Posted on 05/31/2011 7:40:54 PM PDT by rawhide
A robot that can solve the Rubik's Cube in just over ten seconds has been developed by scientists.
The android - called Ruby - first scans the initial status of the scrambled cube before setting to work. She is able to both survey and solve the iconic puzzle in 10.18 seconds.
Developed by six engineering and science students at Swinburne University Of Technology in Melbourne, Ruby was built from scratch as their final year project.
Professor Chris Pilgrim, of Swinburne University, said: 'Ruby works by scanning each face of a scrambled cube 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.'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWtBTKpWVXk&feature=player_embe dded
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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.
Ken Jennings - Jeopardy...my hero. I don’t care what computer whipped his as$. Human example of a mind full of useful, important and interesting knowledge...ahhhhh, man crush on the brain.
Rubik’s cube world record by a human: 6.24 seconds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIvHw17vuGU
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!
Every possible combination can be solved with at most 20 moves.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10929159
“HTC Desire solves dodecahedron Rubik’s Cube, will blow your mind” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-S30fS944M&feature=player_embedded#at=128
lol...I always love that line.
lol!
It’s made as a teaching tool.
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:
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