one embodiment of the invention, the piece has a counterweight such that each piece has a different weight and the weight of each piece corresponds to its identity.

In one embodiment of the invention, the weight sensing control module includes a housing, where the housing is used as a square for positioning the piece and the square is arranged in a matrix on the board, and the position of the piece is indicated by the rank and file values of the square in the matrix.

Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the following description of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention in concert with the accompanying figures. While features of the present invention may be discussed relative to certain embodiments and figures, all embodiments of the present invention can include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used with the various embodiments of the invention discussed herein. In a similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments, it is to be understood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the manner in which the above features of the present disclosure are used in detail, the above briefly summarized contents can be described in more detail with reference to various aspects, some of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only show some typical aspects of the present disclosure and should not be considered to limit its scope, because the description may allow for other equally effective aspects.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an implementation environment for an apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a board operating system according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of an apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of a piece for use with an apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Each embodiment will be described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings that constitute part of the present invention and illustrate the specific exemplary embodiments. Each embodiment may, however, be realized on many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of these embodiments to those of ordinary skill in the art. Each embodiment may be implemented in accordance with methods, systems, or devices. Accordingly, these embodiments may be implemented in hardware, full software, or a combination thereof. Thus, the following specific embodiments are not limiting.

The steps in each flow diagram may be performed by hardware (e.g., processor, engine, memory, or circuit), software (e.g., operating system, application, driver, or machine/processor-executable instructions), or combinations thereof. As would be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the methods involved in each embodiment may include more or fewer steps than illustrated.

The present invention proposes an apparatus and method for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight. Each aspect of this apparatus and method of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an implementation environment for an apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight according to one embodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the piece (1) may be put on the square (2) arranged in a matrix on the board (3). The square (2) serves as the smallest cell on the board and is used as a housing for the apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight of the present invention, and vice versa, i.e. the housing of the apparatus is used as a square.

In one embodiment of the invention, each apparatus (each square) has a weight sensing chip circuit (4). Although the square (2) is shown separately from the weight sensing chip circuit (4) in FIG. 1, as would be understood by those skilled in the art, this separate showing is merely for the purpose of clearly illustrating the two components. In fact, these two components are not separate, but rather, each weight sensing chip circuit (4) is contained in the respective square (2).

In one embodiment of the invention, the weight sensing chip circuit (4) in the square (2) is configured to calculate the weight of the piece (1) and to identify the identity and position of the piece (1) based on that weight. The piece (1) has a respective weight and the identity of the piece (1) corresponds to the weight of the piece (1). The position of the piece (1) is indicated by the rank and file values on the board (2) of the square (2) on which the piece (1) is located. This will be described in more detail below.

In one embodiment of the invention, a weight sensing chip circuit (4) in the square (2) is contacted with the Flexible Printed Circuit (hereinafter “FPC”) signal line (5) for energizing and connected to the mainboard in the board (3).

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a board operating system according to one embodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the board operating system includes the apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight of the present invention, i.e., the weight sensing control module in FIG. 2. Specifically, the board operating system built into the board includes:

a weight sensing control module in each square (the housing of which is the square (2) in FIG. 1), which is configured to calculate in real time the weight of a put piece based on the change (difference) of the solution scale value in the square caused by the downward squeezing on the surface film of the upper surface of the square when a piece is put or moved onto the square, and to determine the identity and position of the piece based on the weight, and to subsequently communicate the determined piece identity and position to the mainboard Central Processing Unit (hereinafter “CPU”) in the board;

a wireless communication module, which may be a Bluetooth communication module or any other suitable wireless communication technology, for connecting with the teaching software of the cell phone APP, allowing the user to put the piece according to the instructions of the teaching software. At this point, the weight sensing control module in the square identifies whether the identity of the put piece is correct, and passes it when the piece is correct or gives an alarm when the piece is incorrect;

a mainboard CPU. When the piece moves, the CPU determines the piece in the square of which rank and which file moves to the square of which rank and which file, thus starting to run the board. This CPU communicates with the weight sensing control module in each square (specifically, with the master control chip in the weight sensing control module);

a drive control module, which refers to the drive control module inside the board for chess-playing steps; and

a man-machine interaction module, which allows the board to interact with the teaching software of the cell phone APP, where the cell phone APP sends modes such as instructional teaching, chess manuals, and man-machine interaction; and

a power control module, which is used to supply power to the board and all the modules and components therein.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of an apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight according to one embodiment of the invention. The apparatus is an entity between the piece (1) and the FPC signal line (5), and the housing of the apparatus may be a square (2).

