# Improved 2-Sided PLL Recognition System



## Lucas Garron (May 17, 2014)

I've seen a few 2-sided PLL recognition systems, but a lot of them require you to recognize different PLLs _in different ways_.

The best I ever ran into was Andy Klise's system, but his PDF has a lot of "Non-Unique Cases". However, I discovered that there are only two kinds of non-unique cases, and you can use One Weird Trick for each one.

I've taken Andy's work and reorganized it to emphasize the similar structure of a lot of the cases. For example, I took his numbered cases and gave them syllables based on the patterns that a speedcuber might already know intuitively. All the "annoying" non-unique cases have been combined into one simple rule (which I called the "danger zone" in the video).

I don't know how much time I'll have to spend on this, but I've made a video describing what I have so far. (Be warned that I don't explain every single detail.)
If you like the idea, feel free to update Andy's diagrams, make a pretty flowchart, or try to improve it further.


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## Lucas Garron (May 17, 2014)

For those following along at home:






```
AUF:             __    U'    U2    U         Alg Hint

         S      SO    SO    SO    SO    SO     :-)

         T      LA no MI no RA    MO    LA     R U
  - no   Ga     RA    MI no RI    MA no RA     R2 u
         Gc     LI no MI    LA no MA    LI     R2 u'

  /- no  Aa     LO    LI no MA da RA    LO     cw: l' U
  \+ da  Ab     MA no RI    RO    LA da MA     ccw: l U'

         Ra     LA da MI    LI da MA    LA     R U R' F'
  + da   Rb     MA da RI    MI da RA    MA     R' U2
         F      LI da MI da RI    SO    LI     R' U' F'

         Gd     RI    LO    RI    MO    RI     R U R'
         Gb     LI    RO    LI    MO    LI     R' U' R

         L      LA    LO    LA    SO    LA     R' U2
         J      RA    RO    RA    SO    RA     R U R'

         V      LO    MI 2  MI    RO    LO     2-col: R' U R'
  MIMI   E      MI cc MI cw MI cc MI cw MI     3-ccw: l U' / 3-cw: U l U'
         Y      LO    RO    MI 4  MI    LO     4-col: F R

         Ub     MA cc MA    SO    MO    MA     3-cw: R2 U
  MAMA   Ua     MA    MO    SO    MA cw MA     3-ccw: R U'
         Z      MA 2  MA 4  MA 2  MA 4  MA     2-col: U R' / 4-col: R'

         H      MO    MO    MO    MO    MO     M2
         Na     RO    RO    RO    RO    RO     R U'
         Nb     LO    LO    LO    LO    LO     R' U
```

Compact version:


```
AUF:  _  U' U2 U    Alg Hint
S   So So So So So  :-)
T   La-Mi-Ra Mo La  R U
Ga  Ra Mi-Ri Ma-Ra  R2 u
Gc  Li-Mi La-Ma Li  R2 u'
Aa  Lo Li-Ma+Ra Lo  cw: l' U
Ab  Ma-Ri Ro La+Ma  ccw: l U'
Ra  La+Mi Li+Ma La  R U R' F'
Rb  Ma+Ri Mi+Ra Ma  R' U2
F   Li+Mi+Ri So Li  R' U' F'
Gd  Ri Lo Ri Mo Ri  R U R'
Gb  Li Ro Li Mo Li  R' U' R
L   La Lo La So La  R' U2
J   Ra Ro Ra So Ra  R U R'
V   Lo Mi Mi Ro Lo  2: R' U R'
E   Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi  3:(U) l U'
Y   Lo Ro Mi Mi Lo  4: F R
Ub  Ma Ma So Mo Ma  3cw: R2 U
Ua  Ma Mo So Ma Ma  3ccw: R U'
Z   Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma  2:U / 4:R'
H   Mo Mo Mo Mo Mo  M2
Na  Ro Ro Ro Ro Ro  R U'
Nb  Lo Lo Lo Lo Lo  R' U
```


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## 10461394944000 (May 17, 2014)

Is 'learning' 2 side pll recognition even necessary? I can do 2 side recognition but I never actually _tried_ to learn it, it's just easy now after doing enough solves.


