Columbus Arduino Raspberry Pi Enthusiasts - CARPE

Mechanical Puzzles
Origin, Types, Collecting and solving strategies

Presenter: John Rausch
Retired Chief Technology Officer & Chief Scientist @ LexisNexis 1980-2008

John will discuss the origin of several mechanical puzzles, the different types and how they are designed. This will be a hands-on presentation where you will be attempting to solve some of these puzzles. He will also discuss how puzzle solving relates to general problem solving, including algorithm creation and software development.

John will attempt to show how the designers use expectations for how things normally work to lead the solver down the wrong path. He will also discuss how our brains go about solving puzzles, and generally, all problems, and methods we can use to overcome frustration not only with puzzles, but with most challenging problem solving.