C2I 2023 Young Innovator Winner: AutoMate

Category: Young Innovator
Headline Sponsor: Hays
Project: AutoMate
Partners: Joseph Birch and Finley Stirk

This year’s young innovators - sixth form students Joseph Birch and Finley Stirk - aimed to ensure that the competition of chess is available to all though their AutoMate chess board invention.

AutoMate is a chess board with integrated mechatronic systems which allows users to play chess without touching the pieces, instead inputting moves through inclusive technologies such as eye-gaze tracking and voice commands.

“This project was inspired by a family member who works as speech and language therapist at a special educational needs (SEN) school. They often play games with their students, some of which need eye-gaze trackers to play, making play between those with and without motor disabilities difficult,” said co-inventor Joseph Birch, an A-Level student at Trinity School of John Whitgift, an independent boys school in Croydon, Surrey.

“Being avid chess players with a passion for engineering, we decided to create this project to bridge the gap, allowing those with motor impairment to play any opponent.”