Student-Built Robot Shatters Rubik’s Cube World Record
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A robot built by undergraduate students from Indiana’s Purdue University has solved a Rubik’s Cube in an incredible 0.103 seconds. This is about twice as fast as an average human blink. Named "Purdubik’s Cube," it claimed a new Guinness World Record for the "Fastest robot to solve a rotating puzzle cube" on April 21, 2025. The previous record was held by a robot built in Japan by Mitsubishi Motors engineers in 2024. It completed the task in 0.305 seconds.
The robot's record-breaking speed can be attributed to powerful hardware combined with clever programming. Purdubik’s Cube sits in a custom 3D-printed case that keeps it locked in place, while six strong motors twist the sides with speed and precision. The cube is reinforced to handle the rapid movements without cracking.
On the software side, the robot uses a cube-solving algorithm that lets it turn multiple sides at once, shaving off precious seconds. Two high-speed cameras scan the cube’s colors in just 10 microseconds. Instead of analyzing full images, the robot reads raw color data, helping it plan its moves even faster.
The team, led by Matthew Patrohay, initially created the robot in December 2024 for the Spark Challenge, a design competition at Purdue’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. After winning the event, they decided to optimize its performance further and try for the world record. The rest, as they say, is history.
"I always say that my inspiration was a previous world record holder," said Patrohay. "Back in high school, I saw a video of MIT students solving the cube in 380 milliseconds. I thought, 'That’s a really cool project. I’d love to try and beat it someday.' Now here I am at Purdue—proving we can go even faster."
Resources: NBCnews.com, engineering.purdue.com, guinnessworldrecords.com
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19 Comments
jillirisabout 1 monthi can't even solve a cube
cecilia060215 daysMe too
f4rrah19 daysBro me too
chemist999about 1 monthWhat the, how did that solve it so fast. I cannot even solve a cube but that makes me feel even worse.- mewybybylomeabout 2 monthsJames says: "How long will it be until I can go to Purdue?" Grandma says: "James is sure smart enough to go to Purdue and build robots!"
nusiliny-174169823329about 2 monthsThat’s crazyyyyyy
1_that_one_guy2 monthsI wish could solve but I cant
kaylee14about 2 monthsYea! It would take me like a good couple of hours
kupawalls2 monthsmy record is 4.34 seconds almost world record- 1_that_one_guy2 monthsWOW that is fast
rainbow_cat14522 monthsI'm still on a cube from 2021 and this robot just solved it in less than a second...I really need to do better...
852128sophie2 monthsIncredible! I can barely solve a rubik's cube.... 😅
dogomaster578892 monthsI've never seen a cube solved THAT fast!
63882hj2 monthsSame
- dogomaster578892 monthsmy record is 30.8 seca😥😥😥
- 63882hj2 monthsThat's good. I can't even solve one!!
gimkitlover2 monthsThat's still really good. I can't even solve one