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## kcl (May 17, 2014)

10461394944000 said:


> Is 'learning' 2 side pll recognition even necessary? I can do 2 side recognition but I never actually _tried_ to learn it, it's just easy now after doing enough solves.



Not really, I kinda spam U' if I can't recog from the normal angle.


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## 10461394944000 (May 17, 2014)

kclejeune said:


> Not really, I kinda spam U' if I can't recog from the normal angle.



that's not 2 side recognition though

sometimes I practise 2 side recognition by solving F2L, close eyes, do OLL, open eyes, look at 2 sides, do PLL+AUF bld


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## jeff081692 (May 17, 2014)

10461394944000 said:


> Is 'learning' 2 side pll recognition even necessary? I can do 2 side recognition but I never actually _tried_ to learn it, it's just easy now after doing enough solves.



For me it is. I've been cubing for years and there is a very small percentage of cases that I can recognize from 2 sides. I'm sure if I kept doing solves eventually it would come to me but I might as well spend an hour analyzing the differences now so I can practice it in solves immediately instead of waiting for me to naturally acquire that skill. For example yesterday I learned to recognize U perms from 2 sides when the 3x1 block is not visible and I don't know how long it would take me to recognize them from two sides if I kept doing solves the way I do.


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## Lucas Garron (May 17, 2014)

10461394944000 said:


> Is 'learning' 2 side pll recognition even necessary? I can do 2 side recognition but I never actually _tried_ to learn it, it's just easy now after doing enough solves.



PLL Recognition Party!


















It's certainly not impossible, but I'd be impressed if someone can figure the PLL (including AUF) for all of these without studying them a bit.

I knew some tricks for specific cases, but like jeff081692 I wanted to fill in all the gaps.

(Some of the tricks:

If you get a J-perm without a solid block, look for the opposite colors bordering each other. Their blocks need to switch.
If you get something that looks like an H-perm, except an outer corner is the wrong color, the column is on the back two pieces behind that corner.
)


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## TDM (May 17, 2014)

Without studying them:



Spoiler



1. U' R' F R' B2 R F' R' B2 R2
2. U' L U2 L' U2 L F' L' U' L U L F L2 [AUF?] (E: after looking closely, no AUF)
3. U' y2 R2' F' R U R U' R' F' R U2' R' U2 R' F2 R2
4. U R' F R' B2 R F' R' B2 R2
5. y2 R' U L' U2 R U' R' U2 R L
6. y' R' U R' U' R D' R' D R' [U D'] R2 U' R2' D R2
7. (E2: is it a U2 from the same G perm as 8? Again, had to look harder for this one)
8. y' L2 F2 L' U2 L' U2 L F' L' U' L U L F' L2 U2



I don't practise 2-sided PLL nor have I ever learned it, but like ben I find as I do more and more solves PLL recog becomes easier. If you learn 2-sided recog, you have to look and think more carefully to decide which case it is. I sometimes find myself half way through an alg before I realise what case it is.


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## Rubiks560 (May 17, 2014)

Seems overly complex. I've known two sided PLL recog just from solving. Never tried to learn it. There's a few cases (I think only G perms) that I have to sometimes check more than 2 sides.


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## Lucas Garron (May 17, 2014)

TDM said:


> Without studying them:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I just tried the first and last of those, and they're both wrong. ;-)


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## TDM (May 17, 2014)

Lucas Garron said:


> I just tried the first and last of those, and they're both wrong. ;-)


You're right, the first one obviously isn't an A perm. Blue and Green edges next to each other :fp I CAN DO IT ON A NORMAL CUBE I SWEAR
Also I just tried setting my cube up to match the final picture exactly, and my solution worked...


