Jigsaw: The Ultimate Puzzle-Solving Robot

Jul 16, 2024

Jigsaw: The Ultimate Puzzle-Solving Robot

Introduction

  • Jigsaw is a robot specifically designed to solve jigsaw puzzles rapidly and with high precision.
  • Developed over three years, Jigsaw is expected to be 200 times faster than the fastest human puzzle solver.
  • Aim: To explore Jigsaw's development and how it compares to human abilities in solving puzzles.

Understanding Human Puzzle Solving

Task Breakdown

  1. Picking Up a Piece
    • Human hands: 27 bones, 34 muscles, highly dexterous with high nerve concentration.
    • Evolutionary advantage: opposable thumbs.
  2. Rotating the Piece
    • Easy for humans due to flexible and precise hand movements.
  3. Moving the Piece into Position
    • Involves the entire arm, highly capable compared to other species.
  4. Placing the Piece Correctly
    • Brain uses visual perception, pattern recognition, spatial reasoning, visual memory, and executive function.
    • Makes the placement feel intuitive.

Human Superiority

  • Brains consume 20% of energy, enabling advanced problem solving, tool use, and large-scale cooperation.
  • This has made humans excellent at puzzles, until now.

Developing Jigsaw

Replicating Human Tasks

  1. Picking Up a Piece
    • Utilized a specialized suction cup with a vacuum pump for precision.
  2. Rotating the Piece
    • Attached to a precise donut motor (0.005 degrees accuracy).
  3. Moving the Piece
    • Modified CNC router with ClearPath industrial servo motors for .0005 inch precision.
  4. Placement Accuracy
    • Algorithm to match edges based on spline analysis and overlap area.
    • Devised a method to choose and backtrack as necessary for piece placement.

Overcoming Challenges

  • Difficulties in matching pieces due to complex human cognitive functions.
  • Developed a solution focusing solely on edge analysis, ignoring printed images.
  • Used a cell phone camera for piece analysis, converting edges into splines, and matching them.

Scaling Up to a 1000-Piece Puzzle

  • Initial success with a 12-piece puzzle led to attempting a 1000-piece puzzle.
  • After multiple trials and improvements, including a feedback mechanism, Jigsaw successfully assembled a 1000-piece, all-white puzzle.

Human vs. Jigsaw Showdown

Human Competitor: Tammy McLeod

  • Tammy holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest puzzle solving.
  • Demonstrated tips for humans solving puzzles faster:
    1. Turn all pieces over.
    2. Consider skipping edges initially.
    3. Group by colors, textures, or shapes.
    4. Sort remaining pieces by shape.

Tammy vs. Jigsaw

  • Despite initial human performance, Jigsaw's speed and precision proved superior in assembling a 1000-piece puzzle.

Conclusion

  • Jigsaw represents a significant achievement in robotic capabilities for solving intricate tasks that heavily rely on cognitive functions in humans.
  • Future implications include advanced robotic applications in various fields.

Additional Notes

  • The project involved complex coding, hardware modifications, and solving numerous challenges on the way.
  • Jigsaw's success attributed to collaboration with skilled engineers and programmers.

Promotional Content

  • Introduction of HackPack from CrunchLabs for engineering skill development.

Full transcript