Puzzle Cube Project

Puzzle Design Challenge Brief

Client: Fine Office Furniture, Inc.

Target Consumer: Ages: High school aged

Designer: Tyler McMillin

Problem Statement

A local office furniture manufacturing company throws away tens of thousands of scrap ¾” hardwood cubes that result from its furniture construction processes. The material is expensive, and the scrap represents a sizeable loss of profit.

Design Statement

Fine Office Furniture, Inc. would like to return value to its waste product by using it as the raw material for desktop novelty items that will be sold on the showroom floor. Design, build, test, document, and present a three-dimensional puzzle system that is made from the scrap hardwood cubes. The puzzle system must provide an appropriate degree of challenge to high school students.

Brainstorming Possible Part Combinations

Isometric sketches of two possible completed Puzzle Cube Designs

Multi-view sketch of five puzzle pieces

CAD drawings of puzzles pieces

Individual Pieces

Assembled Puzzle Cube

Images of Prototype (assembled and disassembled)

Statistics related to solution time of puzzle