Electromagnetic Movement Board

Abstract

A system and method for moving a magnetic piece across a board comprising a plurality of electromagnets. The plurality of electromagnets comprises an origin electromagnet and a destination electromagnet. First, a magnetic field is generated at the destination electromagnet such that the magnetic piece would be repulsed by the center of the destination electromagnet. Next, a magnetic field is generated at the origin electromagnet such that the magnetic piece is repulsed by the center of the origin electromagnet such that the piece moves to the edge of the origin and destination magnet. Then, a magnetic field is generated at the destination electromagnet that attracts the magnetic piece to the center of the destination electromagnet such that the piece moves to the center of the destination electromagnet.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of moving a magnetic piece across a board having a plurality of electromagnets, the method comprising:
 providing the magnetic piece on a center of an origin electromagnet;   causing movement of the piece from the center of the origin electromagnet to an edge of a destination electromagnet by:   generating a magnetic field at the destination electromagnet such that the magnetic piece would be repulsed by the center of the destination electromagnet;   generating a magnetic field at the origin electromagnet such that the magnetic piece is repulsed by the center of the origin electromagnet; and   causing movement of the piece from the edge of the destination electromagnet to the center of the destination electromagnet by generating a magnetic field at the destination electromagnet that attracts the magnetic piece to the center of the destination electromagnet such that the piece moves to the center of the destination electromagnet.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the electromagnets are arranged in a grid having at least two rows and at least two columns. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein each electromagnet is a coil with at least four sides. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein causing movement of the piece from the center of the origin electromagnet to an edge of a destination electromagnet further comprises generating a magnetic field at a neighbor electromagnet such that the magnetic piece would be repulsed by the center of the neighbor electromagnet, wherein the neighbor electromagnet shares a border with the origin electromagnet and the destination electromagnet. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein turning off the magnetic field in the origin electromagnet further comprises turning off the magnetic field in the neighbor electromagnet. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein after causing movement of the piece from the center of the origin electromagnet to an edge of a destination electromagnet the method further comprises detecting that the piece is at the edge of the destination electromagnet. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the detecting uses a method from the group consisting of: measuring electrical impedance; using radio frequency identification (RFID); using a camera; measuring weight. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the detecting is done by RFID sensors comprising a plurality of electromagnetic coils parallel to the plurality of electromagnets. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein generating a magnetic field at the origin electromagnet such that the magnetic piece is repulsed by the center of the origin electromagnet comprises providing a current to the origin electromagnet that is ramped up. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising generating a magnetic field at an electromagnet adjacent to the magnetic piece causes the orientation of the magnetic piece to rotate wherein the magnetic piece comprises a secondary magnet. 
     
     
         11 . A system for moving a magnetic piece comprising:
 a board;   a plurality of electromagnets arranged on the board; and   a controller configured to cause each of the plurality of electromagnet to generate a magnetic field;   wherein the controller is configured to cause movement of the magnetic piece at an origin electromagnet to a destination electromagnet through steps comprising:   a. causing generation of a magnetic field at the destination electromagnet such that the magnetic piece would be repulsed by the center of the destination electromagnet, and then causing generation of a magnetic field at the origin electromagnet such that the magnetic piece is repulsed by the center of the origin electromagnet; such that the magnetic piece traverses the board from the origin electromagnet to an edge of the destination electromagnet; and   b. causing generation of a magnetic field at the destination electromagnet that attracts the magnetic piece to the center of the destination electromagnet such that the piece moves to the center of the destination electromagnet; such that the magnetic piece traverses the board from the edge of the destination electromagnet to the center of the destination electromagnet.   
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein the electromagnets are arranged in a grid having at least two rows and at least two columns. 
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein each electromagnet is a coil. 
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein each electromagnet is a spiral coil in three dimensions. 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein each electromagnet is a spiral coil in two dimensions. 
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 11  wherein during step a the controller causes generation of a magnetic field at a neighbor electromagnet such that the magnetic piece would be repulsed by the center of the neighbor electromagnet, wherein the neighbor electromagnet shares a border with the origin electromagnet and the destination electromagnet. 
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 14 , wherein turning off the magnetic field in the origin electromagnet further comprises turning off the magnetic field in the neighbor electromagnet. 
     
     
         18 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein, after causing movement of the piece from the origin electromagnet to the destination electromagnet, causing detection of the piece at the destination electromagnet. 
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein causing detection uses a method from the group consisting of: measuring electrical impedance; radio frequency identification (RFID); camera; measuring weight. 
     
     
         20 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the detecting is done by RFID sensors comprising a plurality of electromagnetic coils parallel to the plurality of electromagnets. 
     
     
         21 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein generating a magnetic field at the origin electromagnet such that the magnetic piece is repulsed by the center of the origin electromagnet comprises providing a current to the origin electromagnet that is ramped up. 
     
     
         22 . The system according to  claim 11 , further comprising a secondary magnet on the magnetic piece wherein causing generation of a magnetic field at an electromagnet adjacent to the magnetic piece will cause the orientation of the magnetic piece to rotate. 
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein causing movement of the piece from the edge of the destination electromagnet to the center of the destination electromagnet further comprises turning off the magnetic field in the origin electromagnet. 
     
     
         24 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein when the magnetic piece is at an edge of the destination electromagnet the controller is configured to cause the magnetic field in the origin electromagnet to turn off. 
     
     
         25 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a supplemental piece on the board; and   causing, simultaneously to causing movement of the piece, movement of the supplemental piece.   
     
     
         26 . The system according to  claim 11 , further comprising a supplemental piece, wherein the controller is configured to cause movement of the supplemental piece simultaneously to causing movement of the magnetic piece.