Student of the University of Bristol, Matt Pidden, has set a new world record for the assembly of the Rubik’s Cube 4 × 4 with a robot he designed, built, and trained in just 15 weeks. The robot, named The Revenger, solved the puzzle in 45.305 seconds, which is 33 seconds faster than the previous record set in 2015.
The demonstration took place on May 12 at the University laboratory in the presence of official observers and independent witnesses. This achievement marked the culmination of the final project for the 22-year-old student from the Faculty of Computer Sciences, who stumbled upon the old robot record for the 4 × 4 cube being solved in 1 minute and 18 seconds.
Inspired by the opportunity to improve this record, Matt created The Revenger from scratch. He developed mechanisms for turning the cube’s faces, designed an algorithm for solving it, and used computer vision with two webcams to recognize the colors of the cube. Despite facing budget constraints and time limitations, the project proved to be technically challenging, with the robot initially taking 2.5 minutes to solve the puzzle.
Through multiple iterations and optimizations, the robot’s performance gradually improved. With guidance from his older brother, an industrial designer, and support from the university’s scientific director and lab, Matt fine-tuned every aspect of The Revenger’s design to achieve the final result.
Matt’s interest in puzzles dates back to his childhood when he received his first 3 × 3 Rubik’s Cube at the age of 10. He honed his skills in solving the cube by watching tutorials on YouTube. This hobby eventually evolved into a passion for robotics and programming, leading him to pursue an academic career.
Realizing the constraints posed by time and budget for a 3 × 3 record, Matt shifted his focus to the 4 × 4 cube, also known as Rubik’s Revenge, where he saw an opportunity to surpass existing records. While robots have already outperformed humans in solving the 3 × 3 cube, the world record for the 4 × 4 cube, set at 15.71 seconds, is still held by a human.
Currently, Matt is preparing to pursue a master’s degree in robotics at Imperial College London. He views his recent success as just the beginning, stating, “I achieved this in 15 weeks with limited resources. Therefore, it’s possible for someone to do it even faster.”