Extreme Lego
Jonathan P. Brown, a hobby programmer, loves Lego.
In fact, he’s a bit obsessed. After all, he built a Lego robot that can solve the Rubik’s Cube.
For years, the Chicago architectural consultant has been fascinated by how the tiny bricks of plastic can be configured--and blended with robot components, microprocessors and motors--to create functional, and sometimes strange, creations.
On his site, at jpbrown.i8.com /index.html, Brown’s re-engineering has spawned an automated Lego rowboat, a Lego dog that fetches balls and a Lego robot that plays a toy xylophone.
But the star of this plastic show is CubeSolver, a Lego robot that can solve any given cube configuration in about 15 minutes. Made up of more than 1,100 plastic bricks, Brown first connects the CubeSolver to a PC through a USB port and launches a software program that can determine the various moves and color combinations.
Three Lego robot arms grip and maneuver the cube. The robot uses a camera to “read” each side of the cube and zap that information to the PC. The software then sends out the shortest list of moves to the CubeSolver’s microcomputer.
A few moves later, the Rubik’s Cube is as good as new.
Brown isn’t selling his CubeSolver, but he does give instructions on how to make your own. Check out the Lego Users Group Network at www.lugnet.com.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
