# 256x256 Rubik's cube solve - World record attempt



## soup (Feb 24, 2021)

I, along with qqwref and ben1996123, have started a collab solve of a 256x256 Rubik's cube. We're expecting a few more participants to help with the solving effort.

We expect the attempt to take anywhere between 100 and 110 hours' solve time, which could mean up to a month's worth of sessions in real time. 

As for the method, we'll be using a variation of the cage method for this solve. Roughly outlined, the steps are:
1) Clearing the 1st/green center - Partially filling in columns of green pieces
2) Solving the remainder of the green center using the 4-move commutator r u' r' u
3) Clearing the 2nd/blue center - Partially filling in columns of blue pieces
4) Solving the remainder of the blue center using the 4-move commutator r2 u' r2 u
5) Solving the outer shell - edges and 3x3
6) Clearing the 3rd/orange center - Partially filling in columns of orange pieces
7) Solving the remainder of the orange center using the 4-move commutator r2 u' r2 u
8) Solving the 4th/yellow center
9) Solving the last two (red + white) centers

I've started the first bit of the solve. Progress so far, at just over 2 hours into the solve:


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## effperm (Feb 24, 2021)

i wanna try 3rd or 4th center
idk


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## qwr (Feb 24, 2021)

lol the idea of this tickles my fancy
just how are you going to collab solve? I don't have the patience for this kinda thing


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## soup (Feb 24, 2021)

we've set up a shared folder with save files of the solve, which allows each solver to pick up where the last left off.


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## Porcupine01 (Feb 24, 2021)

Ima try and join, and when it my turn, ima scramble it back up...


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## soup (Feb 24, 2021)

3rd hour of the solve, with 87 out of 254 columns cleared:


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## LNBFilms (Feb 25, 2021)

soup said:


> I, along with qqwref and ben1996123, have started a collab solve of a 256x256 Rubik's cube. We're expecting a few more participants to help with the solving effort.
> 
> We expect the attempt to take anywhere between 100 and 110 hours' solve time, which could mean up to a month's worth of sessions in real time.
> 
> ...



How are you gonna collab on this? I would love to join, if this is still a thing.


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## Ben Whitmore (Feb 25, 2021)

LNBFilms said:


> How are you gonna collab on this? I would love to join, if this is still a thing.



There's not really any point in having lots of random people join if they aren't already decent at big cubes (say sub 40 minutes on 20x20). We also decided that each person must do at least 5 hours of the solve to be counted as a contributor


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## LNBFilms (Feb 25, 2021)

I can OH an 8x8 in an hour and a half on avg. lol that means I suck.


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## qqwref (Feb 25, 2021)

Yeah you have to be decent at computer big cubes or there's no point. We can relax the 20x20 time limit to like an hour but that's still only 5 people total.


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## LNBFilms (Feb 25, 2021)

qqwref said:


> Yeah you have to be decent at computer big cubes or there's no point. We can relax the 20x20 time limit to like an hour but that's still only 5 people total.


I understand. Just let me know where I can view the world record attempt!


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## quing (Feb 25, 2021)

LNBFilms said:


> I understand. Just let me know where I can view the world record attempt!


actually sometimes we stream it sometimes on twitch. You can track Rubik's cube category there. Yes, i'm in there aswell (kinda top3 in vitrual bigcubing)


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## soup (Feb 27, 2021)

Clearing step for the 1st center is roughly 2/3 done, at ~6 hrs. latest work (from 4:00 to 6:00) done by qqwref


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## DNF_Cuber (Feb 28, 2021)

LNBFilms said:


> I understand. Just let me know where I can view the world record attempt!


it'll take dozens of hours ya know.


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## soup (Mar 1, 2021)

The cleaning step for the first center was completed at a bit over the 9 hour mark, and work has started on solving the remainder of the 1st center.

Current progress: 12 hours


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## joshsailscga (Mar 1, 2021)

Not being familiar with ultra-big cube strategies, what is meant by 'cleaning'? From the image it's obviously denoting the change from a totally jumbled face to the obviously green face; how is the 'static' left behind determined, aka is the solver initially drawing from only four other faces or is something else the cause?


