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[Help Thread] FMC Discussion

There's now an instrumented cube available retail! This is a big deal for FMC and ease of use.

The Giiker Cube, a Bluetooth instrumented cube with an app that can follow it, is available as of August 2018 at speedcubeshop.com and thecubicle.us for $42 or so.

I've always been interested in variants of FMC, and of combined FMC and speedsolving. Instead of a written scramble and an hour, you could get a scrambled cube and five minutes to do a fewest-moves solve. Or, you could have a speedsolving competition where you're penalized N seconds per move, for various N, providing a smooth spectrum between FMC and speedsolving.

With a bit of straightforward software work (Lucas Garron has already connected the Giiker Cube with Chrome, see https://bluetooth.cubing.net/ ) we'll be able to try out FMC variants like this, with fairly easy logistics and no custom hardware. Sweet!
 
Marc Ringuette said:
There's now an instrumented cube available retail! This is a big deal for FMC and ease of use.

The Giiker Cube, a Bluetooth instrumented cube with an app that can follow it, is available as of August 2018 at speedcubeshop.com and thecubicle.us for $42 or so.

I've always been interested in variants of FMC, and of combined FMC and speedsolving. Instead of a written scramble and an hour, you could get a scrambled cube and five minutes to do a fewest-moves solve. Or, you could have a speedsolving competition where you're penalized N seconds per move, for various N, providing a smooth spectrum between FMC and speedsolving.

With a bit of straightforward software work (Lucas Garron has already connected the Giiker Cube with Chrome, see https://bluetooth.cubing.net/ ) we'll be able to try out FMC variants like this, with fairly easy logistics and no custom hardware. Sweet!
Click to expand...
Lucas Garron showed me the Giiker Cube during Euro 2018 and we discussed a few ideas in very quick bursts. We both agree that theoretically this can revolutionize FMC, but for now I don't have any practical idea that could work. Cheating is an obvious issue (either by having a solver on your receiving device, or by sending the data to another person with the receiver). At the moment the only real use I could find for the Giiker Cube would be to have:
* (Unofficial) Online competitions that could be verified
* Great for statistics, gathering practice information
* Guaranteed correct scrambling
 
Weird 28 I got yesterday:

scramble: R' U' F B D2 L' D' L2 F' L2 B R' L2 U' B2 U D2 L2 F2 D2 B2 D2 B2 R' U' F

solution: R' L2 B U2 B L U F2 L' D2 L D2 R D' L' D R' L F R' D' R D F' D' F U2 B'

explanation:

R' L2 //1x1x3
B U2 B //"inner" 1x1x3
L //1x2x3 (so far 7 moves)

switch (the fun begins :) )

B U2 //pseudo-2x2x3 (premove=U') (basically 2x2x3 done in 9 moves)

now here it kinda looks terrible, so I tried randomly picking edges and corners to pair and got this:

F' D F //pair

now watch what happens when I do EO while preserving the pair I just made:

D' R' D R F' //EO+PSEUDO-F2L (premove=F2) (dafuq was that?!)

now we have solved F2L in 18 moves. Guess what case I got for LL?

L' R D' L D R' D2 L' D2 L //LL in 10 moves (which is actually just the COLL xD)

yeah, that was a really weird solve. PB is 27.
 
Today I did a solve worth sharing, in my opinion. What I like the most about it is that I have found a nice 24 in 10 minutes, but then I kept trying and I managed to improve it to a 22 first, and then to a 21.

Spoiler alert: German forum weekly competition, first scramble.

Scramble: R' U' F L2 B2 R2 B2 R2 D2 B' F' U' L D F R B' R' F R' D U' B2 R' U' F
Solution: B U2 R F L' R2 D' L' D L' F2 B2 R B2 U' F2 U B2 U' F2 L' (21)

I have found this start very quickly (2 minutes):

B * U2 R F //EO (4/4)
L' F2 B2 //Blocks (3/7)
L2 U' R' L' + //3c3e (4/11)

And I went for insertions right away:

* = B D B' U2 D2 F D' F' U2 D2 (7)
+ = R U2 R' D' R U2 R' D (6)

Then I tried other stuff, but I didn't find anything as good. An interesting "all but 8 corners" in 9 moves, but with 4 corner comms needed.
Then I went through my skeleton again to see if I could find something better, and I did:

B U2 R F //EO as before (4/4)
L' R D' R' //Different stuff (4/8)
F2 B2 //Blocks (2/10)
L U L U' R' L' //3c (6/16)

At this point I noticed something. My two skeletons shared not only the start, but also the last 3 moves (U' R' L'). So I decided to use them as premoves:

Premoves: U' R' L' (3/3)
B U2 R F //Same start (4/7)
L' R2 //All but 3 corners, 4 edges and 4 centers (2/2)

Edges and centers can be solved with setup + S2, which is actually what I did before. However, now I see that there is a better spot to do this and save one move:

B U2 R F L' R2 // (6/6)
D' L' R' //Premoves (pseudo centers change U to D) (3/9)
R D L' F2 B2 R * U' L' // = [R D L': S2], solves edges and centers, 2 moves cancel (6/15)

* = B2 U' F2 U B2 U' F2 U //Corner comm (6/21)
 
tl;dr: what is parity in FMC?

