| Student’s Robot Smashes 4x4 Rubik’s Cube World Record |
| Written by Lucy Black | |||
| Friday, 13 June 2025 | |||
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Matt Pidden, a computer science student at the University of Bristol, UK, has broken the world record for solving a 4x4 Rubik's Cube using a robot he designed, built and trained in just 15 weeks. Matt's robot, nicknamed 'The Revenger', took just 45.305 seconds to solve a 4x4 Rubik's Cube, beating the previous record by 33 seconds. Final year student Matt developed the robot for his final year dissertation project for his Computer Science degree having watched the previous record for a robot solving a 4x4 Rubik's Cube in 1 minute 18 seconds set in 2015, as he could see the potential to improve on it.
Matt Pidden and Revenger Matt's project involved designing and building the robot from scratch, using computer vision techniques to scan the cube via dual webcams. He developed a custom mechanism to manipulate the faces of the cube, and also developed an algorithm to generate efficient solutions. The project includes precision linear actuators, and a C++/Python solving pipeline. The decision to focus on the 4x4 cube rather than the classic 3x3 cube was due to a recognition that the smaller cube record would be insurmountable due to budget and time constraints. However, the time record for the 4x4 cube, known as Rubik's Revenge, could be beaten. Matt said the project was much harder than he'd anticipated: "I've experimented with robotics before but never at scale. The most challenging part was coordinating the scanning system, solver, and robot hardware to work together seamlessly and at high speed, all within a tight project deadline." Even in early April, a month before the successful record-breaking attempt, Matt's robot was taking around 2 minutes 30 seconds to solve the puzzle, more than a minute behind the world record. Matt then found a way to improve the way the cameras analysed the colors of the cube which started unlocking faster times. He then used trial and error to improve his times, changing the measurements of the robot by millimetres and changing the angle of the robot components by one or two degrees at a time, and eventually smashed the world record. Matt hopes his world record success will inspire others to take on the challenge: "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."
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