Record-breaking robot solves a Rubik’s cube

The Rubik’s cube was devised by Hungarian architect Erno Rubik more than 30 years ago, but he likely never envisioned his puzzle being cracked this quickly.

The machine, known as ‘Sub1 Reloaded’ and developed by German tech company Infineon, was aided by one of the world’s most powerful microcomputers, solved a Rubik’s cube in 0.637 seconds at the Electronica Trade Fair in Munich, Germany earlier this year.

‘Guinness World Records has spent some time carefully reviewing the evidence, including ensuring that the cube and the pre-scrambling met all WCA standards, before confirming the new record today,’ the organisation said.

The robot took a fraction of a second to analyze the cube and make 21 moves to solve the puzzle.
Its time of 0.637 seconds beat the previous world record of 0.887 seconds, set by an earlier prototype of the same machine.

The complexity of the scrambled cube had to meet the standards of the World Cube Association. 
Once set to solve the cube, shutters rapidly peel back from the robot’s multiple senor cameras, revealing the layout of the cube to the awaiting eyes of the machine.

The robot then analyses how the cube has been scrambled. 

A special ‘speed cube’ had to be used to reduce friction between the moving parts and keep the time to a minimum.

The human record for solving a Rubik’s cube is 4.904 seconds, set by 14 year-old Lucas Etter last year.