ZenDraL.NET » Rubiks Cube

Rubiks Cube – OLL Exercises

ZenDraL — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:45:26 +0000

In preparation for the daunting task of memorizing 53 OLL cases I have decided to create an OLL exercise web app.

You can move to the next exercise by hitting space.
If you go to a previous exercise that will change direction and pressing space will go backwards until you press next at which point the direction will change again.
There is a navigation menu below the buttons which will allow you to quickly select a case to switch to.
Due to popular demand there is now an option to always show the algorithm.
There are buttons to switch between images and names for the navigation menu.
Due to popular demand there is now an option to always show the algorithm.

Rubik’s Cube – PLL Exercises

ZenDraL — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:16:17 +0000

I've been working on my 1-Look PLL lately and find myself wanting to cycle through the PLL cases to practice. I decided to make a tiny web app to show the different cases while hiding the algorithms (with an option to reveal them if necessary).

You can move to the next exercise by hitting space.
If you go to a previous exercise that will change direction and pressing space will go backwards until you press next at which point the direction will change again.
There is a navigation menu below the buttons which will allow you to quickly select a case to switch to.
Due to popular demand there is now an option to always show the algorithm.
There are buttons to switch between images and names for the navigation menu.
Due to popular demand there is now an option to always show the algorithm.

Algorithms for Rotating the Centers in a Rubenking

ZenDraL — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:56:38 +0000

I recently made myself a Rubenking cube with stickers from CubeSmith and after solving most of the cube I got stuck with centers that were not aligned properly. Below are the algorithms I found for aligning the centers and completing my solution.

Note that these algorithms will work for picture cubes.

Case 1: Two centers with 90 degree rotations, hold on the piece that requires a clockwise rotation on the left and the piece that requires a counter-clockwise rotation on the up face and perform the following algorithm:

MR’ MU’ MR U MR’ MU MR U’
Case 2: One center requires 180 degree rotation, hold on top face and perform the following algorithm:

(U R L U2 R’ L’)2

Rubik’s Cube – 3x3x3 Algorithm Inverter

ZenDraL — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:49:43 +0000

When trying to work on an OLL or PLL algorithm it is often useful to have the inverse of the algorithm so that you can easily setup the situation you want to try. Use the algorithm inverter below to obtain an inverted algorithm.

This inverter uses Superset notation which you can find defined in detail here!

There is support for the following symbols: R U F L D B TR TU TF TL TD TB CR CU CF CL CD CB MR MU MF ML MD MB

There IS suppport for inverting any of the symbols above one at a time.
Valid inversion R' U' F'
Invalid inversion (R U F)'

ALL moves must be seperated by a space. Valid inputR' U' F' Invalid input R'U'F'

This inverter is very basic there is no support for inversion of groups (i.e., (F R U)'), commutators (i.e., [a,b]), repitition, or any other advanced Superset constructs.

Enter the algorithm to invert in the text box below and hit the 'Invert Algorithm' button.

Rubik’s Cube – 2 Look PLL Tutorial

ZenDraL — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:59:07 +0000

2 Look PLL

If you've followed my beginner tutorial then at this point you permute the last layer by first solving the corners and then solving the center edges. This should take you at most 4 looks. We're going to cut that down to two by introducing some new algorithms so that we can solve the corners in one algorithm as well as the center edges in one other algorithm.

Click here to see the algorithms.

Rubik’s Cube – 2 Look OLL Tutorial

ZenDraL — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:11:27 +0000

2 Look OLL

If you've followed my beginner tutorial then at this point you can solve the cross on the Up face using one algorithm and then repeat another algorithm up to 4 times (if you're not solving the cross with one algorithm check out my beginner tutorial to learn how to do it in one step.)

Each of these times you must orient the cube before you perform the algorithm.

Using the following algorithms you look once to determine how to solve the top cross, then you look again to solve the corners. You can reduce the time necessary to complete your OLL by memorizing the following algorithms.

Click here to see the algorithms.

Rubik’s Cube – Beginner Tutorial

ZenDraL — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:14:38 +0000

This is a beginners tutorial about solving the Rubik's cube. While learning the Rubik's cube I encountered many different beginner solutions. Parts of these solutions remained relevant as I learned more advanced methods; however, some of these algorithms are no longer useful to me. I have endevoured to write this tutorial using algorithms that will remain of use even as you progress and learn faster methods for solving the cube.

This tutorial uses Superset notation which you can find defined in detail here!
First and second layer.
Orienting the last layer.
Permuting the last layer..

Rubik’s Cube Links

ZenDraL — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:59:55 +0000

I recently picked up a Rubik's cube and started learning algorithms to solve it.
I've only been at it for a week now but I've got my solution down to an average of ~~2:30~~ ~~1:30~~ 60 35 seconds with a best time of 28 seconds.
~~My target is 30 seconds but I'm sure that's going to take a little while.~~ I finally hit sub 30 second solves, four months in!!!
Here are some useful resources I found along the way:

Rubiks.com Solution Book - A tutorial for beginners straight form the horse's mouth.
Dan @ Cubestation.com - A different beginner tutorial and some more advanced tutorials including information on speedcubing.
CubeTimer.com - A great online timer for seeing how fast you are.
JNetCube @ Sourceforge - An opensource cube timer application written in Java.
Chris @ SpeedCubing.com - a good tutorial for the 4x4x4
CubeInfo.co.cc - A great blog with lots of video tutorials.
BlueKnightCubing.com - BlueKnight's cubing site with good intermediate and advanced information.
CubeFreak.net - Nice F2L Tutorial.
BigCubes.com - 5x5x5 Parity Algorithms.