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## ZB2op (Mar 1, 2021)

I can barely understand online 7x7's let alone that.


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## Filipe Teixeira (Mar 1, 2021)

soup said:


> The cleaning step for the first center was completed at a bit over the 9 hour mark, and work has started on solving the remainder of the 1st center.
> 
> Current progress: 12 hours



wow is that a 10x10?


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## ExplosiveCubing (Mar 1, 2021)

Going well! I wonder how long this will take...


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## soup (Mar 1, 2021)

joshsailscga said:


> Not being familiar with ultra-big cube strategies, what is meant by 'cleaning'? From the image it's obviously denoting the change from a totally jumbled face to the obviously green face; how is the 'static' left behind determined, aka is the solver initially drawing from only four other faces or is something else the cause?



The cleaning step = partially solving the center columns using nU/nU2/nU' moves to draw in pieces from the middle ring of faces, roughly as follows:



https://imgur.com/KTmAsIB


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## Multicubing (Mar 2, 2021)

This looks like a LOT of fun, but unfortunately I do not have the time for it.  Nor do I have the patience at this time to learn computer cubing. Computer cubing a little frustrating. Right now I'll stick with physical large cubes... but enjoying watching this progress!


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## soup (Mar 3, 2021)

Small update showing off current progress at ~16 hours into the solve:


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## abunickabhi (Mar 3, 2021)

Ben Whitmore said:


> There's not really any point in having lots of random people join if they aren't already decent at big cubes (say sub 40 minutes on 20x20). We also decided that each person must do at least 5 hours of the solve to be counted as a contributor


Interesting rules for team work for solving.

I hope you guys find enough volunteers. this seems like an interesting project.

Will the solution be recorded somewhere, or any end goal with this project, like a video or something?


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## Ben Whitmore (Mar 3, 2021)

abunickabhi said:


> Interesting rules for team work for solving.
> 
> I hope you guys find enough volunteers. this seems like an interesting project.
> 
> Will the solution be recorded somewhere, or any end goal with this project, like a video or something?



The program records the reconstruction and allows exporting a video of the solve, so yes


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## abunickabhi (Mar 5, 2021)

Ben Whitmore said:


> The program records the reconstruction and allows exporting a video of the solve, so yes


Do link up the video on this thread, once you export and decide to make it public.

Also the exec has to be sped up to make the video shorter


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## soup (Mar 6, 2021)

The 1st center has been solved at about 24:19:00. Short video showing off the solved center:


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## Scollier (Mar 6, 2021)

soup said:


> The 1st center has been solved at about 24:19:00. Short video showing off the solved center:



Wow! A whole day's worth just to solve one center. I hope it gets easier for you as there will be less sorting through colors, since green is elliminated, but a lot more breaking and restoring. Best of luck!


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## qqwref (Mar 8, 2021)

A few things on the method:
- We're not coming up with this on the fly or anything - the method is basically the same one that has been used for big computer cubes for many years, with a couple of smaller timesaves discovered along the way. I explain the basic form of it in this youtube video, if anyone wants to try it themselves.
- The idea of the "clearing" or "cleaning" step is to solve a lot of pieces very efficiently (only a little over 1 move per piece) but at random. After that the remaining pieces are solved one at a time with a 4-move algorithm. We do this approach for each of the first 3 centers, and then for the remaining centers we have a specialized method to do it all in one step.
- The edges and 3x3x3 will be solved after the first two centers (green and blue). I normally start with white and yellow but we're using green and blue for now because that's what soup uses. The current version of the simulator allows us to change the color scheme as we go, so we might take advantage of that at some point.


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## Ben Whitmore (Mar 9, 2021)

Scollier said:


> Wow! A whole day's worth just to solve one center. I hope it gets easier for you as there will be less sorting through colors, since green is elliminated, but a lot more breaking and restoring. Best of luck!



Typically the second center takes about the same amount of time as the first center, but it starts speeding up a lot after that. We usually find that first 2 centers + edges is around 50% of the solve.


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## abunickabhi (Mar 9, 2021)

Ben Whitmore said:


> Typically the second center takes about the same amount of time as the first center, but it starts speeding up a lot after that. We usually find that first 2 centers + edges is around 50% of the solve.