As shown in FIG. 3, the piece (1) is put on or moved onto the square (2). In one embodiment of the invention, the square (2) may be used as a housing for the apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight of the present invention, and the upper surface of the housing may be formed by a surface film or may be formed by any other surface material capable of deforming under gravity of the piece without affecting gravity and buoyant force calculation. The piece (1) is put or moved onto the housing of the apparatus (i.e., the square (2)) so that the piece (1) can squeeze downward on the surface film of the upper surface of the housing. At this point, the surface film can squeeze downward on the solution buoyancy module in the housing. At this point, the apparatus can calculate the weight of the piece (1) based on the solution buoyancy module, the photoelectric sensing component, and the weight sensing chip circuit within the apparatus (i.e., within the square (2)) and determine the identity of the piece (1) and its position on the board (i.e., the rank and file values of the square (2) on which the piece (1) is located in the square matrix of the board) based on the calculated weight.

An enlarged view of the piece (1) is shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of a piece for use with an apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight according to one embodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, in one embodiment of the invention, a counterweight (6) may be put at the bottom of the piece (1) so that the weight of the piece (1) may vary and the weight of each piece may correspond to its identity. In one embodiment of the invention, according to the different identities of each piece, magnets of different weights can be used for counterweighting, and the total weight data of pieces can be recorded to the mainboard CPU, so that the mainboard CPU can judge the current real-time position of the piece and its identify based on the weight of the piece determined by the weight sensing chip circuit in the corresponding square, thereby determining which piece moves from which square to which square.

In one embodiment of the invention, as an example and not as a limitation, the total weight data of pieces may be accurate to +−0.1G, or any other suitable accuracy. In other embodiments of the invention, the counterweight (6) in the piece (1) may also be put in any other suitable position and may be made of any other suitable material, not limited to magnets.

Returning to FIG. 3, as shown in FIG. 3, a solution buoyancy module, a weight sensing chip circuit, and a photoelectric sensing component may be included in the square or housing (2). In one embodiment of the invention, the solution buoyancy module may be formed by the liquid cavity (11), and the liquid cavity (11) may contain a solution (10) and a buoyancy plate (9). In one embodiment of the invention, as an example and not as a limitation, the liquid cavity (11) may be secured to the panel of the housing (2). For example, the liquid cavity (11) in FIG. 3 may be secured to an upper surface (surface film) of the housing (2) with waterproof treatment made. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the liquid cavity (11) may be secured to the housing (2) in any suitable manner rather than being limited to the securing method shown in FIG. 3.

In one embodiment of the invention, the solution (10) may be black sodium chloride solution with a sodium chloride ratio of 25%. As can be understood by those skilled in the art, in other embodiments of the present invention, the solution (10) may also be a solution having any other suitable color, chemical substance, and composition ratio. The present invention is not limited to solutions having any particular color and chemical substance and its composition ratio.

In one embodiment of the invention, the buoyancy plate (9) may be made of a material having a lower density than the solution (10). As an example and not as a limitation, the buoyancy plate (9) may be a PE foam with a lower density than the sodium chloride solution. Those skilled in the art can understand that any other buoyancy plate made of suitable material can be used, provided that it has a density less than the solution (10) so that the buoyancy plate (9) can suspend on the solution (10) when the piece (1) is not put on the housing (2), and that at least a portion of the buoyancy plate (9) can be immersed into the solution (10) under the downward squeezing of the surface film on the upper surface of the housing and cause the level of the solution (10) to rise when the piece (1) is put on or moved onto the housing (2).

In one embodiment of the invention, the liquid cavity (11) can have volume scale values for indicating the level or volume of the solution (10) so that the volume scale value can change (produce a difference) when the level of the solution (10) rises due to the immersion of at least a portion of the buoyancy plate (9) into the solution.

In one embodiment of the invention, a weight sensing chip circuit (4) is arranged under this liquid cavity (11). The weight sensing chip circuit (4) includes a master control chip, and the photoelectric sensing component (8) is connected to the weight sensing chip circuit (4). In this embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the photoelectric sensing component (8) is arranged on the weight sensing chip circuit (4) (arranged on both ends) and on both sides of the liquid cavity (11) for reading the volume scale value on the liquid cavity (11). As may be understood by those skilled in the art, the arrangement of the liquid cavity (11), the weight sensing chip circuit (4), and the photoelectric sensing component (8) in FIG. 4 is merely exemplary and not limiting. In other embodiments of the present invention, any suitable arrangement of the liquid cavity (11), the weight sensing chip circuit (4), and the photoelectric sensing component (8) may be used, provided that the photoelectric sensing component (8) can read the volume scale value on the liquid cavity (11) and can communicate with the weight sensing chip circuit (4) to convey information about that volume scale value.

