Magnetic Acrylic Rubik's Cube

Step 1 Plan out polarities

Before I devoted my time to this idea, which came to me while imagining a version of the cube that didn't need the intricate connecting tabs found inside a cube, I checked Google for magnetic rubik's cubes, finding none (though a friend found one (theoretically) available in China by removing the 's from rubik the day before I finished this thing). Then I mocked up a 3D version in Maya to figure out the polarities of the magnets to see if it would remain sound as faces were spun all around. It appeared that it would.

Comments

[manman3330]

How do you get Maya?

[E1N5731N]

You don't. Use blender, which is an open source program that matches, and at times exceeds, the functionality. www.blender.org

[DivideByZero]

Or don't. Blender is marginally more confusing than a book in a language you've never even heard of.

[E1N5731N]

But it's free And there are tons of excellent tutorials on Blender. I would reccomend youtube username Super3Boy; that's how I learned

[EaglesNestOne]

Blender really is awesome, and it does exceed maya at times. Although, it is very confusing at first, once you become accustomed to the controls, you find it is very quick and streamlined to use. I think blender will be easier for newbies to understand once 2.5 is out (no offence to anyone).

[gfixler]

You can buy it from www.autodesk.com, or try out their PLE (Personal Learning Edition - free trial), also from the site, or steal it somehow, say through bittorrent. It all depends on how much money and integrity you have. I have it because we use it (registered copies) at work.

[zachninme]

I beleve that the PLE has no time limit, as long as you use it for only personal needs.

[racerdude09]

yeah, it just puts a watermark in the file and has a seperate file format.

[orri]

After a moments thought, There are 4 types of subcube, Core, C Midface, M Edge, E Corner, V And they conect in that order. Which means that if all the magnets in the C and E have the same polarity facing out, and the other have it facing in, they will all stick together. The V cubes must have all their magnets in the same way as they can be in 3 different orientations at the same possition. The E and M could have opposite polarities for the 2 face types they have, which might lead to a slightly stronger assembly. It's probably best to stick to each kind of cube having it's magnets all the same way, realising that until the glue is set, the magnets will have a tendency to mutualy repel.