List of cube solving robots

2026-09-03T06:51:46Z

Elijahmipt: /* Cube solving robots */

{{Outdated}}

Constructing a [[Cube solving robot|robot]] capable of solving a [[cube | Rubik's cube]] "on its own" has been a popular challenge for engineers, with many different designs over the years.

== Cube solving robots ==
"Full solve time" is the average solving time including inspection.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! Creator
! Year
! Puzzle(s)
! Method
! Full solve time
! Mechanism
! Videos
! Notes
|-
| Rubik's cube manipulator
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon Claude Shannon]
| [https://www.hnf.de/en/exhibitions/review/codes-and-clowns-claude-shannon-the-juggling-scientist/the-exhibition.html 1981?]
| [[3x3x3]]
| ?
| ?
| Two arms?
| -
| Currently with the [https://webmuseum.mit.edu/detail.php?module=objects&type=related&kv=75599 in the MIT Museum]: "Gift of Mary Elizabeth Shannon on behalf of the family of Claude E. Shannon". It's unclear how the robot worked, and how much it could do on its own.
|-
| Robbie Rubik
| Daniel Talken, Douglas Rhode, Robert Sum
| 1982
| [[3x3x3]]
| ?
| ~12 minutes
| No cameras. Scrambled cube state is typed into a computer. Cube is repeatedly flipped and the top layer turned with stepping solenoids.
| -
| Made by 3 students at the University of Illinois. (Newspaper articles: [https://newspaperarchive.com/doylestown-intelligencer-apr-14-1982-p-74/ 1], [https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19820413.2.54 2], [https://newspaperarchive.com/yuma-sun-apr-13-1982-p-15/ 3].) Ideal ''Rubik's Cube Newsletter'' [http://members.ziggo.nl/tdennenb/Download/Rubik%27s%20Cube%20News%20Letter%20Vol%201%20No2.pdf Vol. 1 No. 2 (Aug 1982)].
|-
| Cubot
| Robert Dyer et al.
| 1982
| [[3x3x3]]
| ?
| ~4 minutes
| Uses cameras (a "color vision system"). Two orthogonal manipulators grip the cube edges.
| -
| Made by a team of ~20 people at Battelle's Pacific Northwest Laboratories. ([https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/830341/ 1983 Paper]). Cf. [https://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0107/010735.html this Newspaper article]. Solved "any scrambled Rubik's Cube in less than four minutes": [https://www.google.com/search?q=battelle+1982+guardian+rubik+minutes+-blade].
|-
| Tico and Teco
| Rodrigo de Almeida Siqueira
| 1995
| [[3x3x3]]
| ?
| ?
| 2 robotic arms
|
| Created at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The two robots "Tico and Teco" were also given the English names "Chip and Dale". (Original announcement on ''Cube Lovers'': [http://www.cube20.org/cubelovers/CL15/019.txt].) Website with videos: [http://fei.edu.br/~rbianchi/daia/celula/cubo/].
|-
| Deep Cube
| Evan Gates
| 2004
| [[3x3x3]]
| [[Kociemba]]
| ~10 seconds
| 6 arms (6DOF)
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjL4FgVI3Bc YouTube video]
| [https://uncletyson.wordpress.com/tag/evan-gates/ Story by Evan Gates]
No working cameras, kept internal state.
|-
| RuBot
| Pete Redmond (from Dublin, Ireland)
| 2006
| 3x3x3
|
|
| Two perpendicular arms (4 DOF)
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgrYUTy5Q14 RuBot Prototype] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkft2qaKv_o RuBot II Demonstration]
|
|-
| LEGO RUBIK UTOPIA
| Daniele Benedettelli
| 2007
| [[3x3x3]]
| [[Kociemba]]
| ~50 seconds
| LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot (3 DOF), solution found on a laptop connected via USB
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzio92VYUIQ YouTube Video]
| [http://robotics.benedettelli.com/lego-rubik-cube-solver/ Danny's website] First LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot to solve a Rubik's cube
|-
| ARM Powered LEGO/Nokia 4x4x4 Rubik's Cube Solver
| David Gilday (ARM Principal Engineer)
| 2009
| [[4x4x4]]
| creator's own table driven algorithm
| 19min for 4x4x4
| Symbian phone (with Java app) controlling LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT y-turntable, hinged hold/lift and x-spin (3 DOF)
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=052JJGBxFH0 Video of 4x4x4 solve]
|
|-
