Mechanical Rubik's Cube Solver

Overview

Built a physical Rubik's Cube solver with six stepper-motor-driven faces, motor-control circuitry, and a mouse-driven graphical UI layered on a bare-metal embedded system.

What I Built

• Six-motor physical cube solver with motorized face turns
• Motor execution logic for reliable face alignment
• C-based solving algorithm integration
• Mouse-driven graphical UI for entering scrambles
• Hardware/software stack layered on top of a custom embedded OS

Technical Details

The system used stepper motors and motor drivers to turn each face of a Rubik's Cube. The user entered arbitrary scrambles through a UI, after which the solving algorithm generated a move sequence and the motor-control code executed the turns mechanically. The project required integrating algorithmic logic, physical timing, motor sequencing, and hardware constraints.

My Role

Daniel focused on the embedded/electrical side, including motor-control circuitry, algorithm integration, UI integration, debugging, and reliable motor execution.

Challenges and Debugging

• Tuning motor timing for reliable turns
• Preventing face misalignment during fast execution
• Integrating the solving algorithm with physical motor commands
• Debugging motor driver behavior and hardware/software timing issues

Results

• Solved arbitrary UI-entered scrambles
• Mechanical solve time under 3 seconds from pressing solve to completion
• Reliable face-turn alignment at the demonstrated speed

Tools and Skills

Gallery