By Sofia Lambis, News Investigations Editor
Final year Computer Science student Matt Pidden has broken the world record for solving a four-by-four Rubik's Cube.
Pidden broke the record using a robot that he designed, built and trained for his final dissertation project.
Today independent witnesses and official timekeepers gathered in the University’s computer lab as Matt attempted the record.
David Gilday set the previous world record in 2015 after his Multicuber Three robot solved a four-by-four Rubik's Cube in one minute and 18 seconds. Searching for dissertation inspiration, Matt watched this record and saw the potential for improvement.
Created over 15 weeks Pidden's robot 'The Revenger' solved the Rubik's Cube in just 45.305 seconds, beating the previous record by over 30 seconds.
Pidden built 'The Revenger' from scratch and was supported by supervisor Dr Neill Campbell, a Reader at the School of Computer Science. Matt's older brother who works as a product designer also chipped in with feedback and suggestions.
According to Pidden, '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.'
The results will now be sent to the Guinness World Record organisers for verification.
'I’ve experimented with robotics before but never at scale' said Pidden.
'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.'
Pidden faced several challenges on the day. In one attempt the robot's arms broke and in another the camera didn't scan in the colours. Two out of five tries broke the world record, with the final attempt achieving Pidden's target of under 50 seconds.
But Pidden believes it can be solved even faster.
'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.
