Another 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube

I lost my camera on the way back from China to Singapore, so there are no photos from the CMO trip. The above cube (solving method is the same as 3x3x3 Rubik's cube) was bought in China at 15 RMB, which is about S$3.

Videos on 6x6x6 and 7x7x7 V-cubes

These 2 videos were created by Quek Yu Han from NUS High.

V-Cube

A V-Cube 6 is the 6x6x6 version of the Rubik's cube, while a V-Cube 7 is the 7x7x7 version. Unlike the flat-sided V-Cube 6, the V-Cube 7 is slightly rounded. Due to its design, the corner pieces will drop out if it's a true cube shape hence it is impossible to construct a 7x7 with uniform pieces.

The V-Cube 7 consists of 218 unique miniature cubes ("cubies") on the surface. There are 8 corner cubelets, 60 edge cubelets and 150 center cubelets (6 fixed, 144 movable).

My NUS High senior, Nicholas Ho, has a 6x6x6 and a 7x7x7. I think he bought a package comprising a 5x5x5, a 6x6x6 and a 7x7x7 for a few hundred dollars from the Internet. I hope to have a 6x6x6 or a 7x7x7 :-)

I heard there is a V-Cube 11, but i have never seen it before.

Rubik's Cube Competition

I made 3 new friends at the Rubik's Cube Competition organised by Toysrus yesterday. They were all professional cube solvers apparently much faster than me. They were Nicholas Ho, Yuan Chen Yang (both my seniors from NUS High, M08306 and M08302 respectively) and Hai Xiang from Commonwealth Sec School. All of them were friendly and gave me some tips on how to smoothen the cube and solve it faster. Chen Yang lent me his 3x3 cube which was smoother than mine, Nicholas also lent me an even smoother one during 3x3 round 1.

During the 2x2 challenge, I broke my personal record with a 14 sec, obviously not good enough to get into the top 3. For the 3x3 round 1, I again broke my record with a 27.91 sec, where my average time during practice was about 40 sec! However, there were people who could solve it in less than 20 secs. For the 4x4, I broke my own record again in 2 min 22 secs (usually I took about 3 mins). Nicholas was top in the 4x4 with 1 min 38 sec. I think he had won himself $300.

After the 3x3 round 2 which I took 34 sec, I went home knowing that I could not win one of the top 3 prizes. Anway, I have not done some of my holidays homework. TEEHEE!

Rubik's Cube Qualifying Round and NJRC 2008

This afternoon at 3.30 pm I took part in the Rubik's Cube 3x3 qualifying round at Suntec Entertainment Centre. The organiser announced that there were about 300 participants and only the first 100 fastest players would qualify for the final tomorrow. Each group of 8 was called on stage to solve the 3x3. I was in group 2. I was quite nervous and made several mistakes in turning the cube. My timing - an outrageous 56 sec! (usually I took 30 - 40+ sec to solve 3x3).

My sister, Lim Min, and her friends - my senior Nicky from NUS High, Derek from HCI and Jeremey from RV, took part in the NJRC (National Junior Robotics Competition) 2008 held at Science Centre today. They have worked for the past few weeks on their Saving Earth robot, and last night they camped at my house till this morning 6 am, before rushing to Science Centre for the competition. Guess what they won? 2nd in the Open Category! They were very disappointed, as they were 1st in the last two years. They missed the chance to represent Singapore in the World Robot Olympiad (WRO2008) to be held at Japan!

At about 8.45 pm I received a call from Toysrus that I have qualified for the 3x3 finals tomorrow. So I have 3 competitions tomorrow - 9.30 am for 2x2, 11.30 am for 3x3 finals, and 1.30 pm for 4x4.

Rubik Unassembled

I am bored with playing Rubik. So I decided to dismantle it, to see what's inside.

I assembled it back. Now I am going to dismantle my 5x5 Professor Cube.

Yay, I just received my Megaminx! Now I am going to have fun playing this new toy.

My Rubik Puzzles

Below are the rubik's cubes I have:

Original 3x3 Rubik Cube. This is the first cube I have, years ago. My record is about 1.5 mins.
4x4 Rubik Revenge / Master Cube. My mother bought this for me after PSLE. Now, one piece at a corner broke off as I have played it so many times - my record is 4.5 mins.

5x5 Professor Cube. My mother bought this for me after I am tired of playing the Revenge Rubik. Similarly, one cube at the corner has broken as it was "over-played". My record is 10 mins. There are no 6x6 and 7x7 cubes available, however, I have tried them on the GabbaSoft Cube (a software - you can turn using a mouse click). My record for 6x6 is about 10 mins, and 7x7 is 30 mins.

Snake Cube / Kevskube. My mother's friend gave her as a birthday present many years ago.

Braintwist. My mother bought this for me at the Science Centre, last Dec.

Bandage Cube / Bicube. I used one of my existing 3x3, pasted stickers over it and I have constructed the Bandage Cube!

Square-1. My mother bought this for me from ebay - Hong Kong. It costs about $8.

Megaminx. My mother has ordered this from ebay - China. About $20. I have not received it yet.

Pyraminx. I don't have this, anyone giving this to me?

Rubik's cube

It took me quite a long time to master the 3x3x3 rubik's cube. Natasha can also solve it. I finally am able to remember the steps to do it. Initially it took me at least 5 minutes to complete it, now I can do it in about 3 minutes.

Just a few days ago, my mother bought me a 4x4x4 rubik's cube (Rubik's Revenge). I didn't ask her to, but she bought it anyway. It cost $23.90 while the 3x3x3 cost only from $1 (lousy quality) to $9.90 (Rubik original). The steps were rather complicated but I still managed to complete it. Now my record is about 10 minutes.

Yesterday, my mother bought another one. You've guessed it, it's 5x5x5 (Professor's Cube). There was no solution booklet that came with it and the cube itself was rather uneven or crooked, and difficult to turn. It cost $27.90! Every turn I made, my hand hurt. However, I applied some of the 4x4x4 rubik's cube rules to solve it. It took me like 3 hours to complete it for the first time! Now I can solve it much faster (less than 30 minutes)!

Anyway, there are still so many more kinds of "rubik's cubes", as you can see below.