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Abstract--A common staple of tailgating events and outdoor

parties, Cornhole (also known as Bean Bag Toss) involves two

competing teams throwing differently colored bean bags across a

lawn at a slanted platform with a hole in its middle. This project

describes a prototype of an automated Cornhole scoring system

which uses radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology to

track bags and display the score during play. The board uses a

microcontroller and a multiplexer to connect an RFID reader to

multiple antennas placed below the center hole and laid out

across the platform.

The game of Cornhole has proven to be incredibly popular

despite its simplicity; however, currently the score must be

recorded mentally or through other manual methods. This

system provides a more convenient way for players and

spectators to enjoy the game. If this product is mass produced,

the market for novelty electronic Cornhole boards could be

lucrative.

Index Terms--Radiofrequency identification, radiofrequency

integrated circuits, electromagnetic fields, microcontrollers,

RFID tags, transmitting antennas, light emitting diodes,

multiplexing

I. NOMENCLATURE

RFID – Radio frequency identification, this technology

uses antennas to generate radio frequency fields which

activate and identify tags passing through.

HF RFID – High frequency RFID systems that operate at a

standard frequency of 13.56MHz. Comparable to cheaper, less

effective low frequency (LF) systems and more expensive and

effective ultra-high frequency (UHF) systems.

LED – Light emitting diode.

II. INTRODUCTION

HE Automatic Cornhole Scoring System is a revolution-

ary new product that streamlines the experience of the

already popular game of Cornhole. The game involves two

competing players throwing colored bags from a distance at a

raised platform and earning points by landing on top or falling

through a hole in the board. The goal of this project was to

design a prototype board which calculates and displays the

score automatically, freeing up the players to focus solely on

Financial support for the project was provided by the Department of

Electrical Engineering at the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. Some contributions of supplies for the project were provided by Mr.

Button, Mr. Dille, Mr. Robbins and Mr. Westerberg.

James Joshua Button, Stephen Fletcher Dille, Rolland Thomas Robbins and Roger Andrew Westerberg, Jr. are electrical engineering undergraduate

students at the Citadel, 171 Moultrie St, Charleston, SC 29409 USA.

(e-mail, respectively: jbutton@citadel.edu, dilles1@citadel.edu, rrobbins@citadel.edu, rwesterb@citadel.edu)

playing the game. This was done using RFID technology

imbedded inside the board and bean bags.

This project was not the first attempt at designing an

automated Cornhole board. While previous attempts have used

RFID to count bags falling through the hole, bean bags laying

on top of the platform were tallied by a camera system that

differentiated the teams’ bags by color [1]. This design proved

functional but impractical for the real world market, since the

bulky and fragile camera detracted from the convenience and

marketability of the game. By incorporating the less obtrusive

RFID technology across the entire board, this new prototype

eliminates the major shortcoming of the previous system and

offers a product potentially viable for the commercial market.

This document describes the technology integrated inside

the Automated Cornhole Scoring System board prototype,

which uses microprocessors and RFID systems to track

players’ scores during gameplay and display the score on a

scoreboard built into the board itself. Background information

on the game is provided first, followed by the specifications

and goals of the project. The various systems inside the board

are then described in detail, followed by a summary of the

timeline and cost of the project. Applications of this prototype

and possible other uses of the technology are then discussed,

followed by a summary of the project. Biographies, references

and additional information related to the project can be found

at the bottom of this document.

III. PROJECT OVERVIEW

HE document will now go over the various aspects of the

Automated Cornhole Scoring System project, and the

steps leading to the construction of a prototype board. First

background information is presented and the goal of the

project’s prototype defined. Then the features of the prototype

board and other components are described, followed by an

explanation of the electrical components that allow the

automatic board to function. The timeline and budget of the

project concludes this portion of the paper.

A. Background Information

The game of Cornhole, being a simple game where players

compete by throwing bags at a raised platform, has proven to

very popular, with wooden boards being sold at a significant

profit. However, currently the score must be recorded

mentally or through other manual methods, such as a static

display listing the numbers 0 through 21 with movable

markers that must be adjusted by hand throughout the game.

While manual scoreboards simplify the game to an extent, the

players themselves must still tally up the scores for both teams

using the process described below.