Interesting statistics. How did you arrive at this stat?


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## Ben Whitmore (Mar 9, 2021)

abunickabhi said:


> Interesting statistics. How did you arrive at this stat?



By doing solves and observing that it was the case, also the fact that log(24!/(4!^2 16!)) / log(24!/4!^6) ~= 0.497


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## abunickabhi (Mar 9, 2021)

Ben Whitmore said:


> By doing solves and observing that it was the case, also the fact that log(24!/(4!^2 16!)) / log(24!/4!^6) ~= 0.497


Ahh thanks for the info!


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## Neon (Mar 15, 2021)

Hi there. I'd like to help with 256x256, and I have some small method ideas, some of witch might be useful and not known.
It's Igor Tarasov(don't know if it's possible to change my name here), besides awful 17 hour 100x100 solve I have near sub9 10x10 single and something like 36 on 20x20


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## effperm (Mar 16, 2021)

you can change your name if you are premium

also the clearing of the second center is finished!


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## qqwref (Mar 23, 2021)

The second center is now done. When the edges and 3x3 (the next step) are finished, we'll be about halfway there.


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## Ben Whitmore (Mar 23, 2021)

About 2 hours after the second center was finished, edges and 3x3 are now solved:


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## effperm (Mar 24, 2021)

today is the 1 month anniversary of the 256x256x256 solve

woohoo


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## Ben Whitmore (Apr 2, 2021)

qqwref just finished clearing the third center, total time just under 55 hours:


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## joshsailscga (Apr 2, 2021)

I see you did end up using that color scheme swap option you mentioned earlier. Must be neat to have that ability in the software, and handy for your different solving orders.


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## kbrune (Apr 2, 2021)

qqwref said:


> A few things on the method:
> - We're not coming up with this on the fly or anything - the method is basically the same one that has been used for big computer cubes for many years, with a couple of smaller timesaves discovered along the way. I explain the basic form of it in this youtube video, if anyone wants to try it themselves.



This is so cool. Wish I had the skills to get in on this action. I've never seen or tried computer solving. I watched a bit of the video you linked but i'm still a bit confused. Learning the commutator stuff you talk about isn't a big problem though. However I know less then nothing about solving on a comp. Have you or anyone posted a more beginner video on things like: software to use, user interface explanations, stuff like that? Or is it trial and error friendly? 

Where do you dload a computer solving program?


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## qqwref (Apr 6, 2021)

The best sims are at
- https://mzrg.com/rubik/iso/
- http://benwh.000webhostapp.com/software/cubesim/index.html

There is a bunch of customizability as far as colors, your view of the cube, etc. but the basic idea is that you press space to scramble, and click and drag to do a turn. The turn that's done is based on what sticker you start the drag from and what direction the drag is in. Controls/settings are in the settings menu in IsoCubeSim or after pressing the v button on ben's cubesim.


Edit: Oh yeah, there are also keyboard sims, like at http://mzrg.com/js/qcube-v2.html , https://hi-games.net/ , https://cstimer.net/ . They are generally faster on small cubes but really awkward on larger cubes. Also the method we're using here won't work well on them, you will have to use something similar to reduction.


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## soup (Apr 7, 2021)

The third center of the cube is now finished, at just over 68.5 hours' solving time:


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## qqwref (Apr 14, 2021)

We're now a little over halfway through the 4th center. Probably less than 20 hours remaining.


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## abunickabhi (Apr 14, 2021)

qqwref said:


> We're now a little over halfway through the 4th center. Probably less than 20 hours remaining.
> View attachment 15405


Insane stuff. All the best for completing the 4th center.
Would love if the solve process is livestreamed, if it is not too much logistics to care about. Also since many people are solving, many screens will need to be shown. Also, audio commentary will not be possible, as it is just too much hours, so just seeing the video feed can be boring.


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## Nir1213 (Apr 14, 2021)

And I cant even solve a 4x4 under 40 mins.

