This robot manages to solve a Rubik’s Cube in a second

The robot was able to pull off an impressive 1.019 on its best try, normally going between 1 and 1.1 seconds.

Given a long plane ride and enough booze, I can just about solve a Rubiks cube. Flatland also stated in the video that they are “in the process right now of applying for an official world record”.

The current record for a human solving it is 4.904 seconds set by teenager Lucas Etter in the 2015 River Hill Fall competition in Maryland.

YouTubers, Jay Flatland and Paul Rose have uploaded a video this month that demonstrates their mechanical solver that unscrambles a Rubik’s cube in the blink of an eye.

Back in 2014, we talked about a similar robot that could solve the cube in 3.253 seconds.

The machine used by the duo uses the Kociemba Rubik’s cube solving algorithm to solve the puzzle. The Rubik’s Cube being solved has one important modification: four holes drilled into the middle of each of the six sides so that the machine can manipulate it.

Comprised of stepper motors, 3D-printed frames, and four USB webcams linked to a PC, the robot machine works by first scanning the cube (as a human would) to figure out its arrangement.

To test the machine, Flatland covers the cameras to keep them from seeing the cube as he scrambles it completely and randomly.

It’s a fairly simple machine, with a rig which holds each face of the cube and a camera for very quickly scoping out the moves that need to be made.