Rubik's Cube solving robot at Scienceworks

The world's fastest Rubik's Cube-solving robot, developed by students at Swinburne University of Technology, is now permanently on display at Scienceworks in Melbourne.

The robot - named Ruby - when in operation, could solve the scrambled puzzle in just over 10 seconds, including the time taken to scan the initial status of the cube.

It was built from scratch by six students in 2010 as their final year project for the double degree in Bachelor of Engineering (Robotics and Mechatronics)/Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Software Engineering).

The students' combined expertise in robotics and software engineering enabled them to construct a robot with a fast computer vision-tracking system capable of high precision movements and timings.

The team behind Ruby comprised twins David and Richard Bain, Daniel Purvis, Jarrod Boyes, Miriam Parkinson and Jonathan Goldwasser.

Ruby worked by scanning each face of a scrambled cube through a web cam. It then used a software algorithm to develop a solution, which was fed to the high-speed robot through a real-time embedded control system.

The current human world record for single time on a 3×3×3 Rubik's Cube is held by Australian teenager Félix Zemdegs, who had a best time of 6.24 seconds at the Kubaroo Open 2011.

Ruby will be on loan to Scienceworks for the next 10 years.

The robot is part of Think Ahead, a new permanent exhibition about advances in science and technology, which will showcase more than 200 objects from the past, the present and the speculative future.