Rubik’s Cube: machine 0.103 against human 3.05
The fastest machine solve of a 3×3×3 puzzle cube is 0.103 seconds, set by Purdue University’s Purdubik’s Cube in April 2025, against a human world record of 3.05 seconds. Machines first passed the human record in March 2014 and have held it since. Overtaq records the machine marks under modified conditions: the machine reads the whole cube by camera and turns opposing faces simultaneously.
The record in full
| Discipline | Rubik’s Cube PUZZLE · 3×3×3 SINGLE SOLVE |
|---|---|
| What is measured | Time to solve a scrambled 3×3×3 puzzle cube, single attempt |
| Human benchmark | 3.05 — Xuanyi Geng, China CHINA · 5 APRIL 2025 · WCA COMPETITION SINGLE |
| Machine benchmark | 0.103 — Purdubik’s Cube 21 APRIL 2025 · GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS ATTEMPT, WEST LAFAYETTE |
| Attributed to | Purdue University, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering UNITED STATES |
| Difference | Machine ahead by 2.95s (96.6%) |
| Crossover | 15 March 2014 — Cubestormer 3, Big Bang Fair, Birmingham A LEGO-based machine solved the cube in 3.253s, faster than the human record of the day. |
| Verification status | VERIFIED Verified |
| Comparability status | MODIFIED Modified conditions |
| Overtaq classification | CONFIRMED A machine passed the human benchmark in a contest or measurement Overtaq judges both well evidenced and legitimately comparable. |
| Data last checked | 23 AUGUST 2026 |
Conditions and comparability
Machine conditions
Machine receives the cube state by camera and actuates all faces simultaneously. Human solvers get a 15-second inspection and turn one face at a time by hand.
Why this is modified conditions
Same puzzle, same success condition, and a clean stopwatch — but not the same task. The machine sees the whole cube at once and can rotate opposing faces simultaneously; a human has fifteen seconds of inspection and two hands. Overtaq records this as a machine record over the same object, under modified conditions.
Machine progression
4 recorded results. Overtaq keeps every published result rather than only the current best, so the frontier can be read as a history. This table is the full data behind the chart on the interactive record.
| Date | Result | System | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 March 2014 | 3.253s CROSSING | Cubestormer 3 ARM / David Gilday & Mike Dobson |
REPORTED MODIFIED | LEGO Mindstorms mechanism driven by a Samsung Galaxy S4. First machine faster than the standing human record. |
| 6 March 2018 | 0.38s | Unnamed rig MIT (Ben Katz & Jared Di Carlo) |
REPORTED MODIFIED | Industrial servo motors replaced consumer robotics. Nearly a tenfold jump. |
| 21 May 2024 | 0.305s | TOKUFASTbot Mitsubishi Electric |
VERIFIED MODIFIED | Guinness World Record, using motor-positioning technology from electric appliance manufacturing. |
| 21 April 2025 | 0.103s | Purdubik’s Cube Purdue University |
VERIFIED MODIFIED | Current record. Roughly one third of the previous mark and faster than a human blink. |
Evidence
5 sources. Every source is a direct link to the primary record where one exists; where Overtaq has not been able to confirm an exact permanent URL, the entry says so rather than linking to a search page.
- World Cube Association — Official 3×3×3 single world record
5 APRIL 2025
Human benchmark of 3.05s.
- Purdue University — Purdue ECE students shatter Guinness World Record for fastest puzzle cube-solving robot
14 MAY 2025
The 0.103s record, the team, and the 21 April 2025 attempt date.
- NBC News — This machine can solve a Rubik’s Cube faster than most people blink
15 MAY 2025
Independent reporting of the 0.103s mark and the previous 0.305s record.
- Smithsonian Magazine — Robot sets new Rubik’s Cube speed record, completing the puzzle in 0.305 seconds
24 MAY 2024
TOKUFASTbot at 0.305s, its Guinness ratification, and the superseded MIT mark of 0.38s.
- Rubik’s Cube World — The race to build the fastest cube-solving robot
17 JUNE 2025
Cubestormer 3 at 3.253s in 2014 and the MIT 0.38s mark in 2018.
What is still missing
- The human record of the day in March 2014 (5.55s, Mats Valk, 2013) should be cited alongside the Cubestormer crossing to make the crossover date defensible.
Social cards
Every record is rendered into four formats in both themes from the same data, so the verification and comparability status travels with the numbers wherever the card is posted.
