Rubik's Cube Solvers

Solving the Rubik's Cube using the Mindstorms NXT has always been a pivotal point in a builder's career. This guy has gotten pass this point, but he still amazes us with his newer and newer machines. His new robot solves the cube much faster, but still uses the Nokia N95 to take pics of the cube. Here it is.


Pretty neat, huh? I have not seen anything faster than this yet. I also got the Lego Mindstorms NXT Thinking Robots book, but I have yet to build the solver yet. Have any of you seen a robot faster at solving the Rubik's Cube than this?

Robotic Arm Challenge

This is the new challenge on the NXTLog that ends February 28, 2010. It has 4 categories.

• JUST FOR FUN--A robot built for pure creative purposes.
• DEGREES OF FREEDOM--How many degrees of freedom does your robot have? How many motors are used?
• INDUSTRIAL--Does your robot perform a function that is used in industries?
• BIONIC ARM--Is your robot suite for the human arm as an extension or replication of the arm itself?

This is an interesting challenge, as there are 2 main challenges: the industrial and bionic robots. The # of DoF's in a robot are a natural plus. I have built a robot and programmed a robot for this challenge, but I have yet to find the time to test it.

There is one project that to me, really stands out. If you have the time, I suggest checking out brdavis42's "PnP" on the NXTLog. A simple, clean, and quite efficient robot, this robot is a nice example to those who plant to build an industrial bot.

* All credit for info and movie of the PnP goes to brdavis42