RailCube, the World's First Coreless 3x3! (V1)

Kapusta · **Posted:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:45 pm

VIDEO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7OHgg94W-w

~~~

This concept was discussed a while ago at this thread:

viewtopic.php?t=6187

I began work on it in early October in this thread:

viewtopic.php?t=15020

This puzzle has, in actuality, been finished since the beginning of March, but I only just got around to posting it.

I give you... the RailCube!

Attachment:

Photo 156.jpg [ 59.22 KiB | Viewed 2714 times ]

Attachment:

Photo 157.jpg [ 61.17 KiB | Viewed 2714 times ]

Attachment:

Photo 155.jpg [ 57.83 KiB | Viewed 2714 times ]

The RailCube is the first ever 3x3 to be constructed without the use of a core. It does so by turning on rails on the centers and edges, which fit into slots on the corners and edges. (Note that the edge has both rails and slots.) The color scheme is red across from green, blue across from orange, and yellow across from purple.

Attachment:

File comment: Midway through a turn

Photo 158.jpg [ 39.81 KiB | Viewed 2714 times ]

Attachment:

File comment: Turned once

Photo 159.jpg [ 35.99 KiB | Viewed 2714 times ]

There are a few issues with the mechanism, of course. It locks up far too often to be speedsolved, and has this popping issue:

Attachment:

Photo 160.jpg [ 37.03 KiB | Viewed 2714 times ]

This is only the first working prototype, and I may pursue this again later, whether on a 3x3 or something else.

Nkrasn11 · **Joined:** Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:21 pm **Location:** Earth

Brilliant! I love it.

RoboticFresca · **Posted:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:02 pm

That is awesome! But without the core, where will the rubik's seeds grow?

APJ · **Joined:** Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:09 pm **Location:** My House

Coreless 3x3x3!

Hopefully you can perfect the mechanism and sort out that popping. :wink:

Robotic Fresca wrote:

That is awesome! But without the core, where will the rubik's seeds grow?

I heard that Rubik's are bringing out The Soil in 2 or 3 months.

Alex

Sjoerd · **Posted:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:56 pm

Awesome concept! So this puzzle is made up of just 26 pieces? No screws or anything either?
Very cool!

MonkeyZ · **Joined:** Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:59 pm **Location:** NJ

Very interesting, no core... I wonder if this will work on a megaminx...

Logan Kelly · **Posted:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:42 pm

That's AWESOME!
It's very er... sturdy?...

RoboticFresca · **Posted:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:46 pm

Robotic Fresca wrote:

That is awesome! But without the core, where will the rubik's seeds grow?

I heard that Rubik's are bringing out The Soil in 2 or 3 months.

Alex[/quote]

Yes, but how will they form in the rubik's fruit without a core to hold them? Like a regular rubik's fruit, or an apple.

wwwmwww · **Posted:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:23 pm

Kapusta wrote:

This concept was discussed a while ago at this thread:

http://www.twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6187

GREAT Puzzle and I happen to like that link too.

Thanks for making this,
Carl

Luke · **Posted:** Sat Mar 27, 2010 2:27 am

That's really cool. Really clever too!

TomZ · **Posted:** Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:01 am

Quote:

While Okamoto's Void Cube does have the effect of having no inner core, it has hidden pieces on the inside, making it not completely coreless.

No, that's not true. The only reason there are hidden pieces on the void cube (other than the centers) is because the edges had to be split into 3 parts for injection moulding, but when the puzzle is assembled they function like one entity.

Kapusta · **Posted:** Sat Mar 27, 2010 12:04 pm

Video added!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7OHgg94W-w

Bram · **Posted:** Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:28 am

You could improve the working of this mechanism by making the center pieces be mounted so that they could rotate in place mounted on a single piece which kept their relative positions accurate.

Kapusta · **Posted:** Sun Jun 06, 2010 8:48 am

Sorry for the huge bump here. As you may know, I built this puzzle to be put into competition at a science fair. I didn't post here after the regional science fair, but although I have won one of the 1st place prizes in the past with an inferior project, I didn't win anything with this project at the regionals. (Two different, independent projects on "Which Mouthwash Works the Best" placed, one of which took first place.)

I got in contact with the State Science Fair through my school, as the school can send one student on their own to the fair. The State Fair was yesterday. I took one of around 15 second places and won $75. Not bad, considering I didn't know there were cash prizes!

Bram wrote:

You could improve the working of this mechanism by making the center pieces be mounted so that they could rotate in place mounted on a single piece which kept their relative positions accurate.

Wouldn't that piece that they are mounted to be a core? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding you.

EDIT: Also, the RailCube turns like 10x better now than it did in the video. I'm considering refilming it.

Bram · **Posted:** Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:53 pm

Kapusta wrote:

Bram wrote:

You could improve the working of this mechanism by making the center pieces be mounted so that they could rotate in place mounted on a single piece which kept their relative positions accurate.

Wouldn't that piece that they are mounted to be a core? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding you.

Geeze. If you make me explain the whole joke, then it won't be funny.

Congrats on the placement!

Kapusta · **Posted:** Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:33 pm

Bram wrote:

Kapusta wrote:

Bram wrote:

You could improve the working of this mechanism by making the center pieces be mounted so that they could rotate in place mounted on a single piece which kept their relative positions accurate.

Wouldn't that piece that they are mounted to be a core? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding you.

Geeze. If you make me explain the whole joke, then it won't be funny.

*subsequent palming of face*

RailCube, the World's First Coreless 3x3! (V1)

Who is online