Robotic Cuber : A Rubik´s Cube solving robot

Abstract: Since the 1970s, the Rubik’s Cube puzzle has intrigued millions of people. It did not take long until people tried to solve the cube as fast as possible, and started to compete. However, in recent years, a new trend of robots solving the cube has flourished. The purpose of this project was to investigate time and precision aspects of a Rubik’s cube solving robot. A four armed robot was designed and a system was built. The construction made it possible to first scan the cube using a webcam and solve the cube by letting the robot perform the movements necessary for solving. Differences in time for different scrambles was analyzed as well as the robot’s precision. Since the robot only had four arms, the results showed differences in turning the up- and downside of the cube. To get access to these sides, the robot had to perform a flip motion. Since the software used was not optimized to minimize these moves there were differences in solving time. Moreover, the robot’s precision differed depending on its setup and how fast it was programmed to go. Two different setups was compared, one being slow and having big margins between each move and the other one being more rapid. Both setups worked, although calibration was more crucial for the faster one.