Engineering Students Create 1,500-Pound Rubik's Cube

function onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); Squaring off against this Rubiks Cube is a huge undertaking ' it weighs 1,500 pounds.University of Michigan engineering students on Thursday unveiled what isbelieved to be the worlds largest hand-solvable, stationary version of the cube.Designing and building the colossal cube was a three-year process, much of it involving getting the cubelets to move properly. On the inside of our big Rubiks Cube we have rollers and transfer bearings so that all of the cubelets are only touching each other through rolling friction, graduate student instructor Kelsey Hockstrand says in the video above.Although an expert Rubiks player can solve the puzzle in seconds, the nature of this particular cube means that even the best player will need a lot more time to finish, according to cube co-developer Ryan Kuhn.For this cube, every move is deliberate, so you have to grab onto a face and rotate it completely and then remember what you just did, instead of doing a series of algorithms, Kuhn said in the video.So its hard to keep track in your mind what moves youve already done, as well as what moves more you have to do.This giant cube is now on display at the university, but be prepared to wait in line. The creators say it takes about an hour for an accomplished cuber to solve. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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