Machine solves Rubik's cube in 0.38 seconds

March 8 (UPI) -- A masters student constructed a machine capable of solving a Rubik's cube in a fraction of a second.

Ben Katz, a student at MIT's Biomimetic Robotics Lab shared video of the machine completing the puzzle in 0.38 seconds.

"The time is from the moment the keypress is registered on the computer, to when the last face is flipped," Katz wrote in a blog post. "It includes image capture and computation time, as well as actually moving the cube."

The machine is made up of six Kollmorgen ServoDisc U9-series motors with U.S. Digital optical encoders on the back, six custom motor drivers and two PlayStation Eye cameras.

Katz said the actual motion time is about 335 milliseconds, with each 90 degree move taking about 10 milliseconds.

"The machine can definitely go faster, but the tuning process is really time consuming since debugging needs to be done with the high speed camera, and mistakes often break the cube," Katz said.