Apparatus, system and method for sensing a state of a cubic puzzle

A method of determining a current state of a cubic puzzle, the cubic puzzle configurable in an overall cubic shape in any of a solved state and a plurality of unsolved states, the cubic puzzle having an exterior including a plurality of tiles each tile including an indicia visible to a user and an interior with a plurality of colored surfaces each having a color selected to provide an identification of the indicia appearing on an associated tile selected from the plurality of tiles, respectively, a plurality of sources of light each of the plurality of sources of light associated with a single one of the plurality of colored surfaces, respectively, and at least one color sensor, the method comprising:

• (a) with the cubic puzzle maintained in a first unsolved state included in the plurality of unsolved states, illuminating a first colored surface selected from the plurality of colored surfaces with a single source of light selected from the plurality of sources of light because of an association with the first colored surface and sensing a color of the first colored surface with the color sensor when the first colored surface is illuminated;
• (b) with the cubic puzzle maintained in the first unsolved state, repeating act (a) for each of the plurality of colored surfaces by separately illuminating each of the plurality of colored surfaces with a respective single source of light selected from the plurality of sources of light because of an association between the respective single source of light and the respective colored surface that is being illuminated;
• and
• (c) processing the colors sensed by the color sensor at each of acts (a) and (b) to determine a location and orientation of each of the plurality of tiles with the cubic puzzle in the first unsolved state
• wherein the location and orientation are determined from a single static position with the cubic puzzle placed in the overall cubic shape in any of the plurality of unsolved states and independent of information concerning a prior state of the cubic puzzle.

A cubic puzzle including a plurality of edges and six faces when placed in an overall cubic shape configurable in a solved state and a plurality of unsolved states, the cubic puzzle comprising:

• a core element centrally located within the cubic puzzle, the core element including a shell including an outer wall defining a hollow central region;
• a plurality of puzzle pieces configured to couple to the core element, each of the plurality of pieces including at least one tile included in one of the faces, respectively, with the cubic puzzle located in the overall cubic shape, each of the plurality of puzzle pieces includes at least one interior surface having a color selected to provide an identification of an indicia appearing on the at least one tile resulting in the cubic puzzle including a plurality of tiles and a plurality of colored interior surfaces each associated with a respective one of the plurality of tiles;
• and
• an electronic system located in the core element, the electronic system including:
• a plurality of light sources each associated with one of the plurality of colored interior surfaces, respectively, that is illuminated by the respective one of the plurality of light sources, the plurality of light sources configured to illuminate the plurality of tiles;
• at least one color sensor configured to sense the color of each the colored interior surfaces when illuminated by the respective one of the plurality of light sources associated with the selected one of the colored interior surfaces, the at least one color sensor located in the central hollow region;
• and
• a processing system coupled to the plurality of light sources and the at least one color sensor and configured to receive information from the at least one color sensor concerning the sensed color, the processing system determining a location and an orientation around the core element of each of the plurality of puzzle pieces based at least in part on the information,
• wherein the shell is configured to allow light reflected off the plurality of colored interior surfaces to travel through the shell into the hollow central region,
• wherein the location and orientation are determined from a single static position with the cubic puzzle placed in the overall cubic shape in any of the plurality of unsolved states and independent of information concerning a prior state of the cubic puzzle, and
• wherein the plurality of light sources are configured to illuminate selected ones of the plurality of tiles to communicate a visual instruction for solving the cubic puzzle from a current state of the puzzle.