Hans Anderson has created a robot using Lego Mindstorm that can solve Sudoku puzzles all on its own. The robot “reads” the paper with the puzzle, figures out the solution, then writes the answer down.

Hans has programmed the robot with a Sudoku-solving algorithm. It will recognize numbers and empty cells, then use this algorithm to solve the puzzle. The number-recognition system alone is very cool – let alone the fact that it then uses that to solve the puzzle. The robot is even armed with a pencil, so once the answer has been determined, it will write down the answer. It isn’t fast, but it gets the puzzles right and is a pretty cool feat of engineering.