Cadence's R&D engineers create Rubik's cube-solving Lego robot

Ever frustrated over not being able to solve that freakishly difficult Rubik’s Cube? The dudes at Cadence Design Systems have figured out an easy solution. Well, if you can’t solve ‘em, make a robot that solves ‘em. And wait, did we forget to mention, the robot is made from Lego mindstorms! The brain is actually a single SVA assertion that is solved in an instant by Incisive Formal Verifier (IFV). What?

You'll have to get more of the Lego robots to solve all these variants

Let's make this a little simpler. Basically, the robot scans each of the 6 faces, and 54 cubelets of the cube and translates them into an array. The data is computed by a software algorithm that models the cube as a Verilog array of 54 consecutive numbers. Based on the results, the cube is then moved in the appropriate direction by the robot to solve the puzzle. Using Cadence's ‘Incisive Formal Verifier’ verification tool, the robot decodes the faces of the cube and solves it in over three minutes. The robot design was taken from here.    

Besides the robot designing part, the entire task does seem pretty easy. Get a Rubik’s cube (unsolved, preferably!), give it to the robot and voila! Hit the video after the break to see how the Lego robot flexes its puzzle-solving muscles.