Automated Cornhole Scoring System James Joshua Button, Stephen Fletcher Dille, Roland Thomas Robbins,

and Roger Andrew Westerberg Jr., Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Seniors, The Citadel

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Play consists of two competing players throwing differently

colored bean bags across a lawn and onto a raised, slanted

platform with a single hole near the top. It is also often played

with two teams of two, using a second platform and set of

bags. While this project does not include a second board,

wireless capabilities could be easily implemented given more

development time. Two team members throw the second set of

bean bags at a board in the opposite direction, placed 27 feet

from the front edge of the first board. After four tosses per

player, the bean bags are tallied up, with three points given for

bags thrown through the hole, one point per bag resting on the

platform, and no points given for bags that miss or fall off the

edges of the platform. The lower score is then subtracted from

the higher score and the difference given to the winning team.

The first team to reach or pass 21 points in this manner is the

winner.

B. Purpose of Project

The project’s goal was to design and build an Automatic

Cornhole Scoring System which would streamline the manual

scorekeeping process. This system primarily consists of a

Cornhole board prototype which is capable of tracking and

displaying the current score during play. This system prevents

confusion during the game and allows players and spectators

to enjoy the game more conveniently. History has shown that

convenience sells, so this revolutionary prototype opens up a

whole new market of high-end electronic Cornhole boards.

C. Project Specification

The automated Cornhole board consists of a wooden

platform with a hole cut out towards the back edge, cut to

official American Cornhole Association specifications [2].

The board is equipped with a radiofrequency identification

antenna system that can detect and differentiate between eight

bean bags divided evenly between two teams. A micro-

controller tallies one point per bag laying on the platform at

the end of a round and three points per bag that had fallen

through the center hole, and displays the score on a scoreboard

consisting of four LED displays embedded inside the platform.

A transparent acrylic layer is placed on top to provide a

smooth playing surface. Fig. 1 illustrates the placement of the

scoreboard and general design of the wooden frame.

Fig. 1. A three dimensional model of the automated Cornhole board 4-foot long by 2-foot wide with center hole antenna and LED scoreboard placement.

Omitted is a wooden platform layer between the clear top surface and

electrical components underneath, which houses the scoreboard and the RFID antenna system.

Three manual switches and pushbuttons are embedded in

the back of the board to activate the system, end a round, and

reset the game. For the project to be considered successful, all

systems must function together with at least 95% accuracy.

D. Functional Specification

1) Microprocessor and Manual Controls:

At the core of the Automated Cornhole Scoring System is

an Arduino microprocessor [3], which calculates the score and

controls all the other electrical components of the board. The

microcontroller controls the multiplexer and follows an

algorithm to select which antenna is active at any particular

time. Some manual controls are used to control the device,

laid out as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Layout of manual controls. A power switch turns the system on and

off, a reset pushbutton will restart the game, and a next round button ends the

round after all bags are thrown and starts the next round after the score is

tallied. A green LED indicates an active board and shuts off in between

rounds.

2) Internal RFID System:

A high-frequency RFID reader and 8-port HF multiplexer

are integrated with the microprocessor. The RFID reader sends

an RF signal through one of the antennas to generate an RF

field [4]. The multiplexer selects when each antenna is active

[5], running the antenna under the center hole continuously

during play and then cycling through the seven platform

antennas one at a time at the end of a round. The bean bags are

integrated with two passive RFID tags each, which activate

and alert the reader of their location when they enter the RF

field [6]. Every tag has its own unique signature which allows

the reader to identify the particular bag.

3) Center Hole Antenna System:

The center hole’s antenna is secured on the outside of a

cylindrical chute directly underneath the center hole. Five

loops built out of copper wire are connected in parallel to each

other and to an antenna matching circuit1. This circuit adds the

capacitance needed to the system to achieve a 1:1 reading

between the antenna and the reader. Although splitting the

antenna circuit weakens the individual strength of each loop,

1 An antenna matching circuit is constructed out of capacitors connected in

parallel [7]. Parallel resistors may also be used to decrease antenna strength if necessary. The capacitance must be adjusted to be tuned with the antenna’s

resonance with the frequency of the RF signal. While this value can be

estimated through equations, fine tuning is a process of trial and error with different capacitors or, preferably, a variable capacitor until the maximum

possible gain is found. A network analyzer [8] can help with this process, or

the size of the RF field can be measured experimentally by running and monitoring the RFID reader while moving a tag along the field’s edges.

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the opposing fields of the neighboring parallel antennas feed

into each other and strengthen the signal overall. The

configuration of the wires and resulting RF field are shown in

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. A sketch of the center hole’s antenna system illustrating a tag passing

through the field generated by the parallel loops.

