This Record-Setting Robot Can Solve a Rubik’s Cube Faster Than You Can Blink Designed by a group of undergraduate students at Purdue University, the robot completes the puzzle in 0.103 seconds "Purdubik's Cube" was developed and built by undergraduate students Junpei Ota, Aden Hurd, Matthew Patrohay and Alex Berta. Purdue University Blink and you might miss it: A new robot developed by college students can solve a Rubik’s Cube in 0.103 seconds, setting a new world record. “We solve in 103 milliseconds,” says Matthew Patrohay, one of the electrical and computer engineering undergraduates at Purdue University who designed and built the robot, in an announcement from the university. “A human blink takes about 200 to 300 milliseconds. So, before you even realize it’s moving, we’ve solved it.” The high-speed robotic system—named “Purdubik’s Cube”—now holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest robot to solve a puzzle cube. Patrohay, along with fellow students Junpei Ota, Aden Hurd and Alex Berta, officially set the record in a laboratory on the university’s campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, on April 21. Purdubik’s Cube handily beat the previous record of 0.305 seconds, which was set last year by a Mitsubishi Electric robot. “[The students] said, ‘You know what? I think we can do better,’” says Milind Kulkarni, who leads the university’s electrical and computer engineering department, in a video accompanying the statement. Though developing the robot was a team effort, it was Patrohay who initially spearheaded the project. His love affair with the scrambled, multicolored puzzle cube dates back to the fourth grade. “There was a competition, and you get a prize if you could solve it, and I could never solve it,” he tells NPR’s Ailsa Chang. “And I wanted to win the prize, so a few friends and I tried to learn how to solve it.” Then, while he was in high school, he heard about a pair of MIT students who’d designed a robot that solved a Rubik’s Cube in 0.380 seconds in 2018. He was immediately intrigued. “I thought, ‘Hey, someday, I should try and beat that,’ and here I am,” he tells NPR. Purdue ECE students shatter Guinness World Record for Fastest Puzzle Cube-Solving Robot Watch on When Patrohay got to Purdue, he learned everything he could to make his dream a reality. After spending time building the necessary skills for the project, the group actually constructed the robot in just one semester for their senior design class. To develop a robot that could solve a Rubik’s Cube in record time, the students integrated several systems and technologies, including machine vision for color recognition, custom algorithms and industrial-grade motion control hardware. They also optimized the Rubik’s Cube itself, designing a strong, custom internal core to hold all the pieces together as it moves at a rapid pace. “The cubes themselves just kind of disintegrate,” Patrohay says in the video. “The pieces just snap in half and fall apart.” Though 0.103 seconds is fast, Patrohay is optimistic that Purdubik’s Cube might be able to work even faster. “We’re going to give one last little effort to try and push below 100 milliseconds, so we can say we’re even faster,” he says in the video. “But realistically, I think 103 milliseconds is going to be very tough to beat.” The Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik. Five decades later, it’s the most popular puzzle toy in the world—especially among “speedcubers,” or competitors who try to solve it as quickly as possible. For humans, the world record for solving a 3x3x3 rotating puzzle cube is 3.05 seconds, set by Xuanyi Geng of China a little more than a month ago. “Speedcubers” have also set world records for solving them while underwater, while running 100 meters, while blindfolded, while roller skating, while upside down and while juggling. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.