Card shuffling device and calibration method
A playing card handling device comprises an elevator platform configured to receive one or more cards from an input platform to form a shuffled set of cards, a card gripper positioned above the elevator platform, and configured to grip cards from the shuffled set of cards, and a processor configured to control the elevator platform to have a grip position for the card gripper grip the shuffled set of cards, wherein the grip position is adjusted based, at least in part, on a correction value associated with a particular card insertion. A related method includes determining a grip position of an elevator platform of a card handling device based, at least in part, on a desired insertion location within a stack of shuffled cards as adjusted based on a corrective value that is different for a plurality of different insertion locations.
1. A card handling device, comprising:
an input platform configured to receive an un-shuffled set of cards;
an elevator platform configured to receive one or more cards from the input platform to form a shuffled set of cards;
a card gripper positioned above the elevator platform, and configured to grip cards from the shuffled set of cards; and
a processor operably coupled to the input platform, the elevator platform, and the card gripper, wherein the processor is configured to:
determine a grip position of the elevator platform based, at least in part, on a correction value indicating how to adjust the elevator platform from the grip position associated with a particular card insertion characteristic;
control moving the elevator platform to the determined grip position;
control the elevator platform and the card gripper to create a gap in the shuffled set of cards; and
instruct a card insert system to insert the one or more cards in the gap.
2. The card handling device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to further determine the grip position of the elevator platform based, in part, on a random number generator (RNG).
3. The card handling device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to automatically create and maintain a correction table configured to maintain a plurality of correction values indicating how to adjust the elevator platform from the grip position associated with data received from monitoring a plurality of different card insertion characteristic combinations.
4. The card handling device of claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
automatically create and maintain a plurality of different correction tables configured to maintain correction values for different decks of cards used by the card handling device;
automatically create and maintain a zone hit counter table configured to count a number of times each correction value is adjusted; and
automatically create and maintain a zone re-grip counter table configured to count a number of times a card re-grip occurs for each different card insertion combination of the plurality.
5. The card handling device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to automatically create and maintain a deck height table configured to store data indicating a deck height for different numbers of cards stacked on the elevator platform, wherein the data indicating the deck height includes positional data for the elevator platform.
6. The card handling device of claim 1 , wherein the particular card insertion characteristic depends on at least one of deck type, amount of use, and handling of the un-shuffled set of cards.
7. A card handling device, comprising:
a card input area and a card output area configured to transform an un-shuffled set of cards into a shuffled set of cards;
a card gripper configured to grip cards from the shuffled set of cards;
an elevator platform that provides a base for the shuffled set of cards during a shuffling operation; and
a processor operably coupled with the card gripper and the elevator platform, the processor configured to:
generate a virtual shuffled set of cards according to a random number generator;
control the card gripper and the elevator platform to a grip position and create a gap for insertion of a card with a card insert system during the shuffling operation; and
adjust the grip position according to a plurality of different corrective values indicating how to adjust the elevator platform from the grip position that are different depending on a number of cards to be gripped and a number of cards on the elevator platform.
8. The card handling device of claim 7 , further comprising a top platform card sensor positioned below the card gripper and operably coupled with the processor, wherein the processor is configured to record a position of the elevator platform responsive to the top platform card sensor detecting a top card on the elevator platform.
9. The card handling device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to compare a measured position of a height of cards remaining on the elevator platform after the grip to a reference position of an expected height of cards remaining on the elevator platform after the grip and to adjust the plurality of different corrective values.
10. The card handling device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the reference position based on at least one of a one-dimensional method, a two-dimensional method, and a combination of the one-dimensional method and two-dimensional method, wherein:
only the height of cards on the elevator platform is used by the processor to determine the one-dimensional method; and
a combination of a number of cards to be gripped and a number of cards on the elevator platform is used by the processor to determine the two-dimensional method.
11. The card handling device of claim 10 , wherein the reference position is defined as RP=½(P 1 +P 2 )+C steps, wherein RP is the reference position, P 1 is a position of the elevator platform resulting from the one-dimensional method, P 2 is a position of the elevator platform resulting from the two-dimensional method, and C is a bias constant.
12. The card handling device of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to compare a measured position of a height of cards remaining on the elevator platform after the grip to a reference position of an expected height of cards remaining on the elevator platform after the grip and to generate a delta value.
13. A method of handling cards, comprising:
determining a grip position of an elevator platform of a card handling device based, at least in part, on a desired insertion location within a stack of shuffled cards as adjusted based on a corrective value indicating how to adjust the elevator platform from the grip position that is different for a plurality of different insertion locations;
moving the elevator platform to the grip position;
gripping with a card gripper at least a portion of the stack of shuffled cards if the elevator platform is at the grip position;
moving the elevator platform away from the grip position to create a gap; and
inserting a card into the gap.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
measuring with a card sensor a height of cards remaining on the elevator platform after the gap is created and before inserting the card into the gap;
determining with a processor a difference between the measured height of the cards remaining on the elevator platform and a reference height for cards expected to be remaining on the elevator platform; and
adjusting the corrective value if the difference is greater than a pre-determined threshold.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
measuring with the card sensor the height of cards remaining on the elevator platform includes recording with the processor a measured position of the elevator platform when a top card of the cards remaining on the elevator platform is detected by the card sensor positioned below the card gripper; and
determining with a processor the difference between the measured height and the reference height includes subtracting the measured position from a reference position of the elevator platform for cards expected to be remaining on the elevator platform.
16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
determining with the card sensor one-dimensional positional data as cards are stacked on the elevator platform;
determining with the card sensor two-dimensional positional data for desired insertion locations having cards above the desired insertion location and below the desired insertion location; and
determining with the processor the reference height based on the one-dimensional positional data and the two-dimensional positional data.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein determining one-dimensional positional data as cards are stacked on the elevator platform includes:
generating position data for various numbers of cards on the elevator platform; and
averaging the position data to achieve an average value for each number of cards measured.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein averaging includes:
sorting the position data for each number of cards; and
averaging a subset of the sorted position data to achieve the average value.
19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising moving a card gripper in and out to align the stack of shuffled cards prior to gripping at least a portion of the stack of shuffled cards.
20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising closing a card gripper an additional distance as the elevator platform is moved away from the grip position to create the gap.
21. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
if the desired insertion location is determined to be directly below a top card of the stack of shuffled cards, gripping the top card by moving the elevator platform incrementally until a single card is determined to be gripped; and
if the desired insertion location is determined to be directly above a bottom card of the stack of shuffled cards, gripping the stack of shuffled cards while leaving the bottom card by moving the elevator platform incrementally until a single card is determined to remain on the elevator platform.