In one embodiment of the invention, when the piece (1) is put or moved onto the housing (2), as described above, the piece (1) squeezes downward on the surface film of the housing (2) under gravity and consequently squeezes downward on the buoyancy plate (9) to cause at least a portion of the buoyancy plate (9) to be immersed in the solution (10). At this point, the difference between the volume scale value on the liquid cavity (11) and the volume scale value when the piece (1) is not put reflects a rise in the level of the solution (10), and this volume scale value (the volume scale value before and after the piece is put) is read by the photoelectric sensing component (8) and fed back to the weight sensing chip circuit (4) (and more specifically, to the master control chip on the weight sensing chip circuit (4)). In this embodiment, the photoelectric sensing component (8) may be configured to read the volume scale values before and after the piece is put on the square, respectively, so that information relating to the change in the level of the solution can be read in a timely manner.

When the weight sensing chip circuit (4) receives the volume scale value, the weight of the piece (1) can be calculated by the master control chip on the circuit according to the buoyant force calculation formula as follows:

It is known that when the piece is not put, the buoyancy plate (9) is suspended in the liquid cavity (11), and the master control chip can read the volume data of the liquid cavity (11) at this time, i.e. the volume scale value.

When the piece (1) is put or moved onto the square (2), the downward squeezing of the piece (1) causes at least a portion of the buoyancy plate (9) to be immersed in the solution (10) in the liquid cavity (11), and the master control chip on the weight sensing chip circuit (4) acquires the volume scale value read by the photoelectric sensing component (8), compares it with the volume scale when the piece is not put and calculates the difference. As such, the master control chip can calculate the volume data, Vd of the solution (10) displaced by the buoyancy plate (9).

It can be derived from the Archimedes principle that: the upward buoyant force that is exerted on a body immersed in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces, as shown in the following equation:

F_b=ρ_lV_dg.

where the density of the solution pi is known, and the mass of the displaced solution can be derived from ρ_lV_d. Therefore, at this point, the master control chip can calculate the buoyant force Fb exerted on the buoyancy plate (9) and the piece (1) based on the volume data Vd of the solution (10) that is displaced by the buoyancy plate (9).

Then, the buoyant force borne on the object is equal to its gravity by the Archimedes principle, as shown in the following equation

F_b=G_d.

That is, the buoyant force borne on the buoyancy plate (9) and the piece (1) is equal to the gravity force Gd of the buoyancy plate (9) and the piece (1). And the gravity force Gd can be expressed by the following equation:

G_d=m_dg.

Therefore, the master control chip can calculate the m_d data. Since m_d=m_{buoyancy plate}+m_piece and the mass of the buoyancy plate is known, the weight of the piece can be calculated. Since the weight of the piece corresponds with its identity one by one, the master control chip may determine the identity of the piece based on the weight and determine the real-time position of the piece based on the rank and file positions of the square in the square matrix of the board.

As may be appreciated by those skill in the art, the above calculation is merely exemplary and not limiting. In other embodiments of the present invention, any other suitable method may be used to calculate the weight of the piece based on the volume data of the solution displaced by the buoyancy plate.

In one embodiment of the invention, the square (2) further includes a metal shrapnel (7) arranged at the bottom. The metal shrapnel (7) is used to cause the weight sensing chip circuit (4) to contact the FPC signal line (5) on the board for energizing so as to connect to the mainboard in the board. This allows the weight sensing chip circuit (4) to communicate the determined identity and position of the piece to the CPU in the mainboard.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight according to one embodiment of the invention. In one embodiment of the invention, the method 500 in FIG. 5 may be performed by the weight sensing control module in FIG. 2. The weight sensing control module includes a liquid cavity including a solution and a buoyancy plate, a photoelectric sensing component, and a weight sensing chip circuit, as shown in FIG. 3.

The method 500 begins at step 502. At step 502, the photoelectric sensing component reads the volume scale value of the solution in the liquid cavity and feeds it back to the weight sensing chip circuit. In one embodiment of the invention, the photoelectric sensing component rads the volume scale values before and after the piece is put on the weight sensing control module, respectively, and communicates the values to the master control chip on the weight sensing chip circuit.

