Greek students have created an automated system with artificial intelligence algorithms they claim is unbeatable at chess.
Cronus is the creation of Hyperion Robotics team at the University of Western Macedonia.
It consists of a robotic arm that makes all the moves on the chessboard, even pressing the timer and a computer that controls artificial intelligence algorithms not only to develop the game but also to move the arm on the board.
“Cronus does not offer the same charm as playing against another human being, his chance of making a mistake or being beaten is zero,” 20-year-old Vassilis Tzikas member of the team is quoted as saying by the Athens News Agency.
He adds that “we wanted to prove that under certain conditions robots are better than humans even though they are created by them.”
The idea about creating Cronus started with the Dean of the Polytechnic School; Professor Theodoros Theodoulides, a talented chess player, who kept asking his students whether they could give “life” to a forgotten arm in the warehouse of the lab and make it play chess.
“The third time he asked, we looked at each other and said why not. No one has tried it in Greece, we will do it,” says Tzikas.
It took four months of hard work to get Cronus working.
The team has now set a new goal: to improve Cronus’ response time and program it to play on three chess boards simultaneously.
Lecturer Minas Dassygenis said that the most important element in completing the project was that students, in addition to research and intensive work, “used their imagination” to respond to problems.
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