Video Of The Week - Aussie Robot Solves Rubik's Cube In 10.18 Seconds

Ever since the Rubik's cube was introduced in 1974, people have been challenging themselves to solve the 3x3x3 cube as fast as they can. Now, Ruby a robot invented at Melbourne's Swinburne University has joined the fray, completing the 3-D mechanical puzzle in a mere 10.18 seconds.

Built by six university students for their year-end project, Ruby uses a web camera to scan the four sides of the scrambled cube. It then transmits the data to a computer, which has been programmed with the algorithms to solve the puzzle. Within seconds, instructions are sent back to the robotic arm, helping it 'solve' the cube.

While impressive, the robot is still nowhere close to the world record, which was set by 14-year old Feliks Zemdegs on November 13th, 2010. His time? An impressive 6.77 seconds. It is no wonder that he is called the God of Cubing!

Resources: Newscientist, wikipedia.org