Since its invention in 1974, Rubik’s cubes have been entertaining and frustrating those that choose to take on the challenge of aligning their shapes. More recently, however, people have been building algorithms and machinery to do it for them, including Mario Milanesio’s Arduino Rubik Solver, or ARS.

ARS, which was constructed with the help of Milanseio’s students, is comprised of several 3D-printed and laser-cut parts. The device utilizes a series of four stepper motors to rotate the cube, along with two more to pull the grippers back when needed. 

Solving is assisted by the ARS Studio software package, which lets users program in the existing color sequence. It then sends movement commands to an Arduino Uno over serial, which controls the motors via six A4988 Pololu drivers to complete the puzzle.

Rubik’s Cubes seem to have been most popular in the 1980s, but never really went away. As such, if you have one lying around your house unsolved, why not ‘simply’ construct a machine to do this for you? 

One possibility is the Q-Bot, outlined here. While it won’t break any world records, it’s a solid-looking assembly that appears to be relatively easy to build.

The Q-Bot features six NEMA 17 stepper motors, four of which turn one face at a time. When needed, the other two use timing belts to alternatively pull opposed stepper motor pairs back, allowing the other two to rotate the entire assembly. An Arduino Mega is utilized to control the steppers via a custom shield, with a computer running the Kociemba’s Algorithm.