A robot named Revenger has just broken the world record for solving a four-by-four Rubik’s Cube.
It finished the puzzle in just 45.305 seconds, much faster than the old robot record of 1 minute and 18 seconds. This amazing machine was built by university student Matthew Pidden during a 15-week project for his computer science studies.
Revenger isn’t just fast—it’s also smart. It uses cameras to scan the cube and a special set of instructions called an algorithm to figure out how to solve it. An algorithm is like a recipe: it tells the robot which steps to take, and in what order, to get the cube back to its solved form.
The regular Rubik’s Cube, which has 3 rows and 3 columns on each side, is already a tough puzzle. But the four-by-four version, created in 1981, adds even more pieces to the challenge. While Revenger now holds the record for robots, the fastest human time for solving a four-by-four cube is still quicker—15.71 seconds.
The Rubik’s Cube itself was first invented over 50 years ago by Ernő Rubik, a Hungarian sculptor. Since then, it has become one of the world’s best-known brainteasers. With robots like Revenger getting faster, the future of puzzle-solving may look more mechanical than ever.
