List of cube solving robots
Constructing a robot capable of solving a Rubik's cube "on its own" has been a popular challenge for engineers, with many different designs over the years.
Contents
Deep Cube
Creator: Evan Gates
Year: 2004
Puzzle: 3x3x3
Solution Method: ?
Mechanism: 6 arms (6DOF)
CubeStormer
Creator: Mike Dobson
Year: 2010
Puzzle: 3x3x3
Solution Method: Kociemba
Mechanism: LEGO MINDSTORMS RCX, Four orthogonal turning arms (8 DOF)
Rowan University Cube Solving Machine (?)
Creators: Zach Grady and Joe Ridgeway (at Rowan University)
Year: 2010
Puzzle: 3x3x3
Solution Method: ?
Full Solve Time: ~15 seconds
Mechanism: PLC and aluminum parts, cube turning on a corner base and an extending "stepper" (3 DOF)
Thread Demonstration Interview
ARM Powered LEGO/Nokia 4x4x4 Rubik's Cube Solver
Creator: David Gilday (ARM Principal Engineer)
Year: 2009
Puzzle: 4x4x4
Solution Method: creator's own table driven algorithm
Full Solve Time: 19min for 4x4x4
Mechanism: Symbian phone (with Java app) controlling LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT y-turntable, hinged hold/lift and x-spin (3 DOF)
ARM Speedcuber
Creator: David Gilday (ARM Principal Engineer)
Year: 2010
Puzzle: 3x3x3
Solution Method: creator's own 2-phase algorithm
Full Solve Time: 15s ("for a good solve")
Mechanism: Android phone (native app in C++), LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, Four arms (6 DOF)
Video of Demonstration at ARM Techcon 2010
ARM Powered LEGO/Nokia 4x4x4 Rubik's Cube Solver
ARM Powered Android LEGO MultiCuber 777
Creator: David Gilday (ARM Principal Engineer)
Year: 2010
Puzzle: 7x7x7
Solution Method: creator's own generic table driven algorithm capable of solving any cube size
Full Solve Time: 40min for a 7x7x7
Mechanism: Android phone (Java app), LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, Vertical arm with x pivot and y-rotating cage. (3 DOF)
Video of a 7x7x7 Solve Blog Post by David
ARM Powered Android Megaminxer
Creator: David Gilday (ARM Principal Engineer)
Year: 2010
Puzzle: Megaminx
Solution Method: creator's own table driven algorithm
Full Solve Time: 8mins
Mechanism: Android phone (Java app), LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, Vertical arm with x pivot, y-spin and y-rotating cage. (3 DOF)
Video of Megaminx solve Blog Post by David
RuBot
Creators: Pete Redmond (from Dublin, Ireland)
Year: 2006
Puzzle: 3x3x3
Solution Method: ?
Full Solve Time: ?
Mechanism: Two perpendicular arms (4 DOF)
RuBot Prototype RuBot II Demonstration
Robot Ruby
Creators: David Bain, Richard Bain, Daniel Purvis, Jarrod Boyes, Miriam Parkinson and Jonathan Goldwasser (Swinburne University of Technology)
Year: 2011
Solution Method: Kociemba
Full Solve Time: ~10s (including inspection)
Mechanism: Two perpendicular arms (4 DOF)
Thread Robot Ruby Demonstration (with a timer that counts frames instead of 100ths of a second?) Article on the Swinburne Website Article from The Age
CubeStormer II
Creator: Mike Dobson and David Gilday
Year: 2011
Puzzle: 3x3x3
Solution Method: David Gilday's two-phase algorithm
Full Solve Time (including inspection): (unofficial) best 4.762s, average ~5.9s (200 solves)
Guinness World Record: 5.270s set on 11th Nov 2011 at Wired.co.uk (Article and video)
Mechanism: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT and Samsung GALAXY S II smartphone. Four orthogonal turning arms (8 DOF)
CubeStormer II (YouTube video)
CubeStormer II - Seeing is Believing (YouTube video)
This is AMAZING! The CubeStormer ll breaks world record at ARM TechCon 2011 (YouTube video)
CubeStormer II - David Gilday & Mike Dobson - ARM TechCon 2011 (YouTube video)
Solving the Rubik's Cube - ARM TechCon 2011 - David Gilday talks with Tomas Rokicki (YouTube video)
MindCuber
Creator: David Gilday
Year: 2011
Puzzle: 3x3x3 and Void Cube
Solution Method: 9 stage table driven
Full Solve Time (including inspection): average around 1m55s (2m30s with published software)
Mechanism: constructed from just a single LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 kit. One pull/push tilt arm and turntable (2?DOF)
MindCuber (YouTube video)
ARM Powered® MindCuber solves Void Cube (YouTube video)
MindCuber bonus model build instructions on LEGO MINDSTORMS site
MindCuber home page
