# CubeAssistant



## dougbenham (Jul 22, 2009)

Originally known as CubeTeacher (http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10522).

CubeAssistant can be found at https://cubing.transcendsharp.com/cubeassistant/index.htm.







*Features:*

2x2 and 3x3 cubes.
The cube allows for easy access to reset, scramble, freely rotate the whole cube, and turn each face using either the mouse or the keyboard.
Customizable cube turning speed, size, and sticker colors.
Sequence log that records every sequence of moves that is applied to the virtual cube.
Ability to input textual sequences (RUR', etc.) and have them applied to the virtual cube.
Ability to save/load cube configuration.
Ability to start and stop a timer during solve. Easily activated by pressing the space bar and automatically stops when the cube is solved.
User solve mode to help the user during a solve by greying out certain pieces which aren't necessary for the current phase.
Optimized Fridrich-style solver that provides annotated solutions for any cube state with a solution chooser.
User-definable OLL + PLL algorithms.
Customizable solver F2L pair weight, phase focus, phase text highlighting, F2L pair highlighting, and forced cross face.

*To Do:*

4x4, etc.
User solve mode suggestions
External solvers
COLL, Winter-variation, MGLS, ZZ capabilities

If you have find any bugs or if you have any questions/suggestions, do not hesitate to post here or send me a PM on this forum or if you really want to, you can e-mail me.


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## Stefan (Jul 23, 2009)

Looks like a nice program. And the demo video is great, how did you create that?

Two things I noticed in the video:
- Sorting the solutions by OLL length showed some strange "OLLs" like R2F+R+F-. What is that?
- Weighted increases by solution length but decreases by number of rotations. Aren't those both "bad" and should weight in the same direction?


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## dougbenham (Jul 23, 2009)

StefanPochmann said:


> Looks like a nice program. And the demo video is great, how did you create that?


http://www.instant-demo.com/



StefanPochmann said:


> Sorting the solutions by OLL length showed some strange "OLLs" like R2F+R+F-. What is that?


This means that the last F2L pair is the start of the OLL.
Here is an example:
Lets say we have the C OLL that has the algorithm: *RUR2U'R'FRURU'F'*
Setup your cube with this: *FUR'U'R'F'RUR*

The solver will see that the F2L pair is out. It will solve the F2L pair many different ways, including *RU'R'*, *URU2R'*, *U'R'FRF'*, etc. Now the one that is particularly useful in this case is the *RU'R'* because once the solver applies those moves, the solver will see the C OLL and apply the algorithm *RUR2*U'R'FRURU'F'. Now the *RUR2* cancels/reduces with the *RU'R'* F2L alg, resulting in *R'*. So the final algorithm is *R'*U'R'FRURU'F'.



StefanPochmann said:


> Weighted increases by solution length but decreases by number of rotations. Aren't those both "bad" and should weight in the same direction?


Well in my opinion, the weighted solution length should be the _actual_ # of moves performed. So that is simply calculated by removing the # of rotations during the solution.
(Length of the solution) + (F2L-Pair-Weight * # of F2L-Pairs-Completed-During-Cross) - (# of cube rotations)


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## badmephisto (Jul 25, 2009)

I am very impressed. I will definitely try this out.
Couple of things I notice right away:

is it possible to make the solver not look ahead and "cheat" like that, by canceling out with the f2l pair? I dont think a human would come up with that strategy, so I doubt if it is a good idea

and second, can you not fix the rendering on the cube? It is weirdly distorted. The math for perspective projection is very easy, maybe you can look into that next? 

VERY nice though. Will try out and probably come back with more comments 

EDIT: Aaaah... the coolest feature (solution chooser) is only in the paid version?... May I suggest free trial periods? :s


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## Anthony (Jul 25, 2009)

badmephisto said:


> I am very impressed. I will definitely try this out.
> 
> ...
> 
> Aaaah... the coolest feature (solution chooser) is only in the paid version?... May I suggest free trial periods? :s


I agree, this looks pretty awesome. Although it may not let you test the full version right off the bat, it's only five dollars. From the look of it, five dollars is well worth it.


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## dougbenham (Jul 25, 2009)

badmephisto said:


> is it possible to make the solver not look ahead and "cheat" like that, by canceling out with the f2l pair? I dont think a human would come up with that strategy, so I doubt if it is a good idea


In the settings there is an option under the Solver/General tab called 'Cancel between phases'. If you just uncheck that, then the solver won't cancel out moves between phases.



badmephisto said:


> and second, can you not fix the rendering on the cube? It is weirdly distorted. The math for perspective projection is very easy, maybe you can look into that next?


I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'weirdly distorted'. Are you talking about the borders around the cubies? They are a bit pixelated if thats what you're talking about. I can fix that.



badmephisto said:


> Aaaah... the coolest feature (solution chooser) is only in the paid version?... May I suggest free trial periods? :s


Well I made the example video to show you how the solution chooser works. And if I made the solution chooser available in a free trial, I'm not sure anyone would buy it.


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## dougbenham (Jan 30, 2010)

Update made for v1.1.0.0. You can view the version history and download link at this website: http://acesoftware.110mb.com/cube/cubeassistant/index.htm

*Now supports 2x2 Cube!*


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## dougbenham (Mar 21, 2010)

has anybody used my program? any questions, comments, suggestions?


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## dougbenham (May 2, 2010)

Anybody interested in it?


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## cincyaviation (May 2, 2010)

i like the fact that the cube actually shows up on my screen


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## dougbenham (May 2, 2010)

cincyaviation said:


> i like the fact that the cube actually shows up on my screen



well thats good to know


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## cincyaviation (May 2, 2010)

dougbenham said:


> cincyaviation said:
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> 
> > i like the fact that the cube actually shows up on my screen
> ...



no other cubesolving software that you can use the keyboard on show up with the flash player i have


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## dougbenham (May 2, 2010)

cincyaviation said:


> dougbenham said:
> 
> 
> > cincyaviation said:
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oh yeah, why not just install Adobe Flash Player and Java and all that junk..?


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## Feryll (May 2, 2010)

I think the best thing for this would be to make the cube look a little better. Take the ones on gabbasoft for example, it looks like it's actually on your screen! Everything else on gabbasoft is garbage, though. Raisng the stickers and showing plastic would probably do it. Cool program


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## cincyaviation (May 3, 2010)

dougbenham said:


> cincyaviation said:
> 
> 
> > dougbenham said:
> ...


ive done that, for some reason it doesnt work on my computer


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## dougbenham (Dec 31, 2019)

I started hosting this again. Hopefully it'll be useful to someone!


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## Etotheipi (Dec 31, 2019)

Nice ten year bump. =D


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