Rubik's Cube

Software engineers Jay Flatland and Paul Rose built a special robot. Watch the video to find out more.

Read the following words and phrases and their definitions.

• rapid - very fast
• stepper motor - stappenmotor
• scramble - to put parts of something in the wrong order
• predetermined - decided in advance

First read the assignment. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. How are the stepper motors connected to the Rubik’s cube?


2. Do they use a completely regular Rubik’s cube?


3. How many webcams are part of the setup?


4. How many stepper motor drivers do Jay and Paul use?


5. How fast does the robot solve the cube the first time in the video? And the second time?


6. Why does Jay block one of the camera’s at a certain point?

Extra video assignments

Jay and Paul want to set an official record for the quickest time for a robot to solve the cube. But people can solve them amazingly fast as well without using robots.

1. Watch this video to see 14-year-old Lucas Etter solve the cube in the quickest time for a human to do so.
   What is the secret to becoming the fastest Rubik’s cube solver according to Lucas?
2. Next, check out this video plus assignments about the previous record holder Collin Burns.