4) Platform Antenna System:

Seven pairs of parallel copper loop antennas lay evenly

spaced along the surface of the platform, different only by

wrapping around the center hole. Together the antennas cover

the entire area of the Cornhole board, as shown in Fig. 4. Each

pair has its own tuned matching circuit and is connected to the

reader through one of the multiplexer’s ports. The current

flows counterclockwise in every loop, which avoids creating

dead spots in the center of the board where the loops are close

enough to affect each other.

Fig. 4. An overhead sketch of the platform’s antenna system giving the size

and placement of the seven pairs of loop antennas, with left and right

matching antennas connected to each other. The blue dots indicate where

holes were driven through the wooden platform layer to allow wires to

connect to the tuning circuits secured underneath.

5) Scoreboard:

The score is displayed on two pairs of two red LED seven-

segment displays. The displays are wired to the Arduino

microprocessor through a voltage regulator, allowing the

scoreboard to operate at a higher voltage than the rest of the

system.

6) Power:

The board is powered by eight AA batteries connected to all

the various systems, which are capable of powering the

Cornhole board continuously for over four hours. The

microprocessor receives power directly from the battery power

source, while the RFID reader, multiplexer, and LED displays

are powered through different voltage regulators to run on

their recommended voltage.

7) System Integration:

All the various systems of the board are integrated together

and communicate with each other in the manner shown in Fig.

5. For the purposes of this project, a fully functional prototype

of one automated Cornhole board has been built. Eight bean

bags are used for testing and demonstration.

Fig. 5. A block diagram of the Automatic Cornhole Scoring System, illustrat-

ing in what manner the various components communicate and interact with

each other.

E. Testing Procedures and Reliability

To test the center hole antenna systems, the reader,

microprocessor and antenna were integrated to the frame and

RFID tags integrated in four blue and four yellow bean bags.

Bean bags were dropped or thrown at the center hole at

various speeds and angles, and multiple bags were dropped in

rapid succession. The platform antenna was tested in a similar

manner, using multiple bags spread out across the board. For

the test to be considered successful, all bags that fell through

the center hole or landed on the platform must be tallied

accurately and the correct number of points given to the

correct team. System initiation, manual controls and the

scoreboard were tested through standard operation of the

automated Cornhole board, as perfect performance by these

systems is necessary for the device to operate.

Meeting the project specifications, all components of the

cornhole system functioned with at least 95% reliability. The

microcontroller responded to switch commands to successful-

ly activate and control the antennas, RFID reader, multiplexer,

and scoreboard upon startup every time. The RFID reader was

able to read bags that fell through the center hole or remained

on the platform at the end of a round with at least 95%

reliability, as well as ignore bags lying on the ground beside

the board. The microcontroller correctly calculated and

displayed the score with this data, and responded to

pushbutton commands to end the round or reset. The game

was able to operate on its embedded power supply for at least

four hours consecutively.

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F. Project Timeline

The Automated Cornhole Scoring System project took place

over a nine month period from August 2013 through April

2014. Preliminary designs and planning of the project were

done during the first two months of the project. This part of

the process involved rudimentary mapping out of the systems

in the automated Cornhole board and brainstorming various

ideas to meet the goals laid out in the project specification.

During this time alternate approaches for the project were

discussed but ultimately discarded, such as using weight

sensors as a redundant system to assist in counting bags on the

platform and alternate methods of displaying the score such as

a wirelessly connected standalone scoreboard or a Smartphone

application via BlueTooth [9].

Over the next two and a half months, from October to mid-

December, the initial design and demonstration of various

components of the board had begun. The wooden platform

frame was built and preliminary antennas for the center hole

and platform were built. A professionally built rectangular

loop antenna was secured to a small hinged board beneath the

hole at a slant. As bags fell through the hole and slid past, the

reader would detect the bags with a moderate but not

satisfactory degree of reliability. The design would eventually

be reworked. A large copper foil loop antenna encompassing

the entire platform was built and tested, but was unable to

create any significant field. The antenna design was built for a

4W reader, but readers with that power output are no longer

manufactured. The 200mW readers available could not

feasibly power an antenna that size. Additionally, both PIC18

and Arduino microprocessors were used to run the readers and

other components, with the Arduino being chosen for the final

project due to its C++ based programming language. Initial

testing of the BlueTooth modules and seven segment displays

also began during this time frame. To demonstrate proof of

concept, a small scoreboard was integrated to the Cornhole

board and tallied three points per bag dropped or thrown

through the center hole.

