A Japanese robot has shattered the world record for cracking a Rubik’s Cube by solving the puzzle in the blink of an eye.
The bot, created by Mitsubishi Electric, completed the game in an astonishing 0.305 seconds – nearly three seconds faster than the record set by a human.
Its performance was so fast that technicians had to supply a slow-motion video of the record bid because realtime footage was too fast for the human eye to follow.
The robot smashed the previous human record time of 3.13 seconds set by Max Park in June last year (2023) making it the new official Guinness World Record holder.
Guinness officials recognised the record with a certificate issued on 21st May.
It also broke a previous robot record of 0.38 seconds set by a university in the USA.
The team behind the TOKUI Fast Accurate Synchronized Motion Testing Robot said its new colour-recognition algorithm means it can read and act on colours at lightning speed.
And it’s program linked to superspeed motors allows the robot to rotate an object like the cube’s panels around 90 degrees in just 0.009 seconds.
The process is so fast that in early tests the robot, say technicians, kept shattering cubes because they couldn’t keep up with its blinding speed.
One member of the five-man team of robot technicians said: “Shaving off time as much as possible was difficult, but it was fun at the same time.”
Yuji Yoshimura, Senior General Manager, Component Production Engineering Center, Mitsubishi Electric said: “Since establishing our Component Production Engineering Center in 2016, we have been developing and manufacturing high-tech motors, power semiconductors and related products.
“To demonstrate our technical capabilities in achieving high-speed, high-precision windings, which are key to increasing the productivity and efficiency of motors used in many of our products, our young engineers voluntarily worked to set the world record, resulting in a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title, which has motivated our engineers to further develop their technical skills.
“We will continue to take on exciting challenges using the technology we have cultivated in motor development to support global manufacturing.”
Rubik’s Cube became one of the world’s most popular puzzles after its creation by Hungarian professor Erno Rubik in 1974.
Players have to rotate panels in a 3x3x3 cube so that its six sides each show a single colour.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Simona Kitanovska, Sub-Editor: Georgina Jedikovska, Agency: Newsflash
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