Cube solver

A quick survey of the desks at Pi Towers reveals thirteen Rubik’s Cubes in various states of done-ness. Gordon’s brain doesn’t work without a cube to play with, and Ben appears to breed them in his desk drawers.

(Rubik’s cubes are not the worst thing that breeds in Ben’s drawers.)

With this Cube Solver from Maxim Tsoy and Wilbert Swinkels, we finally have a way to completely replace both Gordon and Ben with robots.

The Cube Solver uses a Compute Module to run the cube solving algorithms and move the grips and motors; you can find full details of the build and all the code you need at Maxim’s blog if you ever feel the need to replace the cuber in your life with a more compact solution.

24 comments

Michael Horne avatar

Love it. Watch out Gordon & Ben – the robots are on the move and your time has come :p

Corez avatar

I am willing to bet that Gordon & Ben will probably create the robots that replace them…

Eddo avatar

What a waste of time…… REEEEAAALLLLYY?????? Wowww

totpharibo avatar

I need one : I never found how to solve :-(

ColinD avatar

The stickers come off.. ;)

W. H. Heydt avatar

That’s one method. The other involves a can of spray paint.

Maxim Tsoy avatar

None of us (the authors of this machine) can actually solve the cube ourselves… :)

ameyring avatar

Will be cool to see it improved to compete with the LEGO Mindstorms-based one!

Maxim Tsoy avatar

We will definitely try to do that in the 2nd generation. We believe that this hardware is more capable than Lego parts (given that we have a decent algorithm and perfect mechanical design, of course).

Rahul Katre avatar

There is one machine called the Cubestormer 3, and it uses ARM with NXT motors/

beta-tester avatar

i love the mechanic work, how the cube is locked and released, and how it is scanned and rotated, very very much!!!

Winkleink avatar

This looks gorgeous. I love the smoothness.

zoel avatar

amazing!..it’s like magic ;-)

SISA José avatar

do you remember that ? please !!!! put some music for
make Raspberrypi hyper dynamic !!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=052JJGBxFH0

Steve H avatar

What a cube’endous achievement!
My new number one fav Pi project. :)

Ash avatar

Wow!

Jeff Greer avatar

Love the solution. It is incredible!

However my nine year old son solved it a different way. He peeled the stickers off and replaced them in the proper order. Could it be he rewrote the rules, ala Star Trek?

RPi is the best and most inspirational platform since the 70s.

Jeff

Andy avatar

What does it do if it’s been disassembled / reassembled with one piece reversed?
With a human, smoke gently wafts from the ears, but I can’t see those on the robot.

Maxim Tsoy avatar

Currently, if the machine finds an unsolvable configuration, it will just release the cube right away, and optionally destroy the humanity.

Dan avatar

What a beautiful project, right down to the very last detail. Magnificent! Just don’t let the robot get too cocky and start destroying the wrong humanity…

Gosub90 avatar

That is just breathtaking!

Semih avatar

Very so much beautiful machine :) Maybe! I think same make machine

giacomo gallina avatar

I saw on wikipedia that in 2010 a team of researchers proved that any 3×3×3 Rubik’s Cube configuration can be solved in 20 moves or fewer. Is it possible to write an algorithm to solve the cube in 20 moves fast enough to run on a raspberry pi?

duncan avatar

to play is to use one’s mind. there are many ways to apply to solve real life problem. It is a great cube solver !

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