Over late December the redesigned cylindrical center hole

antenna was built, integrated and tested. By the end of

February, two months later, significant designing and testing

had gone into different copper wire loop antennas for the

platform. Viable antenna size continued to be a limiting factor,

but this issue was resolved with the 8-port multiplexer. New,

larger passive RFID tags proved vital in increasing the range

of the antennas. Also during this time period difficulties in

implementing the BlueTooth sticks, a third party attachment

with poor customer support, with the Arduino persisted.

BlueTooth was ultimately discarded in favor of the more user

friendly XBee wireless module [10].

Over the last two months up until the end of April, the

platform antenna system was constructed and integrated onto

the board. The scoreboard was embedded into the board and

voltage regulators were designed and built to provide the

correct voltage to the different components. The clear acrylic

layer was placed on top, the manual controls were implement-

ted, and all the electrical components were secured underneath

the board. At this point, although it had been partially

integrated to the microprocessor, the wireless capabilities of

the board were discarded due to time restraints as it was

decided wirelessly connectivity was not a vital aspect of the

concept to prove. Finally, the RFID tags were integrated with

the bean bags and the system was adjusted during the final

testing process until the necessary reliability was achieved.

G. Budget

The project had an estimated budget of $1,000. The project

was completed slightly under budget with the exact cost being

$980.17. Of this total, approximately $630 was used on the

RFID components, including $120 for the HF RFID reader

and $260 for the 8-port HF multiplexer. $110 was spent on the

Arduino microcontroller and its related components. While

neither BlueTooth nor XBee wireless components were used

in the final Cornhole board, roughly $200 was spent on them.

The LED displays cost $45, and the board frame cost $45. Fig.

6 graphically summarizes how the budget was divided among

the project’s various systems.

Fig. 6. A pie graph illustrating the percentage of the Automated Cornhole

Scoring System’s $980.17 budget spent on the various systems and

components.

It should be noted that many of the smaller and cheaper

components used in the Cornhole board were purchased by the

team members or salvaged from previous Citadel senior

design projects, and the cost of these components is not

factored into the official budget above. These additional costs

include $47 in RFID-related hardware, $27 in scoreboard

components, $41 for the power supply, $28 for frame

hardware, and $79 for miscellaneous components. If these

costs are factored in and the cost of unused components taken

out, the actual cost of the Automated Cornhole Scoring

System is $958.67.

IV. CONCLUSION

HE Automated Cornhole Scoring System is a high-end

product offering greater convenience to a preexisting

market. The public has shown that there is a market for

automated scoring systems streamlining the experience of

common, popular games. For example, most bowling alleys

now keep track of the players’ scores automatically so players

can focus solely on playing the game without having to

calculate and record scores manually, and these systems have

proven to be very successful. The game of Cornhole is already

popular and well-known, with regular boards and bean bag

sets priced at $100 or more, significantly higher than the cost

of materials and construction. With the cost of an automated

Cornhole board lowered through mass production, the product

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could be sold at a profit to people desiring a more convenient

experience. Additionally, Cornhole boards can be found at

sports bars and other similar establishments which would

benefit from providing an automated experience for customers

to enjoy.

The RFID technology utilized by the scoring system allows

for accurate, unobtrusive scorekeeping that enhances the game

without hindering gameplay. Previous automated Cornhole

boards using color-distinguishing cameras to count bags lying

on the platform have proven functional but impractical for the

real world market. All components of the Automated Cornhole

Board System are hidden inside and underneath the board,

thus the board is sturdier and more compact than previous

attempts and provides the same user-friendly experience as

standard wooden Cornhole boards. The built-in LED

scoreboard provides additional convenience and accessibility

for players to enjoy the game. While wireless communication

with a second board was ultimately discarded during this

project, it would not be difficult to implement in future models

and would provide even more convenience.

The technology used in the prototype could also be adapted

to other popular, manually operated games and open up new

markets of convenience. Any game involving objects falling

through small holes, such as miniature golf, could incorporate

similar technology to streamline the players’ experience. The

RFID systems utilized in this project offer an example of a

very unobtrusive way to streamline gameplay and could

potentially be the future of automated entertainment.

