In front of an audience including independent witnesses and official timekeepers in one of the University’s computer laboratories today (Monday 12 May), Matt’s robot, nicknamed ‘The Revenger’, took just 45.305 seconds to solve a 4x4 Rubik’s Cube, beating the previous record by an impressive 33 seconds.

Final year student Matt, aged 22, was looking for inspiration for his dissertation project for his Computer Science degree when he watched the previous record for a robot solving a 4x4 Rubik’s Cube in 1 minute 18 seconds set in 2015 and saw the potential to improve on it.

Matt’s project involved designing and building the robot entirely from scratch, using computer vision techniques to scan the cube via dual webcams, a custom mechanism to manipulate all faces, and a fully self-built solving algorithm to generate efficient solutions.

Matt first received a classic 3x3 Rubik’s Cube as a birthday present when he was 10 – and initially didn’t show much interest in it, but picking it up again when he was a bit older he fell in love with the puzzle.

“I remember when I was 11 or 12 going on YouTube and learning how to solve it in about a week, and for a while I got really into speed-solving them and got pretty good,” Matt said.

Matt’s interest in Rubik’s Cubes faded in his teens but he developed an interest in robotics alongside his talent for computer science. Looking for a suitable a project for his final dissertation, the Rubik’s Cube once again sprang to mind.

Matt was aware the record for the classic 3x3 Rubik’s Cube would be insurmountable due to budget and time constraints, but noted the record for the 4x4 cube, known as Rubik’s Revenge, could be beaten. Once he had his mind set on his dissertation project, there was no going back.

“It definitely became a labour of love and it was actually harder than I thought it was going to be. I spent some long nights building in my room and am grateful for my housemates for tolerating the noise!” Matt said.

“I’ve experimented with robotics before but never at scale.  To be honest, a lot of people told me I was crazy to try this in the first place, but my supervisor Dr Neill Campbell believed in me and I've really enjoyed the challenge. My older brother Thomas, who works as a product designer, also offered really valuable feedback and suggested some small tweaks that helped me progress.

“The most challenging part was coordinating the scanning system, solver, and robot hardware to work together seamlessly and at high speed, all within a tight project deadline, though I was fortunate to have access to excellent guidance and facilities at the University of Bristol which made it possible.”

Even in early April, Matt’s robot was clocking times around 2 minutes 30 seconds to solve the puzzle – over a minute behind the world record - but through a stroke of ingenuity Matt found a way to improve the way the cameras analysed the colours of the cube which started unlocking faster times.

Then through trial and error – changing the measurements of the robot by millimetres and changing the angle of the robot components by one or two degrees at a time – he found his times getting quicker and quicker, eventually smashing the world record.

Matt hopes his world record success will inspire others to take on the challenge.

“I did this in 15 weeks on a tight budget, so I am convinced that this world record can be beaten too and I hope other students will be keen to give it a go,” he said.

Although robots have been created that can solve a 3x3 Rubik’s Cube faster than humans, the 4x4 record of 15.71 seconds is still held by humans  – for now.

Matt’s success in this project confirmed his passion for building robots, and he now plans to study for a Master’s in Robotics at Imperial College London next year.