Puzzle Cube Challenge Day 1

Today we began the Puzzle Cube Challenge. At the beginning of class, each student was given 27 3/4" wooden cubes. We were supposed to use these cubes to design pieces to a puzzle. Part of the class included the activity of using the VEX blocks to also build models of these pieces. We tried to see how many different combinations we could make using between 4-6 blocks.

5 VEX blocks 

The second part of the activity included our entire class trying to create piece combinations.

VEX blocks stacked to form a cube

We are supposed to use the knowledge obtained from this experiment to create our own cube puzzles. We have started by sketching them on paper, and we will eventually 3D model our pieces using AutoDesk Inventor. I have created my puzzle cube design in my engineering notebook. The entrees include a color-coded mapping of the cube, multi-view sketches, and isometric sketches. I am specifically excited for 3D modeling. I have used modeling programs before, including Inventor, Maya, Google SketchUp, and many more. Hopefully we will be able to start 3D modeling in the next class.