Rubik's Cube Patterns

Notation

To describe a rotation on the cube we use letters. There are only six letters used, and each letter represents a face of the cube. A single letter by itself means to turn that face clockwise 90 degrees.
A letter followed by an apostrophe means to turn that face counterclockwise 90 degrees.
A letter with the number 2 after it means to turn that face 180 degrees.
Source: ruwix.com

Shape modifications of some puzzles

Here are five shape modifications of some twisty puzzles. Four of these puzzles were featured on my previous entries.

1. Fisher Cube
The Fisher Cube is a shape modification to the Rubik's Cube. It was made by Tony Fisher around the 1980s. The solution is similar to the solution of the Rubik's Cube but there are extra algorithms to correct the orientation to some pieces. There is a separate algorithm for correcting centers and there is a separate algorithm to correct the orientation of edge pieces.

2. Mastermorphix

This is a shape modification of the Rubik's Cube. Instead of having 6 colors, it has only 4 colors. Looking at the puzzle for the first time would be confusing since the little triangle in the middle of each color seems like the center. Unfortunately, it is a corner piece when you view it as a Rubik's Cube. Solving this puzzle is like solving a Rubik's Cube but you need to try and maintain the orientation of all the center pieces. For me, it is very satisfying each time I solve it since it would take me a few minutes to be able to solve.

3. Gear Ball

This puzzle is a shape variant to the Gear Cube. Solving this puzzle would be similar to the solution of the Gear Cube. This puzzle was introduced in 2012. Like what I said on my previous blog entry, the puzzle reviewers that I saw on YouTube said this is the smoothest puzzle ever.

4. Gear Mastermorpix

Traiphum Prungtaengkit has the aim to modify every mass produced puzzle into the shape of a tetrahedron, preferably a pillowed one. In this case he started with a Gear Cube he purchased from Uwe Meffert himself while both were visiting the Rubiks Cube World Championship 2011 in Bangkok. The modification was made by truncating the puzzle and then filling the holes and gap with black modelling mass.

Source: TwistyPuzzle.com

5. Ghost Cube

The ghost cube is an exercise in making a 3x3x3 shape modification that is as challenging as possible while only allowing one solution. Misaligned layers, odd shaped pieces, and only one color all add to the challenge. There are also higher order cube variants from a 4x4x4 to a 7x7x7 cube. Learning the position of each odd shaped pieces is necessary to solve the cube. While the cube is in its solved state, there are some faces that could not be turned.

Gear Puzzles

1. Gear Cube
The Gear Cube is a brand new concept in cube design and has the following inventive steps. It uses a full gear mechanism that requires twelve 90° turns to complete one rotation. It was designed by M. Oskar van Deventer and inspired by a gearing idea by Bram Cohen. It is also known as the Caution Cube since the you could easily get hurt from the gears.
Source: Mefferts.com

Gear Cube

Pyraminx

Pyraminx

The Pyraminx is a puzzle in the shape of a regular tetrahedron, divided into 4 axial pieces, 6 edge pieces, and 4 trivial tips. It was made and patented by Uwe Mèffert before the original 3 layered Rubik's Cube by Erno Rubik. Mèffert first thought of the Pyraminx in 1970.  He did nothing with his design until 1981 when he first brought it to Hong Kong for production.

 It can be twisted along its cuts to permute its pieces. The axial pieces are octahedral in shape, although this is not immediately obvious, and can only rotate around the axis they are attached to. The 6 edge pieces can be freely permuted. The trivial tips are so called because they can be twisted independently of all other pieces, making them trivial to place in solved position.

The 4 trivial tips can be easily rotated to line up with the axial piece which they are respectively attached to; and the axial pieces are also easily rotated so that their colors line up with each other. This leaves only the 6 edge pieces as a real challenge to the puzzle. They can be solved by repeatedly applying two 4-twist sequences, which are mirror-image versions of each other. These sequences permute 3 edge pieces at a time, and change their orientation differently, so that a combination of both sequences is sufficient to solve the puzzle.

From Wikipedia

There are a few variations of this puzzle. One of these variations is the Professor Pyraminx. It is just a higher order version of the Pyraminx. Another one is the Tetraminx. It is like a Pyraminx but without the tips.

Professor Pyraminx

Tetraminx

For me, this puzzle is fun to solve. Like any twisty puzzle, solving the puzzle would be very confusing at first. However, I have one major problem with my Pyraminx. My only problem with the puzzle is that my Pyraminx, which is not Meffert's branded, turns very slow when turning the puzzle, even if it has lubrication to help the turning.

Some puzzles that I own

Here are some of the puzzle I own:

1. Rubik's Cube
The Rubik's Cube is one of my favorite puzzles. It is the first twisty puzzle that I have solved. It is unbelievable that some people can solve it around ten seconds. As of now, the current world record is 5.25 seconds.

Speedcubing

Speedcubing is the activity of solving a variety of twisty puzzles, the most famous being the Rubik's Cube, as quickly as possible. For most puzzles, solving entails performing a series of moves that alters a scrambled puzzle into a state in which every face of the puzzle is a single, solid color. Speedcubing is a popular activity among the international Rubik's Cube community, or cubers. Members come together to hold competitions, work to develop new solving methods, and seek to perfect their technique.

The Rubik's Cube

Picture of a Rubik's Cube
Source:http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/Lloyd1337-2/rubikscubesolved.jpg

The Rubik's Cube is a puzzle invented by Hungarian professor Ernő Rubik in 1974. In a Rubik's Cube, there are six faces and each of the six faces is covered by nine stickers, each one of six colors. The six colors are red, blue, white, yellow, orange, and green. In current models sold, green is opposite to blue, red is opposite to orange, yellow is opposite to white.

The internal mechanism in the cube enables each face to turn independently, so it causes it to mix the colors. For the puzzle to be solved, each face must be returned to have only one color. There are methods in solving the Rubik's Cube. One of methods, which is the simplest, is the Beginner's Method. Another is the CFOP Method or sometimes called the Fridrich method, which is the one of the most commonly used methods in speedsolving a Rubik's Cube.