Here at Giz, we pretty much depend on the fact that robots will one day rise up against us and squash us like an irritating insect. Hell, all those Science Fiction movies and novels can’t be wrong.
But until that day comes, we have to put up with creepy looking robots that give us artificial smiles and do inane things like give us directions, dance or solve a Rubik’s Cube in 35 seconds.
The RuBot 2 from inventor Pete Redmond is designed with the specific task of solving a Rubik’s Cube. It uses two hi-res cameras to scan all six sides of a cube, then uses some artificial intelligence software to work out how to solve the puzzle. Then, its pneumatic arms flick the cube from side to side, making rapid-fire adjustments to the cube until the problem is solved.
The whole process takes 35 seconds, which is well off the human record of 9.55 seconds. To us, it doesn’t look like this robot will be taking part in the demise of humankind, when people have its number so convincingly. Keep practising RuBot 2…