V. BIOGRAPHIES

Roland Robbins was born in Rocky Mount, NC on

November 17, 1960. He graduates from the Citadel

in the fall of 2014 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

His 28 years of employment experience as an

electronics technician included work for the United States Navy and a number of defense contracting

companies, where he trouble-shot and repaired a

wide range of communication systems used in military applications to communicate between air,

land and surface platforms. While working in the Defense Contracting

industries he assisted in the design of equipment interfaces for a number of voice and data communication systems.

Roger Andrew Westerberg was born in Charles-ton, SC on May 3, 1978. He graduates from the

Citadel on May 10, 2014 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He also finished his A.S. in Electronics

Engineering Technology at Trident Technical

College in May 2000.

His employment experience includes over 13

years as an Electronic Technician at Robert Bosch

LLC, where he gained experience working with robots, lasers, computer networking and program-

able logic controllers.

Andrew passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam in the fall of 2013.

James Joshua Button was born in Panama City, FL

on April 18, 1990 and grew up in Duxbury, MA. He has lived around Charleston, SC for the last twelve

years. He graduates from the Citadel on May 10,

2014 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He also graduated from Trident Technical College with an

Associate in Science degree in May 2012, after

which he completed another year focusing on electrical engineering.

Joshua worked as a gardener at Magnolia Plant-

ation and Gardens and as a dock associate at Dillard’s to support himself

while in college. He passed the Fundaments of Engineering Exam in the fall of 2013. He

was inducted into Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society in November 2013

and into the Phi Kappa Phi honor society in April 2014.

Stephen Dille was born in Charleston, SC on April

28, 1991. He graduates from the Citadel in the fall of 2014 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. His

three internship experiences as an electrical intern

spanned five years and included work for SPAWAR SSC Atlantic, Rockhill Utility Company, and DWG

Consulting Engineers.

While working for SPAWAR, he worked on various SAVER projects that provided information

to emergency responders about the equipment best

suited for their needs. While working in Rockhill, he maintained the GIS System for the city’s power grid and put together the company’s biannual

assessment portfolio. At DWG Engineering, he designed electrical, mech-

anical, plumbing and architectural floor plans for numerous projects using Revit and AutoCAD.

VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of

their faculty advisors Dr. John Peeples and Dr. Harold Askins,

who both provided invaluable feedback, suggestions, advice

and support throughout the project.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of

Dr. Ron Hayne, who provided RFID hardware and a PIC18

microcontroller necessary to begin the initial testing of the

board’s concepts.

The authors also gratefully acknowledge electronics tech-

nician Mr. Bart Knapp for his assistance in purchasing and

ordering the components used in the project.

VII. REFERENCES

[1] The Citadel. (2012). Intelligent Cornhole Board (ICB) CEEDS Paper.

[Online]. Available: http://ece.citadel.edu/skinner/papers/ICB.pdf [2] The American Cornhole Association. (2009, Jul. 13). ACA Official

Rules of Cornhole / Corn Toss. [Online]. Available: http://

www.playcornhole.org/rules.shtml [3] Arduino. (2014). Arduino Mega 2560. [Online]. Available: http://

www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardMega2560

[4] SkyeTech, Inc., Denver, CO. (2012). SkyeModule M2 Datasheet. V070313. [Online]. Available: http://www.skyetek.com/docs/m2/

m2datasheet.pdf

[5] SkyeTech, Inc., Denver, CO. SkyePlus MXH. [Online]. Available: http://www.skyetek.com/Portals/0/Documents/Products/

SkyePlus_MXH_DataSheet.pdf

[6] Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX. (2010, Apr.). Tag-it HF-I Plus Transponder Inlays. Miniature Rectangle. [Online]. Available: http://

www.ti.com/lit/ds/scbs832a/scbs832a.pdf

[7] Microchip Technology Inc., Chandler, AZ. (2003). Antenna Circuit Design for RFID Applications. [Online]. pp. 19-25. Available: http://

ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/00710c.pdf

[8] Agilent Technologies. (1994). Hewlett Packard 8753D Network Analyzer. [Online]. Available: http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/

pdf/5962-9770E.pdf [9] MikroElektronika. BlueTooth Stick Manual. [Online]. Available: http://

www.mikroe.com/downloads/get/1617/bluetooth_stick_manual.pdf

[10] Digi International Inc., Minnetonka, MN. (2009, Sep. 23). XBee / XBee-Pro RF Modules. Product Manual v1. [Online]. Available: https://

www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Wireless/Zigbee/XBee-Datasheet.pdf