Win Pro Membership for a Year... Solve This Puzzle

Intro: Win Pro Membership for a Year... Solve This Puzzle

This is a 3D printed puzzle that has as much to do with illusion as it does with problem solving (I'll explain that after it's solved).  Two very simple pieces shaped exactly alike, need to be assembled to form a pyramid.

It's not that easy...

...And I'm not disclosing the solution.

What I'll do is give a year's pro membership to the first person who makes these, solves the puzzle and adds a photo of the finished pyramid in the comments below to prove it.

The stl file is for 6 sets.  The pieces are small, will fit into your pocket and allow you to take them with you to hand out.  If anyone wants a single piece, let me know and I'll publish the file for a single piece.  

Trust me, you'll want a lot of them.  They make great hand-outs.

Enjoy.

Update - June 22, 2012:
New Pro Member Mathlas has won this contest using "old" technology.  He posted a photo that looked so much like it was computer generated, I had to make sure he really made it.  Sorry for the delay, Mathlas and congratulations.  

Update - July 18, 2012
It's been a month since the contest and time for me to explain the difficulty behind this puzzle... First, there's a mild optical illusion going on with the rectangular part of the shapes.  The square looks a tiny bit longer in one direction. your subconscious, like your boss, will tell you that rectangles only fit together in one direction, but won't tell you why.  

Next, and this is more diabolical: when asked to make a pyramid, everyone will think of an Egyptian pyramid.  Egyptian pyramids have 5 sides... 4 triangular and one square (the bottom),  This pyramid, is a true pyramid with only 4 sides,,, All of them triangular.  It's very difficult trying to solve a puzzle when your blueprint is of something else.




And thanks to everyone else who replied.  I'm going to be busy sending off badges for quite a while :)

And while you're voting for me, why not check out all of my other Instructables using my own Chindogu SMARTPHONE APP (It's free, kinda cool... But, clearly worthless.  Ya gotta check it out at http://app.cat/bfksinstructables/  

STEP 1: Anyone Can Win:

It's not fair that the only people who have a chance to win the pro membership are those with a 3D printer.

Here are the dimensions you'll need to make them yourself out of anything you want.  Just make sure the triangles on the ends are equilateral.  The other dimensions tie the 2 triangles together and if both pieces match, you'll be good to go.

Make a pair of these, solve the puzzle and win a year's pro membership.  I'll send a badge to everyone who publishes a picture (until I run out).  I really don't know what badges are, except for the kind in Blazing Saddles, but I have a bunch of them and I'd like to give them away to people who make stuff.

Good luck to everyone.

STEP 2: Come On...

For cryin out loud... I said MAKE them, not CG or draw them.  The first person who sends me a PHOTO of a set of these will win.  Don't just send the drawing or graphic in... Take the next step and make something that you can carry with you.

As of early 6/21/12, the prize is still up for grabs.

STEP 3: All Done

All of the prizes (even those I've decided needed to be awarded after the fact... Having your own contest with your own rules has it's perks) have been awarded and I don't have any available memberships left.  If I get more, I'll most likely give them away, for this, or some other, unofficial contest.  Hope you have enjoyed it.

If you like this Instructable and would like to carry around easy access to more of my "stuff", you can download my mobile phone app at: http://app.cat/bfksinstructables

Ain't technology great? :-)

Comments

[TheOriginalNerd]

Can I still win a Pro Membership for a year? Because I can solve this puzzle.

[FrozenIce]

DARN IT!! One look at the first picture and i knew the answer!!! AAAHHHH i will go mad.... okay back to sanity, it is too late to enter. Will you be making more of these challenges? Please, please please! Very smart, too :)

[bfk]

Thanks Frozenice (I really like your user name), I've given away several memberships, but haven't been as active here of late. I've been doing more over at "Thingiverse.com" since it relates directly to 3D printing, which I've been doing a lot of.

I'm beginning to use the printer more for making parts for my latest project (which I can't seem to be able to add a photo of here). Maybe I can do a couple of instructables around it and have another contest. They are fun to do.

[azharz]

Just do it yourself because my camera is not working properly.

[azharz]

Just keep both face to face and rotate one of the piece in 90 d the puzzle is solved

[smeet199]

Can u keep one more compitition please keep

[DoctorDv]

It would probably work if you took one that is larger than the other one and put one of the smaller shapes faces onto the larger shapes faces and keep messing around until you get a pyramid. I've been thinking about this for awhile and it seems to work in my brain! I don't have access to a 3d printer so I cannot print one. Cool illusion though!

-Doctordv

[bfk]

Thanks for your response David. Sorry for my delay, but I've been out of town. You don't need a 3D printer to make one of these. This one was made from rosewood.

[Grey_Wolfe]

I didn't see this challenge till just now. I instantly was trying to come up with a paper folding pattern because I don't have a 3D printer. :(

Too bad the challenge is over, I wouldn't mind me some Pro Membershipness. lol

[bfk]

Gee guys, I wish I could hand out memberships to everyone who responds, but I'm not associated with Instructables and have to earn them like everyone else. I need to save a few for other things. If you post your own Instructables, you can begin collecting your own memberships and giving them to folks who'd benefit.

I just returned from a trip and took a couple dozen pyramid puzzles with me and handed them out to everyone from kids' parents (don't give them directly to children who don't know you) to waitstaff. Everyone appreciates small gifts and bowled over when they're from complete strangers and awed by the difficulty of this seemingly simple puzzle.

[smeet199]

i borrowed it from my small brother

[smeet199]

can i get membership now

[Wellsinator]

This is the first page I visited on this site!

So, I saw the challenge while at my podium at work, designed and constructed the pieces within twenty minutes (paper and scotch tape), and solved the puzzle in about ten seconds.

Such a fun challenge! Wish I had come to this site earlier in my life, so amazing!

[bfk]

Thank you for your great comment and the pictures of your puzzle. And because this was the first page you came across on instructables and because you actually made the puzzle, I'm sending you a 3 month. Pro membership. This is your lucky day:-)

[Pranavthegreat]

no when i was small i got it in a chips pack

[Pranavthegreat]

here it is!!!!!!!!!!!

[bfk]

Beautiful! And for all your trouble getting it to me, I'll send you a 3 month pro membership as well!

Is that printed? I made one like that (in black) that's been polished up and looks pretty good, but yours has finished edges and everything. NICE work!

[the dashing hero]

hello, is it too late to enter?

[bfk]

Hi:

Yes it is, but I'll send you a 3 month membership for being 2nd!

It looks good. Did you make it out of paper?

[sahilverma]

Hi I am sahil verma from India ( 16 yrs old)
I would like to state that there is one fool proof method .
This is BRUTE FORCE ( Its the method that can even be programmed into a robot in order to solve puzzles)
The only pre requisite is a little bit know-how of permutations and combinations.
how this works is like this :-
each peice has 5 sides so the total number of possible arrangements is 5x5=25 . So its a sure shot way to figure out the answer in 25 chances .
ONE of the 25 permutations is the answer.