Hobbyists build robot that solves Rubik’s cube in less than 2 seconds

In November 2015, 14-year-old Lucas Etter broke the record for solving Rubik’s cube. He did it in 4.904 seconds. A Lego machine with a Galaxy S4 could do it in 3.253 seconds. Now two engineers have built a robot that can do it in 1.019 seconds.

In the video, the robot manages to solve the puzzle first in 1.196 seconds, then in 1.152, then in 1.047 and finally in 1.019 seconds. The robot consists of six stepper motors, 3D-printed frames and four USB webcams, all of which are connected to a PC. The stepper motors are powered by an Atmel-Arduino board.

Furthermore, the Linux PC uses a Python written application based on Kociemba’s Cube Explorer algorithm. The Rubik’s cube itself has been modified slightly with four holes drilled in the center of each of its six sides. The holes are needed to allow the robot to turn the cube.

To prove that the computer really does not ‘see’ what the cube looks like before the program starts, a camera is covered with a white sheet. With the robot, the makers Jay Flatland and Paul Rose want to compete for the world record that is still officially in the name of the Lego machine-Galaxy S4 combination.