Carinthia Creates Hands-Off Rubik’s Cube Solver

Forty-three quintillion (that is 18 zeros) possible positions. One final solution. This is the challenge of the Rubik’s Cube – a challenge that can take hours or even days to meet. Five students at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences in Austria decided to build a completely automated system to solve the puzzle. The students designed, prototyped, and deployed their Rubik’s Cube Solver, RuCuS, using National Instruments LabVIEW graphical programming software, NI CompactRIO hardware for precise gripper and motor control, and NI Compact Vision System along with a Sony DFW-VL500 IEEE 1394 camera to detect initial position. RuCuS uses an algorithm that can solve any Rubik’s Cube in fewer than 26 moves or less than two minutes, making it one of the world’s fastest Rubik’s Cube solvers. The university has applied to the Guinness Book of World Records for the title of World’s Fastest Solver.

The above diagram illustrates the RuCuS data flow used to solve the Rubik’s Cube puzzle.

Figure 1 shows an overview of the complete RuCuS system. The NI CVS-1455 performs image processing and analysis. The initial position output string is sent via Ethernet to the NI cRIO-9004, which houses the solving algorithm and robotic control subsystems. After the solving algorithm computes the necessary movements to solve the puzzle, NI LabVIEW passes this information to the robotic control, which interconnects to the mechanical grippers and motors using digital and analog I/O lines.

Learn more about National Instruments signal and image processing resources.

This article first appeared in the Q4 2006 issue of Instrumentation Newsletter.

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