in reply to Rubik's Cube Solver

podmaster's comments asside, there are some invalid cube permutations that the solver evidently thinks are valid ... it just churns away trying to solve them -- presumably it will try forever (or untill the heat death of the universe, whichever comes first).

Example... 

       W W R
       W W R
       W W R

B B B  R R W  G G G  O O O
B B B  R R W  G G G  O O O
B B B  R R W  G G G  O O O

       Y Y Y
       Y Y Y
       Y Y Y

[download]

I also really love the way it finds a solution to cubes with a single twist using 91 moves... that just cracks me up... 

       W W W
       W W W
       W W W

R R R  G G G  O O O  B B B
B B B  R R R  G G G  O O O
B B B  R R R  G G G  O O O

       Y Y Y
       Y Y Y
       Y Y Y

[download]

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
OT: Invalid Pattern = Great Fun!
by BorgCopyeditor (Friar) on Aug 02, 2002 at 01:41 UTC

    Reminds me of 9th grade homeroom. For a brief, shining moment, obsessive geeks like myself could let it all hang out and earn the praise of fellow students.

    There were about four of us in my homeroom who could all do it in under a minute (how pubescent!). One trick was to swap two stickers before mixing up the cube and handing it to an adversary. Very nasty.

    OK, so those weren't really good days, after all; but solving the Cube first thing in the morning before an appreciative audience was still a nice way to start the day.

    BCE
    --Your punctuation skills are insufficient!

[reply]

In Section Code Catacombs