StressInABox

Have you ever thought about solving a Rubik's cube? well now you can. This robot solves the Rubik's cube for you. Its a combination of software and bunch of hardware.

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About

It is a Rubik's cube solving robot, that uses python for the brains of the operation and the arduino ide to talk to the hardware.

Inspiration

Rubik's cubes almost every single person recognizes but only a few people can solve it. A 3x3x3 rubiks cube have over 43 quintillion scrambles to it. But people who are are speedcubers can solve it in 20 moves. 20 moves is also called the God's number in cubing.

At nwhacks2026 we wanted to combinethe hardware and software to make a robot that can solve this rubiks cube in 20 moves are less.

What We Learned

This project pushed us across multiple domains:

  • How cube-solving algorithms (Kociemba’s algorithm) reduce a massive search space into an efficient solution
  • Real-world motor constraints, torque requirements, and power management
  • Serial communication between a Raspberry Pi and Arduino
  • Designing a mechanical system that must be precise, repeatable, and fast
  • Building a web-based UI that connects digital logic to physical motion

Most importantly, we learned how quickly theoretical ideas meet reality when hardware is involved.

Challenges We Faced

  • Motor selection: Servos and steppers behave very differently, and choosing the right one was critical
  • Mechanical alignment: Even small misalignments caused failed turns
  • Power spikes: Motors draw large currents, requiring careful power planning
  • Timing and coordination: Moves like R2 or consecutive face turns required precise control
  • 24-hour constraint: Balancing ambition with reliability was a constant challenge

what makes it different

Most of the Rubiks cube solvers use cubes are built for the solver only, so you cannot have different brand or model cube for the machine to solve it. So i think that is one of the things that make our project different. At the samew time as a future goal of this project is to add learning part to gui aswell instead having just the solving part. the learning part makes it better for the user since they can learn how to solve rubiks cube to by keep practicing the same algorithms, which can be easily scrambled by the robot instead of the user having to scramble it each and every time.

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