At step 504, when the piece is put on the weight sensing control module so that at least a portion of the buoyancy plate is immersed in the solution, the weight sensing chip circuit calculates the weight of the piece based on the change in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put. In one embodiment of the invention, step 504 further includes that: the weight sensing chip circuit calculates the volume displaced by the buoyancy plate based on the difference of the volume scale values before and after the piece is put; the weight sensing chip circuit determines the buoyant force born by the piece and the buoyancy plate based on the calculated volume; and the weight sensing chip circuit calculates the weight of the piece based on the buoyant force. As described above, since the density of the solution is known, the volume of the displaced solution can be used to calculate the gravity force of the displaced solution, and the gravity force is the buoyant force borne by the buoyancy plate and the piece. At this point, this buoyant force is equal to the gravity force of the buoyancy plate and the piece. Since the mass of the buoyancy plate is known, the mass of the piece can be derived.

At step 506, the weight sensing chip circuit determines the identity and position of the piece based on this weight. In one embodiment of the invention, the piece has a counterweight such that each piece has a different weight and the weight of each piece corresponds to its identity. In one embodiment of the invention, the weight sensing control module includes a housing, where the housing is used as a square for positioning the piece and the square is arranged in a matrix on the board, where, the position of the piece is indicated by the rank and file values of the square in the board matrix.

After step 506, the method 500 ends.

The scope of the present disclosure can cover a variety of chess games. In other words, the present disclosure can be applied to international chess, Chinese chess, Go, Japanese Shogi, checkers, military chess, Gomoku, international draughts, Ludo, and many other types of chess games. Accordingly, the design of the board can also be adjusted according to these different chess games to accommodate their unique board layouts and rules. For example, the Chinese chessboard has a specific river boundary and a Sudoku layout, the Go board consists of a 19×19 grid of intersections, and the checkers board includes squares of different colors, and so on so forth. The present disclosure can flexibly adapt to these specific board layouts, whether traditional or modern, thereby providing support and enhancement for various types of chess games.

The above reference describes the embodiments of the present invention according to the block diagrams and/or operational descriptions of methods, systems and computer program products thereof. The above embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, and should not be used to limit the present invention in any way. Variations or substitutions that are readily conceivable by those skilled in the art of the present disclosure within the disclosed technical scope shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight, the apparatus comprising: a housing with a surface film;a liquid cavity secured to the surface film, wherein the liquid cavity includes solution and a buoyancy plate, and the liquid cavity has volume scale values for indicating the volume of the liquid;a weight sensing chip circuit, comprising a master control chip positioned thereon; anda photoelectric sensing component connected to the weight sensing chip circuit, wherein the photoelectric sensing component is configured to read the volume scale value and feed it back to the master control chip,wherein when a piece is put on the surface film and the surface film squeezes downward on the buoyancy plate to at least partially submerge it in the solution, and the master control chip is configured to calculate the weight of the piece based on changes in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put on the surface film, and to identify the identity and position of the piece based on the weight.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing is used as a square on the board and the square is arranged in a matrix on the board, and the position of the piece is indicated by the rank and file values of the square in the matrix.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the piece has a counterweight such that each piece has a different weight and the weight of each piece corresponds to its identity.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the weight sensing chip circuit is further configured to: calculate the volume of the solution displaced by the buoyancy plate based on a change in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put on the surface film;calculate the buoyant force borne by the piece and the buoyancy plate based on the volume; anddetermine the weight of the piece based on the calculated buoyant force.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the buoyancy plate is a PE foam with a lower density than the solution, and the solution is a black sodium chloride solution with a sodium chloride ratio of 25%.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises a metal shrapnel positioned underneath the weight sensing chip circuit, and the metal shrapnel is used to cause the weight sensing chip to contact the FPC signal line on the board for energizing so as to connect to the mainboard in the board.

7. A method for identifying the identity and position of a piece by means of weight, wherein the method is performed by a weight sensing control module, and the weight sensing control module comprises a liquid cavity including a solution and a buoyancy plate, a photoelectric sensing component, and a weight sensing chip circuit, the method comprising: reading, by the photoelectric sensing component, the volume scale value of the solution in the liquid cavity and feeding it back to the weight sensing chip circuit;under a condition that the piece is put on the weight sensing control module so that at least a portion of the buoyancy plate is immersed in the solution, calculating, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the weight of the piece based on the change in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put; anddetermining, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the identity and position of the piece based on this weight.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the calculating, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the weight of the piece based on the change in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put further comprising: calculating, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the volume of the solution displaced by the buoyancy plate based on the change in the volume scale value before and after the piece is put;determining, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the buoyant force born by the piece and the buoyancy plate based on the calculated volume; andcalculating, by the weight sensing chip circuit, the weight of the piece based on the buoyant force.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the piece has a counterweight such that each piece has a different weight and the weight of each piece corresponds to its identity.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the weight sensing control module comprises a housing, wherein the housing is used as a square for positioning the piece and the square is arranged in a matrix on the board, wherein the position of the piece is indicated by the rank and file values of the square in the matrix.