Undergraduate Programs - Senior Projects

Go Game Recorder
Team 18 - The Go-Getters members: Edy Tan, Rudiger Lippert, Daniel Coughlin

Go is a two-player board game in which black and white stones are placed on the intersections of a 19-by-19 grid. A tournament setting Go game typically lasts between two and eight hours. People are employed to watch the game and record each move made on paper or on a computer. This is clearly a tedious and inefficient task. The goal of the Go Game Recorder is to automate the entire game recording process. The system consists of a network camera that takes images of the board and a server that processes the images to produce an output file that contains game progress information in the Smart Go Format (SGF). The network camera can be placed in an unobtrusive manner and does not need to be directly above the board. The server also couples as a web server that allows remote users to view the progress of the game using a standard web browser and download the SGF file for that game. The Go Game Recorder is controlled using a web-based interface as well. The administrator logs into a password protected web interface through a link on the main web page. Using this interface, the administrator can create, load and modify games, calibrate the camera to the board’s position, start and stop the detection of moves, modify recorded moves and view a live video stream from the camera. Thus, the Go Game Recorder is highly-automated, flexible and user- friendly solution for the recording of Go games.