Alarm clock cube

qqwref · **Joined:** Sat Jan 22, 2005 12:12 pm **Location:** NY, USA

Nobody's brought this up yet but I am kind of worried about wear. On a normal cube, through doing hundreds of solves, the pieces get worn down a bit, and depending on the kind of electronics you put in this could prevent it from working properly. The contacts might not keep touching for instance; I know that on my cubes the pieces aren't always all touching each other, so if the contacts are on the surface of the pieces you might have a problem with the clock recognizing it's done when the cube is solved. (And yes, a *real* twisty puzzler would use it that much

)

One way I can think of to fix this problem would be to have a much simpler puzzle, or else a much tighter one. For example if you had a 1x1x3 (or a tight but very well-lubed 3x3) you would not have as much problem with wear. The idea of a maze cube type solution (with wires on the cube's exterior) could also nearly eliminate wear but you would have to find a way to ensure they connect. Finally it might be possible to use a different kind of circuit; for example you could have a very carefully designed set of mirrors and holes, and embed a laser in one center, so that when the cube is aligned the holes line up and the laser hits a receiver in another part of the cube (although this would be very reliant on exact positioning). It's a tricky idea, I'd like to see if someone can make a model which will work despite wear or misalignment.

TheCube · **Posted:** Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:30 am

qqwref wrote:

Nobody's brought this up yet but I am kind of worried about wear. On a normal cube, through doing hundreds of solves, the pieces get worn down a bit, and depending on the kind of electronics you put in this could prevent it from working properly. The contacts might not keep touching for instance; I know that on my cubes the pieces aren't always all touching each other, so if the contacts are on the surface of the pieces you might have a problem with the clock recognizing it's done when the cube is solved. (And yes, a *real* twisty puzzler would use it that much

)

One way I can think of to fix this problem would be to have a much simpler puzzle, or else a much tighter one. For example if you had a 1x1x3 (or a tight but very well-lubed 3x3) you would not have as much problem with wear. The idea of a maze cube type solution (with wires on the cube's exterior) could also nearly eliminate wear but you would have to find a way to ensure they connect. Finally it might be possible to use a different kind of circuit; for example you could have a very carefully designed set of mirrors and holes, and embed a laser in one center, so that when the cube is aligned the holes line up and the laser hits a receiver in another part of the cube (although this would be very reliant on exact positioning). It's a tricky idea, I'd like to see if someone can make a model which will work despite wear or misalignment.

maybe take an already lube and broken in cube for the alarm clock cube

JoeCube · **Posted:** Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:49 pm

qqwref wrote:

Nobody's brought this up yet but I am kind of worried about wear. On a normal cube, through doing hundreds of solves, the pieces get worn down a bit, and depending on the kind of electronics you put in this could prevent it from working properly. The contacts might not keep touching for instance; I know that on my cubes the pieces aren't always all touching each other, so if the contacts are on the surface of the pieces you might have a problem with the clock recognizing it's done when the cube is solved. (And yes, a *real* twisty puzzler would use it that much

)

One way I can think of to fix this problem would be to have a much simpler puzzle, or else a much tighter one. For example if you had a 1x1x3 (or a tight but very well-lubed 3x3) you would not have as much problem with wear. The idea of a maze cube type solution (with wires on the cube's exterior) could also nearly eliminate wear but you would have to find a way to ensure they connect. Finally it might be possible to use a different kind of circuit; for example you could have a very carefully designed set of mirrors and holes, and embed a laser in one center, so that when the cube is aligned the holes line up and the laser hits a receiver in another part of the cube (although this would be very reliant on exact positioning). It's a tricky idea, I'd like to see if someone can make a model which will work despite wear or misalignment.

Someone suggested to me a flexible large diameter fiber optic for the circuit; like this 10mm one: http://www.anchoroptics.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=446

An LED on one end and a light sensor on the other end.

trixter · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:14 pm

I don't know if anyone has seen this one before...I just found it on ebay and was only selling for like $20 USD + shipping

Quote:

The Amazing Clock is in the shape of a cube with a colourful design. The clock has a LCD displace screen, different to standard clocks and rotates at the top to show its features.

The features include:

1. Time Display- 12 and 24 hour AM/PM
2. Alarm Functions
3. Temperature Display- Degree Celsius or Fahrenheit
4. Set button plus Up and Down adjustment buttons

Batteries: 1AA (not included)

RubixCubix12 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:12 pm

I think they are selling an alarm clock cube
Someone tell me if I can post buy it nows here or not

Alarm clock cube

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