Witness: This Automaton Swiftly Solves Rubik's Cube in Time That Easily Defeats Blink Reflexes
Collegekids from Purdue University, Indiana, USA, have shattered the earlier Guinness World Record for the speediest Rubik's cube-solving robot, held by Mitsubishi, a multinational conglomerate with a market value of nearly $80 billion. The lightning-fast robot, dubbed the Purdubik's Cube, managed to crack the puzzle cubes in merely 0.103 seconds, a speed that outmatches even human blinks!
Matthew Patrohay, the team's leader, drew inspiration from the former record titleholder and set out to beat the record with a group of friends – Junpei Ota, Aden Hurd, and Alex Berta. Through sheer perseverance, they managed to outdo Mitsubishi's record by an astounding two-tenths of a second, as confirmed by Purdue University.
Patrohay explained, "To give you a sense of how quick we're talking, the average human blink lasts around 200 to 300 milliseconds. So, we're significantly faster than that. The human response time averages around .200 milliseconds as well, and here we are, beating it!"
The researchers encountered numerous challenges during the robot's development, particularly when crafting a cube design that could stand up to the immense force necessary to solve it within such a microscopic margin of time. As Patrohay put it, "Time and time again, these simple cubes would disintegrate. The pieces themselves would snap, causing chaos!"
The video of the Purdubik's Cube in action has become an internet sensation, leaving viewers puzzled by the sheer speed at which the cube was solved. A sample of Twitter comments include:
"My mind is blown! I swear I blinked and missed it when I first watched it. This is just mind-boggling!"
"I needed multiple replays to believe my eyes. It looked like they manipulated the video to show a solved cube initially."
"This is unbelievably impressive, not just for the speed, but also for the fact that they were able to create a cube that withstood the force of such rapid movements."
Through an innovative combination of automation and high-speed computing, the Purdubik's Cube clinched first place at SPARK, Purdue's Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) student design competition in December 2024. Keeping the momentum going, the team worked tirelessly to refine their creation and raised the bar for automated problem-solving.
The Purdubik's Cube displays remarkable adaptability and interactivity, thanks to a Bluetooth-enabled "Smart Cube." Users can scramble the puzzle in real-time, and the robot will mirror every move, solving the cube instantly once the scramble is complete.
The breakthrough victory was given the official seal of approval by Guinness World Records, making Purdubik's Cube the swiftest robot to solve a scrambled Rubik's Cube, clocking in at 0.103 seconds. It's simply a matter of time before these students create the next groundbreaking technological marvel!
Artificial intelligence and technology played a significant role in the creation of the Purdubik's Cube, as its design involved high-speed computing and innovative automation that allowed it to surpass human response time. Moreover, the Bluetooth-enabled "Smart Cube" showcases the team's integration of modern gadgets to enhance its functionality.