I've sometimes seen people use the term "parity" in an FMC solve to refer to a skeleton (I think) where they end up with 2 edges unsolved (and some number of corners, presumably).

I'm wondering two things:

1. Is this an accepted definition?
2. Do we understand much about how this kind of parity works? The reason I'm asking is that I sometimes find I get to a point in a solve where things look very promising, but no matter what I do I always end up with 2 edges and some (>2) number of corners left to solve. Is this a real phenomenon, or am I just dreaming it...? For more background, I think this happens after an EO start.
 
bubbagrub said:
tl;dr: what is parity in FMC?

I've sometimes seen people use the term "parity" in an FMC solve to refer to a skeleton (I think) where they end up with 2 edges unsolved (and some number of corners, presumably).

I'm wondering two things:

1. Is this an accepted definition?
2. Do we understand much about how this kind of parity works? The reason I'm asking is that I sometimes find I get to a point in a solve where things look very promising, but no matter what I do I always end up with 2 edges and some (>2) number of corners left to solve. Is this a real phenomenon, or am I just dreaming it...? For more background, I think this happens after an EO start.
Click to expand...
1. I mean, if everyone understands it, that's as "accepted" as it can be… (Also, two edges swapped, not merely unsolved. Cases with two edges flipped shouldn't be considered "parity", although they're just about as bad.)

2. If you do EO but not at the very beginning, you can usually do it in many different ways and end up with different edge permutations, some of which will have nice continuations and some of which don't. Conversely, if EO is done right at the start and you preserve it throughout, that limits the kinds of moves you can make and it's harder to influence EP. That said, I don't think this is a huge effect (if it's real at all), so it's probably all in your mind.
 
I have found a fairly interesting skeleton from the weekly FMC scramble which uses keyhole, but unfortunately I couldn't get a solution out in time (always do a back-up solution!) so I want to post it here:

Scramble: U2 L2 R F' D2 L' R2 F2 D2 L F R L2 B D' R2 U B F L2

F' B2 R' // EO [3/3]
U B' F2 U' L2 // 2x2x2 + F2L edges -1 [5/8]
U D2 B' U' B // Keyhole [5/13]
D2 B' U2 B // AB4C [4/17]

IF gives 28 moves.

Also, is there any well known way to get faster at finding insertions?
 
ChrisCuber123 said:
GA Cubers Mountain Trip finals scramble 3...
I'm lost for words
R' U' F D B D R2 U B' U2 R2 L' D' R2 F' D2 F' L2 F' R2 B U2 D2 R' U' F

F D B D * // EO2x2x2
L' U2 L F2 // 2x2x3
U' R2 U' R U' R' // L3C
*: D' L' U2 L D L' U2 L (8-8 wtf)
final solution: F D B L' U2 L D F2 U' R2 U' R U' R' (14)
Click to expand...

Wow...

Too bad no one found that, but it's probably for the better. If the FMC world record were to drop to 14 then <0.1% of scrambles would even had a shot at tying it. We'd have to seriously reconsider the way we define the world record single in the event, or else it'd become essentially infeasible to match or break.
 
FMC Southeast Asia, 27.00 mean, 2nd place:

1) 28
R' U' F L2 B2 U2 F2 R2 D2 R2 B R2 F2 D' L' R2 B' D2 B' D2 U R F R' U' F

(B')//eo lul (1/1)
U' B2 L//2 squares (3/4)
R' D R U (U2)//2x2x3 (5/9)
(L F2 L2 F2) F2//F2L-1 (5/14)
L U L' U' L2 U L U' L//3C (9/23)

U' B2 L R' D R U F2 L U L' U' L2 U L U' L F2 L2 F2 * L' U2 B
*=F' L' B' L F L' B L (8-3/28)

1 move eo lol, found another 28 with 22 to 3c but it didn't work when I wrote it down so I used this instead.

