Student's robot smashes 4x4 Rubik's Cube record

A STUDENT'S robot has shattered the world record for solving a 4x4 Rubik's Cube - by 33 seconds.

- FILIPA GASPAR

Matthew Pidden, a 22-year-old University of Bristol student designed, built and trained "The Revenger' in only 15 weeks for his computer science bachelors degree.

The robot took just 45.305 seconds to solve a 4x4 Rubik's Cube - beating the previous record by an impressive 33 seconds.

Matt was looking for inspiration for his dissertation project when he watched the previous record for a robot solving the cube in one minute 18 seconds, set in 2015, and saw the potential to improve on it.

He designed and built the robot from scratch, using computer vision techniques to scan the cube via dual webcams, a custom mechanism to manipulate all faces, and a fully self-built solving algorithm to generate efficient solutions.

Matt said: "I did this in 15 weeks on a tight budget, so I am convinced that this world record can be beaten too and I hope other students will be keen to give it a go."