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## jeff081692 (May 17, 2014)

TDM said:


> If you learn 2-sided recog, you have to look and think more carefully to decide which case it is. I sometimes find myself half way through an alg before I realise what case it is.



Like anything in the beginning it is slower to recognize than looking at more than 2 sides but it's the end goal that matters and getting to the point where you don't have to think is when you have mastered it.


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## Escher (May 17, 2014)

Those all seem easy to me, excuse me if I get the names wrong, doing them from memory, but the class should be correct.



Spoiler



Ga, Ra, Gb, A, Ja, V, F, Ga
(Edit - am dumb that V is a Y)



I've never specifically learned 2-sided PLL but I can see it as a good way of quickly doing what you end up knowing intuitively after a while.


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## 10461394944000 (May 17, 2014)

Lucas Garron said:


> PLL Recognition Party!





Spoiler



G R G A L Y F G

I can tell what the algs are for the Gs but I never remembered which is Ga or Gb or Gc or Gd.


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## ryanj92 (May 17, 2014)

Thanks for this, my PLL recognition sucks so I might try a more methodical approach, especially for the least symmetric PLL's, for a while and see if that fixes it.


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## MarcelP (May 17, 2014)

I think 2 sided recognition will make you faster. I am planning to make a trainer in my ALG trainer. When you are CN it is even harder.


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## kcl (May 17, 2014)

GRGAJRGG?


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## Nilsibert (May 17, 2014)

TDM said:


> I don't practise 2-sided PLL nor have I ever learned it, but like ben I find as I do more and more solves PLL recog becomes easier. If you learn 2-sided recog, you have to look and think more carefully to decide which case it is. I sometimes find myself half way through an alg before I realise what case it is.



I basically read trough Sarah strongs guide and picked up some hints. After that, I used PLL or LL scrambles and just tried to recognise any PLL from 2 sides. I've been doing this for a few days and started practising it in every untimed solve. It helped a lot. 

I think it's best to just get an idea of certain groups of cases(outer or inner bars, headlights and so on) and with time it will become easier and easier. 
At first you will have to think and look a lot as you said, but that will go away with time I'd say. Many cases that had me pause a lot have started to just appear as a distinct pattern that I instantly recognize.


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## TDM (May 17, 2014)

Nilsibert said:


> I basically read trough Sarah strongs guide and picked up some hints. After that, I used PLL or LL scrambles and just tried to recognise any PLL from 2 sides. I've been doing this for a few days and started practising it in every untimed solve. It helped a lot.
> 
> I think it's best to just get an idea of certain groups of cases(outer or inner bars, headlights and so on) and with time it will become easier and easier.
> At first you will have to think and look a lot as you said, but that will go away with time I'd say. Many cases that had me pause a lot have started to just appear as a distinct pattern that I instantly recognize.


Personally, except for recognising V/Y perms and which AUF to do E perms, I've had no problem with my way. I guess either can work, just like intuitive and algorithmic F2L. However, I think that if you don't know full 2-sided recog, as if you were halfway through what you're learning, you have the disadvantage of having to check to see if it's a case you know first, and then if you don't know it having to then do 'normal' recognition, slowing you down. But yes, once you've fully learned either method I can't see why one method should have the advantage.


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## sneaklyfox (May 17, 2014)

Wow, I can do all of those 2-sided PLL recognition cases. I checked which one I thought it was and I got it. Never actually practiced it. I guess I sometimes check more sides just to be sure and anyway I usually have to start the alg from a different angle anyway so I would have to do U/U'.


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## Nilsibert (May 17, 2014)

TDM said:


> Personally, except for recognising V/Y perms and which AUF to do E perms, I've had no problem with my way. I guess either can work, just like intuitive and algorithmic F2L. However, I think that if you don't know full 2-sided recog, as if you were halfway through what you're learning, you have the disadvantage of having to check to see if it's a case you know first, and then if you don't know it having to then do 'normal' recognition, slowing you down. But yes, once you've fully learned either method I can't see why one method should have the advantage.


