OskarPuzzle | Gear Fit - How would you approach solving this puzzle? @OskarPuzzle | Uploaded January 2024 | Updated October 2024, 1 week ago.
Print it yourself at https://oskarvandeventer.nl/Print-It-Yourself/. Buy at https://i.materialise.com/en/shop/item/gear-fit or at shapeways.com/product/48PKRYTAR/gear-fit Gear Fit is a gear-matching puzzle. The object is to place the two oddly-shaped gears over the two seven-pointed-star shafts such that they rotate freely. When gears are placed incorrectly, they won't fit, or the rotation will block. Hidden inside the frame is an identical set of gears that control the rotation of the shaft. The system will turn only when the placed gears match the hidden ones.
When one naively tries tries all possible combinations, then this may take up to 7x7x8=392 attempts. However, when you realise that the placement of one gear determines the other, then only 7x4=28 attempts remain. One can reduce this number even further, when checking at which orientation one shaft turns the fastest, and what this means for the orientation of the gears. Hence, this puzzle is quite solvable with some clever thinking.
Copyright (c) 2023, M. Oskar van Deventer.
Frequently Asked Question: http://oskarvandeventer.nl/FAQ.html
Buy mass-produced Oskar puzzles at puzzlemaster.ca/browse/inventors/oskar (USA, CA) and sloyd.fi/oskar-deventer-c-151_154.html (EU)
Buy exclusive 3D-printed Oskar puzzles at shapeways.com/shops/oskarpuzzles and https://i.materialise.com/shop/designer/oskarpuzzle
Print it yourself at https://oskarvandeventer.nl/Print-It-Yourself/. Buy at https://i.materialise.com/en/shop/item/gear-fit or at shapeways.com/product/48PKRYTAR/gear-fit Gear Fit is a gear-matching puzzle. The object is to place the two oddly-shaped gears over the two seven-pointed-star shafts such that they rotate freely. When gears are placed incorrectly, they won't fit, or the rotation will block. Hidden inside the frame is an identical set of gears that control the rotation of the shaft. The system will turn only when the placed gears match the hidden ones.
When one naively tries tries all possible combinations, then this may take up to 7x7x8=392 attempts. However, when you realise that the placement of one gear determines the other, then only 7x4=28 attempts remain. One can reduce this number even further, when checking at which orientation one shaft turns the fastest, and what this means for the orientation of the gears. Hence, this puzzle is quite solvable with some clever thinking.
Copyright (c) 2023, M. Oskar van Deventer.
Frequently Asked Question: http://oskarvandeventer.nl/FAQ.html
Buy mass-produced Oskar puzzles at puzzlemaster.ca/browse/inventors/oskar (USA, CA) and sloyd.fi/oskar-deventer-c-151_154.html (EU)
Buy exclusive 3D-printed Oskar puzzles at shapeways.com/shops/oskarpuzzles and https://i.materialise.com/shop/designer/oskarpuzzle
