This Raspberry Pi Robot Plays Tic-Tac-Toe So You Never Play Alone

(Image credit: 3DprintedLife)

If you're sick of single-player tic-tac-toe, this Raspberry Pi project created by 3DprintedLife is just for you. Using a camera alongside a robotic arm, this Pi-powered robot is the ultimate tic-tac-foe.

The robot was designed entirely by 3DprintedLife using CAD software and 3D printed. The body consists mainly of a robotic arm controlled by servo motors and a camera positioned above a small playing field. The camera observes the game while the Pi calculates moves in real-time. We recently featured 3DprintedLife's automatic card shuffler back in July, which also relied on image recognition.

3DprintedLife created a custom PCB for the project designed to help the servo motors better control the arm. The main board for the robot, however, is a Raspberry Pi Zero. There are a few additional components used including an Adafruit Feather and MAX98357 audio amplifier module.

The game starts with the robotic arm which draws the tic-tac-toe board and makes the first move. The arm will wait until the player takes their turn. Using image recognition, the camera feed is evaluated to determine what move occurred and which move would be most effective in response.

The robot even gets sassy from time to time and has been known to take an extra turn to ensure its victory.

If you want to see how the Tic-Tac-Toe Bot was put together or maybe recreate it yourself, check out the resources provided by 3DprintedLife on Github. Be sure to follow 3DprintedLife on YouTube for more cool projects and creations.

Ash Hill
Freelance News and Features Writer

Ash Hill is a Freelance News and Features Writer at Tom's Hardware US. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting.

  • hina45
    Admin said:
    Tired of one-player tic-tac-toe rounds? This robot is designed to be the ultimate opponent and is powered entirely by a Raspberry Pi.

    This Raspberry Pi Robot Plays Tic-Tac-Toe So You Never Play Alone : Read more

    Same here I got tired of this and after a lot search I found super noughts & crosses online 2 player have fun
    Reply