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heiowge · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 12:37 pm Post subject: Rubik's Hub

Rubik's Hűb (spelt hub, pronounced to rhyme with "cube") is a fully functional USB 2.0 hub built inside a no longer (in any way at all) functional rubik's cube.

It doesn't turn (I thought about it, and there's a cube with no centre pieces or core (so you can see through it) that could house the hub, but it would require making some special pieces to stop the USB sockets snapping off when it's turned too far. This is beyond me. Plus I couldn't find a hub thin enough with USB ports on flexable arms.

It is tested, but I will offer no guarantee of safety if and when I eventually come to sell it.

bobthebob1234 · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 1:12 pm Post subject:

thats amazing! how long did it take you to make?
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heiowge · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 1:25 pm Post subject:

About 2 or 3 days in total. I had to pre-buy a hub and crack it open. I used this one:

because it came with 4 arms that could be bent to fit. I removed the core from the cube and cut off the back of the centres, just leaving a square and the cap. I had to glue the cube together and hollow out portions of it to fit the circuit board and I managed to hot-glue that into place without harming the connections.

I needed to re-solder the USB male connection because the socket wouldn't thread through the centre. I then assembled it all. I originally intended to have the sockets end at the centres and have them recessed inside, but the wires meant they were too far out. So I had to replace the hands / feet of the robot.

Then I copied the sticker pattern off a scrambled cube and cut the centre stickers to size.

There was a little bit more fiddling than all that, but that covers most of it.

PCNetSpec · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 2:23 pm Post subject:

Very impressive and original... it also beats the heck out of the "so called" rubiks cube USB hubs you can get online.

http://www.usbgeek.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=0565
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heiowge · Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 2:32 pm Post subject:

I've seen that before. I was most unimpressed. Slight twistiness and multi-colour does not capture the essense of the rubiks cube.

It's just a pity I didn't have the skill needed to make it fully functional (easy to do if you can make hubs and cast plastic - I can't).