| CubeStormer
| Mike Dobson
| 2010
| 3x3x3
| [[Kociemba]]
| ?
| LEGO MINDSTORMS RCX, Four orthogonal turning arms (8 DOF)
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaRcWB3jwMo YouTube Video]
|
|-
| Rowan University Cube Solving Machine (?)
| Zach Grady and Joe Ridgeway (at Rowan University)
| 2010
| 3x3x3
| ?
| ~15 seconds
| PLC and aluminum parts, cube turning on a corner base and an extending "stepper" (3 DOF)
| [http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?26083-My-Rubiks-cube-solving-robot Thread] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hk5DFxxTu0 Demonstration] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goTn0-20BAE Interview]
|
|-
| ARM Speedcuber
| David Gilday (ARM Principal Engineer)
| 2010
| 3x3x3
| creator's own 2-phase algorithm
| 15s ("for a good solve")
| Android phone (native app in C++), LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, Four arms (6 DOF)
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77dbG6DPW_c Video of Demonstration at ARM Techcon 2010]
| ARM Powered LEGO/Nokia 4x4x4 Rubik's Cube Solver
|-
| ARM Powered Android LEGO MultiCuber 777
| David Gilday (ARM Principal Engineer)
| 2010
| [[7x7x7]]
| creator's own generic table driven algorithm capable of solving any cube size
| 40min for a 7x7x7
| Android phone (Java app), LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, Vertical arm with x pivot and y-rotating cage. (3 DOF)
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5b9BIBuOd4 Video of a 7x7x7 Solve]
| [http://blogs.arm.com/smart-mobile-devices/254-how-i-created-the-arm-powered-android-lego-7x7x7-cube-solving-robot/ Blog Post by David]
|-
| ARM Powered Android Megaminxer
| David Gilday (ARM Principal Engineer)
| 2010
| [[Megaminx]]
| creator's own table driven algorithm
| 8 min
| Android phone (Java app), LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, Vertical arm with x pivot, y-spin and y-rotating cage. (3 DOF)
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-S30fS944M Video of Megaminx solve]
| [http://blogs.arm.com/smart-mobile-devices/451-oh-no-not-another-arm-powered-lego-rubiks-cube-solver/ Blog Post by David]
|-
| Robot Ruby
| David Bain, Richard Bain, Daniel Purvis, Jarrod Boyes, Miriam Parkinson and Jonathan Goldwasser (Swinburne University of Technology)
| 2011
| 3x3x3
| Kociemba
| ~10s (including inspection)
| Two perpendicular arms (4 DOF)
| [http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?29667-Robot-Rubik-s-Cube-Solve-10.18 Thread] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWtBTKpWVXk Robot Ruby Demonstration] (with a timer that counts frames instead of 100ths of a second?)| [http://www.swinburne.edu.au/chancellery/mediacentre/media-centre/news/2011/05/robot-ruby-breaks-rubiks-record Article on the Swinburne Website]
[http://www.theage.com.au/technology/sci-tech/meet-ruby-the-recordbreaking-robot-that-solves-rubiks-cube-20110601-1fgbc.html Article from The Age]
|-
| CubeStormer II
| Mike Dobson and David Gilday
| 2011
| 3x3x3
| David Gilday's two-phase algorithm
| (unofficial) best 4.762s, average ~5.9s (200 solves)
| LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT and Samsung GALAXY S II smartphone. Four orthogonal turning arms (8 DOF)
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d0LfkIut2M CubeStormer II (YouTube video)] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqJF3tKDnrA CubeStormer II - Seeing is Believing (YouTube video)] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JykMPW-SYQQ This is AMAZING! The CubeStormer ll breaks world record at ARM TechCon 2011 (YouTube video)]
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_RtMLIuozM CubeStormer II - David Gilday & Mike Dobson - ARM TechCon 2011 (YouTube video)] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS3-LiIQzYQ Solving the Rubik's Cube - ARM TechCon 2011 - David Gilday talks with Tomas Rokicki (YouTube video)]
Guinness World Record: 5.270s set on 11th Nov 2011 at [http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-11/11/cubestormer-ii-world-record Wired.co.uk (Article and video)]
|-
| MindCuber
| David Gilday
| 2011
