Frans Morsch single chip chesscomputers. HD6301 ones can be dumped now, so I guess you're talking about H8? (Saitek GK 2100, Brute Force, ...)

Persons involved: People with a similar technical hobby, such as Sean Riddle.
What they need for such a project: Time, experience, perseverence experimenting with trying to dump a chip.
Money: Not an issue when dumping method is not known yet.

When dumping method can be figured out: share information, let another person verify it (eg. Berger with HD6301). After that, it's a matter of acquiring cheap 2nd hand chess computers, or borrowing them.