Project Conclusion..

This will be the last blog for my passion project "The Rubik's Cube Re-Explored". So to go back in time a bit, my original goals were to improve my average of 12 on a 3x3 Rubik's cube to 15.xx seconds, to become completely colour neutral, and to memorize all of my OLL and PLL algorithms.

I accomplished or almost accomplished all of these goals. I got my average down much lower, but to around the 16.xx range. I memorized ALMOST all of the 57 OLL algorithms and all 21 of the PLL algorithms. I also learned quite a few advanced techniques, most of which I have shared with you on this blog.

I was also reacquainted with the massive online and offline speed cubing community. I'm just realizing this now (after my presentation) but speed cubing relates to the topic of digital dualism which we learned about in my bible class. Digital dualism is the belief that life online and life offline are different separate things. I've discovered that the speed cubing community online and offline are not different things. From what i've experienced online speed cubing community is just a tool to help build relationships or share new discoveries with a larger audience. But the community online is no way separate from  the community offline.

I also had some obstacles along the journey of this project. My main obstacle was time restrictions because I had a very busy schedule for the duration of this project. My solution to this obstacle was to set aside a chunk of time before bed dedicated to practice and that seemed to work really well. Another obstacle I had was forgetting algorithms that I had memorized. I overcame this by repeating an algorithm I had memorized that day several more times before I went to sleep. This seemed to really affirm the algorithms in my mind.

So was my passion project successful? In short; yes. I accomplished or almost accomplished every goal I set out to achieve, I learned a LOT and I really discovered the importance of practice. You're not going to really improve at something without lots of practice!

So to end off I guess I'll just say I'm very pleased with the results of this project and I'm very thankful I got the chance to do it.

Progress Update

Although I have been keeping you all informed of what I'm learning through my practice, I haven't really shared my progress. So in this post I will try and inform you of what I have accomplished thus far.

What I have been doing to for my project is available on my goals page. I have come close to or accomplished these goals which is good because the project is just about over.

I now can get about a 16.xx colour neutral average of 12 which isn't too far off of my original goal of 15.xx seconds.

I have also memorized nearly all of the 57 OLL algorithms which was a lot of work as well as all 21 of the PLL algorithms. I should be able to finish memorizing all of the OLLs very soon.

So overall I feel as though my work thus far has payed off and I have made a lot of progress in speed cubing. I have learned a ton through my practice sessions and through this I have really come to realize that you can't expect to get good at something without a LOT of practice. Practice is so important!

The main obstacle I had to overcome during this project was time restraints as I had been very busy with school and sports. I overcame this obstacle by setting aside a chunk of time before bed as my practice time which seemed to work very well. I also had a problem were sometimes I would forget an algorithm I had memorized because there are so many. I overcame this by memorizing the algorithm during the day and then before bed repeating it several more times. This seemed to make the algorithms I memorized very concrete in my mind.

Dw or d moves in F2L

While in practice, I realized the importance of "Dw" or "d" moves in F2L. Dw and d are the same move, but have different names. Note, a "D" move is different from the moves previously mentioned. The difference can be found on the notation page. Anyways, while in practice I often found my self needing to make a Y rotation and then do a U turn to be able to insert an F2L pair. Well as a speed solver you want to try and make as few Y rotations as possible during a solve. Then I realized that within a d or Dw turn, there is a hidden Y rotation because the middle layer is rotated as well changing the position of the centre pieces. And because the top layer is not rotated along with the middle and bottom, there is also a U rotation made relative to the centre pieces. So basically, a d or Dw turn is basically a Y rotation plus a U rotation. This can be used to substitute for an actual Y and U rotation. This has become incredibly useful during F2L. It allows me to insert pairs that would normally require a slow cumbersome Y rotation very quickly. Here is an example. Normally to solve this case, I would have done a Y rotation, and then a U turn when yellow is in the front.




















Then after i had done the Y rotation and U turn I could insert the red yellow pair with an R U R'. However, as I said before Y rotations should be avoided as they are very slow so the Y rotation and U turn can be replaced by a Dw move. This is a lot quicker and allows you to move into the insertion of the pair much quicker.

This tip won't drop your times drastically, but it does come up often enough to make it a useful thing to know.

Algorithms From Different Angles

I would like to talk about the importance of being able to execute certain algorithms from different angles. In a solve, you really want to reduce unnecessary turns. They just take up extra time, slowing you down. It is important to be able do perform an algorithm from multiple angles so that it doesn't require extra turns to set it up. To explain this I will use the "Sune" which is one of the most commonly known OLL's. Here is a picture of the case in the orientation in which the algorithm will work.

The algorithm for this case is R U R' U R U2 R'

But what if it looked like this. It is the same exact case but at a different angle.

The algorithm would need to be adjusted. This can be done by doing the same set of moves but from a different angle. The algorithm would then look like L U L' U L U2 L'. It would solve the same case but just at a different angle. This saves you turns, therefore time.

Another example can be done with the "Anti-Sune." this case is the inverse of the Sune, Hence the name Anti-Sune. Like the Sune this is also a great algorithm to execute from different angles. The algorithm for this case is R U2 R' U' R U' R'. That algorithm will solve the Anti-Sune only from one angle. 

But what if it looked like this?

Well like i said before you could rotate the top layer and then solve it with the algorithm above or you could just execute it from a different angle. The algorithm for this angle would be R' U' R U' R' U2 R.

