Solving a Rubik’s Cube is a challenge that often stumps even the most dexterous hands. But for a group of Purdue University students, it became the foundation for a record-breaking achievement. Their robotic system, aptly named Purdubik’s Cube, has officially claimed the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to solve a puzzle cube, clocking in at a jaw-dropping 0.103 seconds.
To put this into perspective, the previous record stood at 0.305 seconds, set by Mitsubishi Electric engineers in Japan in May 2024. Purdue’s robot not only surpassed that benchmark, it demolished it, achieving nearly three times the speed. “We solve in 103 milliseconds. A human blink takes about 200 to 300 milliseconds. So, before you even realize it’s moving, we’ve solved it,” said team member Matthew Patrohay, encapsulating the surreal speed of the machine.
The achievement is a blend of technical mastery and creative ambition. The student team, all members of Purdue’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, built the robot from the ground up. Meeting through the university’s Cooperative Education Program, the students fused both their skills and co-op earnings to bring the project to life. With additional support from corporate sponsors, they engineered a system built to dominate the record books.
Purdubik’s Cube first made waves at Purdue’s SPARK student design competition in December 2024, where it claimed first place. But the project didn’t stop at accolades. Instead, the team continued refining their invention, pushing the limits of automation and speed. Powered by industrial-grade motion control systems from Kollmorgen and enhanced by machine vision for rapid color detection, the robot solves the cube using a custom algorithm designed specifically for ultra-fast execution. Every fraction of a millisecond is optimized, from acceleration and deceleration to synchronized mechanical movement.
Beyond its raw speed, the system is also interactive. The students incorporated a Bluetooth-enabled “Smart Cube” that users can scramble in real time. As the cube is twisted, the robot mirrors each move instantly. The moment the scramble is complete, the cube is solved in a blink. It’s not just a demonstration of automation—it’s an immersive experience in high-speed robotics.
“This achievement isn’t just about breaking a record, it pushes the boundaries of what synthetic systems can do. It brings us closer to understanding ultra-fast coordinated control systems like those found in nature,” remarked assistant professor Nak-seung Patrick Hyun.
Echoing that sentiment, Professor Shreyas Sundaram added, “The Purdubik’s Cube team is a prime example of how Purdue is bringing algorithms, robotics, and control together to achieve great feats of engineering.”