2) 25
R' U' F R2 F L2 F' U2 F U2 F D L D' F D2 L B F D2 F D2 R' U' F

(L' R' U')//eo (3/3)
(D2 L' R' F')//2x2x2 (4/7)
(L' B2 L' B' L')//3E4C (5/12)
L * B ** L B2 L F R L D2 U R L
*=F' L F L'//to 3e3c (4/16)
**=B R2 *** B' L B R2 B' L' (8-4/20)
***=D2 R2 U2 F R2 D2 L2 B (8-3/25)

Final: L F' L F L' B2 R2 D2 R2 U2 F R2 D2 L' B R2 B L F R L D2 U R L

First time doing 3 insertions in a solve
Actually I noticed this in the last minute but couldn't find any way to finish in time:

(L' R' U')//eo (3/3)
(D2 L' R' F')//2x2x2 (4/7)
(L' B2 L' B')//4E4C (4/11)

I had a look at home and I found this quite quickly:

* B L B2 L F R L D2 U R L
*=
B2 U' B2 U B2//cfop (5/16)
U' L U' L' U L U//ll skip (7/23)

Would have given me the win...

3) 28
R' U' F R' U2 B2 U2 F2 L' R2 F2 R2 D2 U F' L R F2 R U L D F2 R' U' F

D' (L B2 D)//EO (4/4)
(R F' L B')//2x2x2 (4/8)
(R)//square (1/9)
(U F R)//more blocks, breaking EO (3/12)
(B U B' U' F2 U'//F2L-1 (6/18)
(R2 U' R2 U)//3C (4/22)
(R D L2 D' R' D L2 D')//comm (8-2/28)

Final: L2 D' R D L2 D' R' U' R2 U R2 U F2 U B U' B' R' F' U' R' B L' F R' D' B2 L'

I found this 3c literally in the last 2 minutes and luckily optimal was right at the end so I got it. Before I had a 29 with 23 to 3E
 
BenBergen said:
Wow...

Too bad no one found that, but it's probably for the better. If the FMC world record were to drop to 14 then <0.1% of scrambles would even had a shot at tying it. We'd have to seriously reconsider the way we define the world record single in the event, or else it'd become essentially infeasible to match or break.
Click to expand...
Does it matter how you define the single? If someone gets a 14 they deserve it regardless of how hard it will be to beat or tie
 
Underwatercuber said:
Does it matter how you define the single? If someone gets a 14 they deserve it regardless of how hard it will be to beat or tie
Click to expand...

Maybe I worded that poorly...

I'm not saying they wouldn't deserve it. I just think it would make the FMC single WR meaningless, even more so than the 2x2 WR single already is. If someone is truly the best in the world at something they should have a reasonable chance at setting the world record, not necessarily on any given solve, but at least over the course of their career. The best FMC solver in the world could go their entire life without ever getting an official scramble where optimal is 14 moves or less. So even though a 14 would definitely be a world record in the sense of "the best ever official result", the world record itself would lose significance because any attempt to set it would become a pointless endeavor.

Edit: oh lol, just saw the previous post.
 
inv:
R2
or
inv: F


form pairs. however they don't lead to anything great, found a 7 move 222 by the 2nd one when i nissed. However I found this:
U R' D' L B L F B' D B2//223
I will try and build on this

E: Continuation: (F' R2 F R D' R' D2 R2 D R D' R' D R2)AB3C

IF gives 30. Better than nothing lol
Lucas Wesche said:
Could someone help me with this scramble?

R' U' F L2 R2 F2 D' L2 B2 D' U2 F2 L U2 B' U' R' F' L2 F L D2 F2 R' U' F

I've tried several things, but I didn't find anything good
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
My solves from FMC Americas :)

(R B') // sqr + pair, 2
(L D' L' U F) // 2nd sqr, 7
(U F R2 F R' U2 L') U' // F2L-1, 15
B U B U' L U' L' U B // L3C, 24

skeleton:
U'
B U B U' L U' L' U B
L U2 R . F' R2 F' U'
F' U' L D L'
B R'

Insert R' U2 R D R' U2 R D' at . cancelling 4 moves
first, find
U2 F' R' F' // 222, 4

then insert a move to get
U2 F' R' U2 F' // 222 + pair, 5
which leads to an 8-move 223

then I played around to try to get the WG edge to behave nicely, and instead came up with
U2 F D . F2 R' U2 F' // 222 + 2 pairs, 7
L B2 L2 U2 B2 // F2L-1 + 2 pairs, 12
B U .. L U' L' B' U // 3E3C, 18

Insert U' F2 R2 B2 D' B2 R2 F2 at . cancelling 3 moves
Insert U' L' D' L U L' D L at .. cancelling 3 moves
(D' B') // sqr + pair, 2
(U L) // 123, 4

then insert a move, hoping for good pseudo-blocks

(D' F B' U L) // 123 + 2 pairs, 5
(U L2 U2 D') U' D // F2L-cross edge, 11
R2 // 3C5E (both single cycles), 12

skeleton:
U' D R2
D U2 L2 U' L' U' B F' D .

Insert U [R .. B F' U' B' F] U' at . // 1 move setup to U M' U' M for the 5-cycle of edges lol
Insert R2 F L2 F' R2 F L2 F' at .. cancelling 2 moves
 
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