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World's First Skewb Solving Robot (Known)

NewCuber000

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2014
Messages
426
Location
Atlantic Canada
WCA
2014BOUD01
Hi all,

Here is Skewbot, our second year engineering design project. I designed this robot along with Matthew Hill, Matthew Kneed-Teed, Jiang Yuan and Matthew Pierre. It was done using Max Jiang's (turtwig's) solving code. It uses a programmable Arduino and a ton of 3-D printed parts. Unfortunately, it's not completely automated yet (The camera that we're using to read in the colours isn't completely functional so, for now, I have to input the solving algorithm into the code manually). But I still think it's pretty cool. :p

Here is the video of it working:
 
Last edited:

NewCuber000

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2014
Messages
426
Location
Atlantic Canada
WCA
2014BOUD01
Nice! Keep working on the camera; feels incomplete until that's done. But it is very nice - now I finally understand how it works. Very clever.

Yeah, I don't think it should be too difficult to get the camera working. It's just hard to get consistent pixel values so that we can determine which colour each sticker is, especially since it depends so much on the lighting conditions of the room it's in. I think I'm going to play around with the code this summer; one of my professors gave me a better idea which would be less finicky, that uses ratios instead of the actual RGB values.

As for having the Arduino (Motor control), Python (Camera Control), and Javascript (Solving Code) programs that we're using somehow communicate with each other... that's a different story. The Python and Javascript codes are able to communicate in that if we were getting the correct colour values from the camera, I would be able to send the correct solving algorithm to Python. Then I just have to figure out how to send the solving algorithm, a string of characters, from Python to Arduino - which is possible, but surprisingly difficult. But I'll probably come up with something in a few months or so.
 
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