- Title: JAPAN: A Japanese robot solves Rubik's Cube
- Date: 30th December 2007
- Summary: ROBOT HOLDING UP SOLVED PUZZLE
- Embargoed: 14th January 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Science / Technology,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVADJOMQGWPOTCKJ29OUUYELU9OY
- Story Text: A Japanese robot comes to the aid of people who received Rubik's cubes for Christmas and need extra help, solving the cube in less than three minutes on average.
A Japanese robot comes to the aid of those who received a Rubik's Cube for Christmas and need extra help.
The robot "Cube kun", manufactured by Japan's leading industrial robot maker Kawasaki Heavy Industries, was recently showcased at Tokyo's TEPIA, a government-affiliated science museum.
For this robot, a Rubik's Cube can be solved without any trouble.
The company focuses on manufacturing sophisticated industrial robots, which is the company's main product.
For that reason, the robot is made using the technology and parts of existing industrial robots.
"This robot identifies the colours of all 54 squares in a cube and then finds the fastest way to restore the cube to its original state by rotating it with its hands," said Yoko Shinzeki, a spokeswoman for TEPIA.
The task of dismantling a Rubik's cube may appear simple at first, but it has an astonishing 43 quintillion (43,252,003,274,489,856,000) different configurations.
Though the robot may be slower than the smartest human cubers, it can solve any cube order in less than an average time of three minutes.
"It is surprising that this robot can solve any cubes, no matter how complicated they are shuffled," said 10-year-old Syota Shigenobu, one of the children who challenged it but lost.
"I can not solve a Rubik's cube by myself. So I know how the robot has been developed further than I thought to the point of solving the cube without difficulty," added 10-year-old Noriko Yagi.
The puzzle was invented in 1974 by Hungarian engineer Erno Rubik and reached a global craze in the early 1980s.
Though its popularity dropped partly due to the prosperity of video games and other high-tech gadgets, it is staging a comeback in recent years as an estimated nine million cubes were sold last year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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