| 3x3x3 and [[Void Cube]]
| 9 stage table driven
| 1m55s (2m30s with published software)
| constructed from just a single LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 kit. One pull/push tilt arm and turntable (2?DOF)
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw1BgD72vaA MindCuber (YouTube video)] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QL5DZBo8WQ ARM Powered® MindCuber solves Void Cube (YouTube video)]
| [http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/News/ReadMore/Default.aspx?id=423825 MindCuber bonus model instructions and software on LEGO MINDSTORMS site] [http://mindcuber.com MindCuber home page]
|-
| MicroCuber
| David Gilday
| 2012
| Microbic (12mm 3x3x3)
| 5 stage table driven
| 7 mins
| Sony Xperia Mini smartphone, Android App. and LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT mechanics. Push/push, hold and turntable (3 DOF?)
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdaacsfGQs4 MicroCuber (YouTube video)]
|-
| High Frequency Twister
| Jay Flatland and Paul Rose
| 2016
| 3x3x3 (with custom drilled center holes)
| Kociemba
| 1.0xx seconds
|
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixTddQQ2Hs4 World's Fastest Rubik's Cube Solving Robot (Jay Flatland)]
|-
| ?
| Infineon
| 2016
| 3x3x3
| Kociemba
| 0.637 seconds
| 6 arms, created to show off an Infineon AURIX™ that powers it
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1b6iPYj3YQ 0.637 seconds - a new Rubik's Cube machine world record!]
|-
| ?
| Human Controller
| 2017
| 3x3x3
| CFOP
| -
| Self-solving (motors embedded in the sides)
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt_YYSK889k Rubik's Cube Robot - self solving]
|-
| ?
| Ben Katz and Jared Di Carlo
| 2018
| 3x3x3
| Kociemba ([https://github.com/cs0x7f/min2phase min2phase])
| 0.38 seconds
| Blog posts: [https://build-its-inprogress.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-rubiks-contraption.html Ben] and [http://blog.cactus.zone/2018/03/rubiks-solver-software.html Jared]
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt00QzKuNVY 0.38 Second Rubik's Cube Solve]
|-
| ?
| xdpcz
| 2018
| 4x4x4
| Reduction
| 35.67 seconds
| [https://www.speedsolving.com/forum/threads/the-fastest-cube-machine-for-4x4x4.69231/ Speedsolving.com Post]
| [https://m.youku.com/video/id_XMzYxOTI5MTA3Mg==.html 目前世界最快的四阶解魔方机器]
|-
| TOKUFASTbot
| Mitsubishi Electric
| 2024
| 3x3x3
| Kociemba ([https://github.com/cs0x7f/min2phase min2phase])
| 0.305 seconds (single solve)
| 6 arms
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59qgzzSD1tk Mitsubishi Electric Recognized by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS for fastest robot to solve a puzzle cube]
| [https://www.mitsubishielectric.com/news/2024/0523.html Press release by Mitsubiishi Electric]
|-
| Purdubik's Cube
| Junpei Ota, Aden Hurd, Matthew Patrohay, and Alex Berta (Purdue University)
| 2025
| 3x3x3 (Moyu RS3M)
| ???
| 0.103 seconds (single solve)
| 6 arms (Kollmorgen motors)
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXxh6QuY2ew Video by Purdue Engineering]
| [https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/News/2025/purdue-ece-students-shatter-guinness-world-record-for-fastest-puzzle-cube-solving-robot Post by Purdue ECE], [https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2025/5/us-students-build-robot-that-solves-puzzle-cubes-faster-than-you-can-blink-your-eyes Post by Guiness]
|-
| Megaminx Machine
| Ilya Osokin, Viacheslav Sivak, Fedor Poleschuk, Vladislav Kuznetsov, Kirill Gorulev, Andronick Arutyunov, Igor Shimanogov (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology)
| 2026
| Megaminx (DianSheng Megaminx Galaxy M)
| Beam Search with trained heuristic (average solution length ~80)
| 7.647 seconds (single solve; only the mechanical solution time)
| 12 arms (K-tech MG4005-i10v2 motors)
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO2osH6yQ2E Video by Starkit Robots]
| [https://www.interrecord.ru/naimenshee-vremya-mehanicheskoj-sborki-megaminksa-robotom/ Post by Interrecord]
|}

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List of cube solving robots