This can not be done with all algorithms however. Only some are practical because the algorithm at a different angle would be very hard to perform and actually slower than just doing extra turns and performing it like usual. You will have to use your own discretion to see which cases are practical and which are not. I know this is a bit of a nit-picky thing but this technique can help to lower your times just a bit when used wisley,

F2L

F2L is the second step of CFOP and arguably the most important. F2L stands for "First 2 Layers" and comes right after solving your cross. There are two different ways of solving F2L when dealing with CFOP, one is intuitive F2L and the other is algorithm F2L. Just about no one solves exclusivity with either of these, but with an amalgamation of the two. Intuitive F2L basically means you use no algorithms and everything is solved with your common sense and pre-existing understanding of the cube and how it works. Algorithm F2L focuses on specific cases and scenarios. It is a lot of work to memorize all of these algorithms for these specific cases but it pays off. When a case that you have memorized an algorithm for, it can be solved much faster and in a more fingertrickable way than it would be solved intuitively. Because of this I have been recently memorizing algorithms for specific cases which I have had trouble solving quickly in the past. This is a great video made by Daniel Sheppard  that shows some very good algorithms for cases I have had trouble with in the past.


 
My F2L favourite algorithm I have learned so far is this case. 

The algorithm to place the corner in while the edge is already solved is R' D' R U' R' D R. Normally this case would require a time consuming Y rotation but this algorithm utilizes D turns and it can be executed very quickly. This is also a great algorithm because it can be used to force an OLL skip. An OLL skip is where the OLL stage is completed already after F2L and does not require an algorithm. When the case appears like this you can execute the algorithm and it won't un-orient any of the other pieces leaving you with an OLL skip allowing you to move straight into PLL. When done intuitively, this would not be the case. This is what the cube looks like when you are able to utilize this algorithm to force an OLL skip.

OLL Progress

Since the beginning of this project, I have made a decent amount of progress in memorizing OLLs. I have explained what OLL and an algorithm is in my introduction post so please refer back to that if you are unsure.

I have been using Badmephisto's website and iPhone app for these algorithms. The link can be found in the resources page.

The cases which I have recently memorized the algorithms for are:
(R U R' U) R d' R U' R' F'

r' U2 (R U R' U) r 

(R U R' U) (R' F R F') U2 (R' F R F')

(R U R' U') R' F R2 U R' U' F'

r U2 R' U' R U' r'

If  you wish to know what these algorithms mean, refer to my notation page.

Now when I see any of these cases I can solve them in a single algorithms instead of having use "2 Look OLL. 2 Look OLL is when you have to convert an OLL case  into another case using an algorithm which you already know. 2 Look OLL is not nearly as fast because it requires 2 algorithms instead of 1.

Introduction...

This blog has been created to log my progress for a school project dubbed the "Passion Project." Essentially we, the students pick our own semester long project, something we are "passionate" about. We create our own guidelines and goals in order to create a product or achieve a goal.

My project is to improve my average of 12 on a 3x3 Rubik's cube to 15.xx seconds, to become completely colour neutral, and to memorize all of my OLL and PLL algorithms.

An average of 12 is doing 12 consecutive solves, then averaging out the solves for a final mean, your "average of 12."

When i say colour neutral, that mean being able to start solving the cube from any of the 6 sticker colours (white, yellow, green, blue, red, orange) and not have your times effected in a negative way from this. A majority of cubers start solving the cube from the same colour every time they do a solve and as a result of this, if they were to start with a different colour their time would be much worse because they are not used to it. This is much harder than it sounds and is also a very valuable skill. It is valuable because if you can start your solve from any colour, your chances of getting an easier beginning to your solve is much higher and you should more consistently be able to see into your first F2L pair, assuming you solve with CFOP like myself.

An algorithm when talking about a cube is basically a series of movements that you perform on the cube which gives a consistent, predetermined result.

The method for solving the cube i use is the Fridrich method, created by Jessica Fridrich. It is also commonly referred to as "CFOP" which is an acronym for all of the steps of the Fridrich method, Cross, F2L, OLL, and PLL. I will explain the first two steps in the future but ill quickly cover OLL and PLL now, as they are a part of my project.

OLL stands for orientation of the last layer, which basicly means getting the top colour of the cube all facing up. There are 57 different cases of OLL, therefore 57 different algorithms to be memorized for OLL.
  Performing an OLL algorithm turns the cube from something like the first picture, to something like the second picture.

PLL is the last step of CFOP and is done immediately after you are done your OLL. PLL stands for permutation of the last layer, and what it is is an algorithm that moves the oriented  pieces of the top layer around into their solved position. It turns the second picture into a solved cube.

Now that you understand what my goals are and what they mean somewhat, it is important to know where i am coming from, what my background in cubing is, etc. So about 2 years ago cubing was my main hobby, it was how i passed most of my free time... you might even call it a passion. At my peak i was at about a high 17 second average of 12. I however became busy and a bit tired of cubing so I began cubing much less, increasing my average to about 20 or 21 seconds. And for you non-cubers out there, a second or two on an average 20 or below is very significant. I am now much worse than i was a long time ago. However I really want to get back into cubing and i saw this project as a perfect opportunity to do so. It's something I'm passionate about and also something in which i will continually challenge myself to improve upon, while enjoying it. I will keep this blog updated with my discoveries as i re-learn old knowledge and come across new knowledge. I have A LOT to learn, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to get to do so in a classroom environment.

If this is so far a jumble of meaningless words don't worry, as this blog progresses I will do my best to explain these terms and help you understand fundemental principles about the steps to solve the cube. There is a lot of general knowledge about cubing that you may need to know if you are new to the hobby. I will do my best to explain these things. Hang in there.