Tetris for Logistics: solving the 3D Bin Packing Problem with Rust 🦀

#rust #opensource #algorithms #visualization

Hi everyone! 👋

You know what’s frustrating? Opening a huge delivery box just to find a tiny item rattling around inside, surrounded by a mountain of bubble wrap. It’s inefficient, it’s bad for the environment, and honestly, it just feels wrong.

Or maybe you’ve moved house recently and played "Real Life Tetris" trying to fit everything into the moving truck?

I decided to tackle this problem the way I love most: with code. 💻

📦 Introducing: sort-it-now

I built sort-it-now, a 3D packing optimizer written in Rust. The goal is simple but powerful: calculate the most efficient way to pack a set of items into a box (or container) and visualize the result.

It’s basically an algorithm that plays Tetris for you, but in 3D and with much higher stakes (okay, maybe just better efficiency).

🛠️ The Tech Stack

I chose Rust 🦀 for this project because:

Performance: When you are calculating 3D space and iterating through thousands of possibilities, speed matters.
Safety: Rust’s memory safety guarantees help prevent silly bugs when dealing with complex data structures.
It’s awesome: Let's be honest, writing Rust just feels good.

✨ Key Features

Intelligent Optimization: It calculates the best fit for your items.
3D Visualization: It’s not just a console output saying "It fits." You get an interactive visualization to see how it fits.
Open Source: Because sharing is caring!

🚀 Why I built this

I love projects that bridge the gap between abstract algorithms and real-world visual feedback. sort-it-now was a playground for me to dive deeper into Rust while solving a classic optimization problem (the Bin Packing Problem). Plus, visualizing the output makes the math feel "real."

🔗 Check it out

The project is hosted on GitHub. I’d love for you to check it out, give it a spin, or maybe even drop a star if you find it cool! ⭐

👉 GitHub Repo: JosunLP/sort-it-now

🙌 Contribution

I'm always open to feedback. If you have ideas on how to make the packing algorithm even smarter, or if you want to improve the visualization, feel free to open an issue or a pull request.

Let's stop shipping air and start sorting it now!

Peace out,
— Josun