Veit Elser's packing puzzle

Bill brought over Veit Elser's 14-disk packing puzzle, and the Cheny dish (thanks!) but I wasn't at home. 

Cole accepted delivery and when I got back, we took some photos of Veit's beautiful puzzle:

1/2 inch aluminum frame

I think Greg's going to have his work cut out for him into so many thick aluminum pieces if he's going solve this one, too.  Unlike Bill's Dozeneggers, which invite you to replace each piece into its appointed cavity when things aren't going well, the only idle thing to do with Veit's puzzle is to stack up the pieces.

Stacking, not packing

Unfortunately, Gloria called while I was snarfing down the Cheny creation, and I made the mistake of mentioning how good it was to her.  So I left what remained for her:

sharing: not fun

Comments

[Danny Sleator]

I have a copy of the Formidable Fourteen, as Veit has christened it. The disks are actually 3/8ths of an inch thick. Here are the diameters of the pieces:

2.150 2.250 2.308 2.348 2.586 2.684 2.684
2.964 2.986 3.194 3.320 3.414 3.670 3.736
cavity: 12.000

They were obviously created on a lathe. Based on looking at the flat surfaces, the starting material was a 3/8 inch thick sheet (not a rod). I don't know how they held them in the lathe. The lathe I learned on would not be able to do that.

Also, it's best not to play games with them, like rolling them around the floor with a bunch of bored intoxicated adults "watching" a presidential debate. Aluminum is soft, and they can get dinged.

I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here, because I don't know who "Cheny" is. I need to rectify this. Apparently he/she is a cook whose creations are desirable.

[Dan Hoey]

For Cheny, see previous article. Or next article, depending on which way your watch runs.

Dan

[Thane Plambeck]

Cheny runs the Jade Palace, a Chinese restaurant very near the California Avenue Caltrain stop in Palo Alto. He's solved some of Bill's puzzles.

I hadn't met him until a day or two ago, despite being in the restaurant many times.

[George Bell]

Has anyone tried applying simulated annealing to solve circle packing puzzles by computer? This would seem a good technique to try. I think I would have a much better chance solving it on a computer than by hand (but have not tried either!).