Matt Pidden, a University of Bristol student, has shattered the world record for solving a 4×4 Rubik’s Cube, using a robot he designed, built, and programmed from scratch in an astonishing 15 weeks.
Before an audience of independent witnesses and official timekeepers in a university computer lab this Monday (May 12th), Matt’s robot, aptly nicknamed ‘The Revenger,’ solved the 4×4 cube in a mere 45.305 seconds. This demolished the previous record by a staggering 33 seconds.
Matt, a 22-year-old final-year Computer Science student, was seeking a dissertation project when he stumbled upon the 2015 record for a robot solving the 4×4 cube (1 minute 18 seconds). He immediately saw an opportunity to beat it.
His project meant building the robot entirely from the ground up. This included using computer vision with dual webcams to scan the cube, creating a custom mechanism to turn its faces, and developing his own solving algorithm for efficient solutions.
Matt’s journey with the iconic puzzle began with a 3×3 Rubik’s Cube birthday present at age 10. While initially uninterested, he rediscovered it a bit later and was hooked. “I remember going on YouTube around 11 or 12 and learning to solve it in about a week,” Matt recalled. “For a while, I got really into speed-solving and became pretty good.”
Though his Rubik’s Cube fascination faded during his teens, his passion for robotics grew alongside his computer science skills. When it came time for his final dissertation, the cube challenge resurfaced. He knew that tackling the classic 3×3 record would be too much given his budget and timeframe. However, the record for the 4×4 cube, often called ‘Rubik’s Revenge,’ seemed beatable. Once he set his sights on it for his dissertation, there was no turning back.
“It definitely became a labour of love, and it was harder than I initially thought,” Matt admitted. “I spent some long nights building in my room and am really grateful to my housemates for putting up with the noise!”
“I’d tinkered with robotics before, but never on this scale,” he explained. “Honestly, many people thought I was crazy to even try, but my supervisor, Dr. Neill Campbell, believed in me, and I genuinely enjoyed the challenge.” He also credited his older brother, Thomas, a product designer, for “valuable feedback and small tweaks that really helped me move forward.”
“The toughest part was getting the scanning system, the solver, and the robot hardware to work together flawlessly at high speed, all under a tight deadline,” Matt shared. “Fortunately, the excellent guidance and facilities at the University of Bristol made it possible.”
As recently as early April, his robot was solving the puzzle in around 2 minutes 30 seconds – still over a minute shy of the world record. But a stroke of ingenuity in improving how the cameras analyzed the cube’s colors began to unlock faster times. Through meticulous trial and error – adjusting robot measurements by millimetres and component angles by mere degrees – his times progressively dropped, ultimately shattering the world record.
Matt hopes his success will inspire others. “I managed this in 15 weeks on a tight budget,” he said, “so I’m convinced this record can be beaten too. I hope other students will be keen to try.”
While robots can solve the 3×3 Rubik’s Cube faster than humans, the human record for the 4×4 (15.71 seconds) still stands – for now.
This project cemented Matt’s passion for robotics. He now plans to pursue a Master’s in Robotics at Imperial College London next year.