I think it may depend on the person. For me, I doubt I'd learn it just by experience. Especially on really hard cases, I used to just immediately do U' moves until I got it, basically ignoring what I first saw. With my way, I started to actually look at it and seeing a pattern rather than just go "Oh it's a mess, do U' until something comes up I easily recognize" Being half way through does slow me down half of the time, but I see it like how it was being in the middle of learning full OLL. It'll come with practise.


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## uberCuber (May 17, 2014)

kclejeune said:


> GRGAJRGG?





Spoiler



GRGAJ*YF*G


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## TDM (May 17, 2014)

Nilsibert said:


> I think it may depend on the person. For me, I doubt I'd learn it just by experience. Especially on really hard cases, I used to just immediately do U' moves until I got it, basically ignoring what I first saw. With my way, I started to actually look at it and seeing a pattern rather than just go "Oh it's a mess, do U' until something comes up I easily recognize" Being half way through does slow me down half of the time, but I see it like how it was being in the middle of learning full OLL. It'll come with practise.


My eyes see the mess and usually find something from it, although I do sometimes find myself doing U' for V perms where I can't see a 1x2 or Y perms from a y2 angle. I think experience is helpful for just instantly responding, but I can definitely see it being a slower way to learn 2-sided PLL recog. I can't do it fully yet and I average a little over 14, whereas there are probably lots of people slower than me who can do it. Not that I really care though... I haven't focused specifically on becoming fast since deciding to learn PLL. Any attempt at learning algs have ended in me giving up after a couple.

I only know half of OLL, and I don't hesitate. But I just don't plan on learning any more OLLs than I already know any time soon, and with time everything's become 1-look whether I'm using one alg or two.


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## mark49152 (May 17, 2014)

Nilsibert said:


> I think it's best to just get an idea of certain groups of cases(outer or inner bars, headlights and so on) and with time it will become easier and easier.


That's my approach too. It really doesn't need to be any more complicated than 4-sided recognition. There is a row of six stickers, and only ~35 patterns, most of which have clear features like headlights or bars. When I learned, I didn't find any of the resources out there really took the direct approach of organizing a simple list of patterns and associated PLLs, so I made my own which you can find here.


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## Parity Case (May 31, 2014)

Lucas - how is your recognition improving with your method? Are you finding it easy? I really like the originality of using sounds. I'm going to stick to learning the contents of my guide for the moment, primarily because I put so much time into producing it.

Mark & Lucas - ah, "adjacent"... I like that term - better than my "different" used for non-same, non-opposite colored stickers. Mark, I hadn't come across your guide in the past. Have you managed to develop full recognition since making your pdf?


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## mark49152 (May 31, 2014)

Parity Case said:


> Mark, I hadn't come across your guide in the past. Have you managed to develop full recognition since making your pdf?


Mostly. There are maybe 4-5 out of the ~35 patterns that just won't stick for me, generally the ones with more colours and less obvious features. I can recognise them, just not as quickly as I can peek at a third side


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## Lucas Garron (May 31, 2014)

Parity Case said:


> Lucas - how is your recognition improving with your method? Are you finding it easy? I really like the originality of using sounds. I'm going to stick to learning the contents of my guide for the moment, primarily because I put so much time into producing it.



It's definitely improved. I used to make the R vs. T mistake quite frequently, and I basically don't do it anymore. I don't quite have the G's from all angles, but I've definitely improved.

I'm not sure if sounds matter too much, but I really like the fact that every case is handled consistently.
Things like "bookends" are cute, but makes it hard to look up a case if you don't know it.


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## mark49152 (May 31, 2014)

Lucas Garron said:


> Things like "bookends" are cute, but makes it hard to look up a case if you don't know it.


Why? Not sure what you mean. It's just a simple pattern, like headlights.

Two-sided PLL recognition really isn't that complex. You see six stickers in a row, there are ~35 possible patterns (most of which are simple to recognize) and each pattern indicates a unique PLL.


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