HOME |
RSS | 
Alice Wismath, a computer science student at Queen’s University in Canada, has developed a form of chess in which the type of a given piece on the board is in a state of flux:
In the quantum chess computer game created by undergraduate computer science student Alice Wismath, a piece that should be a knight could simultaneously also be a queen, a pawn or something else. The player doesn’t know what the second state might be or which of the two states the piece will choose when it is moved.[...]
Wismath also chose new rules to make the game workable with its quantum twist. For example, her version of quantum chess requires a player to capture the king, which never changes to another piece, instead of merely delivering a checkmate. Also, pieces change states only when they land on black squares.
Link via Marginal Revolution | Photo by Flickr user soupboy used under Creative Commons license
Deep Green is pool-playing robot created by students at the robotics laboratory of Queen’s University in Canada. Students have worked on it for the past three years, gradually improving its abilities against human opponents:
The system is currently playing at a better-than-amateur level. One current weakness, however, is with the break. The special purpose end effector is powered by a linear electric actuator, which can reach speeds of up to 3 m/s. For a strong break, however, a cue speed of ~ 15 m/s is required. The objective of this project is therefore to design an auxiliary subsystem for the end-effector to be used exclusively for breaks. The subsystem could make use of the current cue, or it could append an additional cue to the end-effector. It is likely that the subsystem will be actuated pneumatically, although other options may be considered. The subsystem must also be compact enough so as not to interfere with the other elements of the end-effector.
Link via CrunchGear
