We humans might think ourselves pretty smug for being able to solve a Rubiks Cube in mere seconds but robots are always out to one-up us after a computer has been created that can crack the cube in just over one second.
In the time it takes you to say the word Rubiks Cube the homemade computer built by two software engineers from Kansas, US, has already solved the iconic puzzle, clocking in a time of just 1.047 seconds to get the job done.
The current Guinness world record for a robot is a relatively sluggish 2.3 seconds, with the humans lagging behind with 4.9 seconds, which was set by 14-year-old Lucas Etter in November 2015. Despite both of these actually being fast speed solving times (especially compared to our own 18-years-and-counting effort) this unofficial new world record has absolutely smashed them both.
The creators, Jay Flatland and Paul Rose, uploaded a video to YouTube of their robot getting hands-on with the Rubiks Cube. It shows the Cube held in the middle of a 3D-printed frame via drilled holes with four USB cameras pointing at the puzzle. The robot is then hooked up to a Linux-based computer running a Kociemba Rubiks cube solving algorithm that takes the information delivered from the cameras and then works out in milliseconds which moves to make.
The result is a blink-of-the-eye flurry of movement by the robot that successfully unscrambles the famously tricky combination puzzle created by Hungarian professor Erno Rubik back in 1974. The two men are currently in the process of applying for the world record title.
