Gee, don't I feel like wasted efforts surround me?
I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords.
That was fun.
It shouldn’t be surpising. The fact there are step by step instructions on how to solve Rubik’s cube means it is a programmable algorithm.
Then it is a matter of manipulation and some basic optical acuity.
I am not a robotics/AI guy (I checked into it and the math was cool but just not up my alley). But this is great to see and, as with so many basic things technological, a stepping stone to what we will no doubt soon call astonishing!
With the way the hands worked and the way that the student set that one up, I wonder a bit how it would do on one that I scrambled.
I often wondered what the upper bound on the minimum number of moves was. I remember memorizing the solution when I was a kid, but it was probably 100 moves or so. (Get all one layer right, then the 2nd layer, then the top layer.) The sequences for keeping the lower layers intact while working on the 2nd and 3rd layers were complicated — maybe 10 moves or so each.
But I thought the optimal solution was probably a lot lower than that.
I wonder what it cost to develop that machine.
Are there really that many Rubic’s cubes out ther waiting to be solved to make this thing a worthwhile investment.
It’s a great piece of amusement, but is it really cost effective?
In my early teens, I smashed one against the wall and put it back together in the proper order.
The goal was to have each side one solid color. I met the objective.
Worst case scenario for me only takes about 20 minutes, but only because the cube doesn't always line up just right as I turn each level.
Now, if they could do the Rubik Duodecahedron, THAT would be something to write home about!
So what does the robot do with all the time it’s saved? Work Sukoku puzzles in a few milliseconds?
Now, here's another one. IT's a lot slower, but it is just really simple, and works entirely from the Lego Mindstorms brick, without hundreds of dollars of lego parts or a personal computer:
I never broke 60 seconds.
Wonder if I still remember the moves.
When I was in high school in the early 70s, someone on the bus handed me their Rubik’s Cube. I solved it and gave it back. I’m pretty sure it took more than 10.18 sec. though. I’m also outstanding with mazes. Don’t ask me how I do it. I couldn’t tell you. If only the skills would translate into gardening....
Robot breaks open Obummer`s forged birth certificate by solving iconic puzzle of pdf layers in just 10 seconds (youtube link)
Professor Chris Pillgrin, of Sweinhunt University, said: ‘Buby works by scanning each face of a scrambled Bum through a webcam.
‘It then uses a software algorithm to develop a solution which is fed to the high-speed robot through a real-time embedded control system which is connected to a teleprompter in Kenya.’
I think it is awesome. No, it doesn’t have actual real-world value, but these are students. They will graduate, and be able to apply the knowledge of translating an algorithm into a real-time system. There were some cool controls going on. They had to have working knowledge of the algorithm itself, the webcam, the pattern recognition of the colors from the webcam to feed into the algorithm, the control of the robot arms to move the cube, plus more that I can’t think of this early. Clearly I am easily entertained.