This is insane, definitely gonna achieve your goal fr


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## pjk (Apr 14, 2021)

qqwref said:


> We're now a little over halfway through the 4th center. Probably less than 20 hours remaining.
> View attachment 15405


Awesome stuff, btw, good to see you back on here.


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## qqwref (Apr 14, 2021)

abunickabhi said:


> Insane stuff. All the best for completing the 4th center.
> Would love if the solve process is livestreamed, if it is not too much logistics to care about. Also since many people are solving, many screens will need to be shown. Also, audio commentary will not be possible, as it is just too much hours, so just seeing the video feed can be boring.


I think other people stream it sometimes, but I don't plan to since it's not very watchable, and when I'm doing it I don't want to talk or respond to chat anyway. You won't need multiple screens since only one person is solving at any given time.


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## Ben Whitmore (Apr 22, 2021)

The 4th center was finished on April 18th:



We're currently about 30% of the way through the last two centers.


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## vidcapper (Apr 22, 2021)

Ben Whitmore said:


> The 4th center was finished on April 18th:
> 
> View attachment 15489
> 
> We're currently about 30% of the way through the last two centers.


I bet you're not looking forward to the parities...


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## Ben Whitmore (Apr 22, 2021)

vidcapper said:


> I bet you're not looking forward to the parities...



The edges and 3x3 were solved 36 hours ago and parity takes a few minutes at most, it's not hard


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## Ben Whitmore (Apr 22, 2021)

Another quick update: we're now half way through the last two centers, total time just under 90 hours:


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## quing (Apr 23, 2021)

And 45 more lines in 2nd half just right now


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## DGCubes (Apr 23, 2021)

Ooh I love the pattern that starts to appear on the green side as you solve the red one. Keep up the good work, can't wait to see it finished!


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## Bryan4305 (Apr 23, 2021)

soup said:


> I, along with qqwref and ben1996123, have started a collab solve of a 256x256 Rubik's cube. We're expecting a few more participants to help with the solving effort.
> 
> We expect the attempt to take anywhere between 100 and 110 hours' solve time, which could mean up to a month's worth of sessions in real time.
> 
> ...


Please... no... so many colors


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## Petrus_EW (Apr 23, 2021)

quing said:


> And 45 more lines in 2nd half just right now
> 
> View attachment 15499


This is great, I want to see how they continue.


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## Ben Whitmore (Apr 23, 2021)

Petrus_EW said:


> This is great, I want to see how they continue.



There are only 15 columns, and about 35-40 minutes of work left now. qqwref will be finishing (and streaming) the rest of it, maybe later today.


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## qqwref (Apr 23, 2021)

Going to stream the last bit in about 20 minutes. Ben tried to post a message but the moderators don't like him lol


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## qqwref (Apr 24, 2021)

It is done!


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## dphdmn (Apr 24, 2021)

GG!


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## 2018AMSB02 (Apr 24, 2021)

qqwref said:


> It is done!View attachment 15518



No way!!! Amazing job guys. I would be jealous as one of the collaborators not getting to finish it lol


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## Scollier (Apr 24, 2021)

That is so awesome!!! Crazy how so much work you put into that! Nearly 100 hours! Congrats on the new wr!! 

now i'm going to steal it from you with the 257x257 cube attempt


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## DGCubes (Apr 24, 2021)

Congrats, this is such an awesome accomplishment!! 

Might have missed it earlier in the thread, but do you plan to post a timelapse video with commentary? I'd love to hear what y'all have to say about the experience.


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## EngiNerdBrian (Apr 24, 2021)

So awesome! I just saw the Reddit post. Better than 1 piece/second. Arbitrary and absolutely awesome, great work team!


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## soup (Apr 24, 2021)

High-speed timelapse of the solve (600x speed):


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## Xme (Apr 24, 2021)

Kudos.


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## abunickabhi (Apr 24, 2021)

Awesome Accomplishment!

Super cool to watch, although 600x is very tough to follow each bar being built.


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## qqwref (Apr 24, 2021)

I dunno what commentary I would add, the steps are the same as in other solves but just waaay longer, so most of it was just "well this is boring but I'll do an hour or two here and there". I guess the last 3 centers are the most fun since it's very easy to see the progress.

If you want to watch the method in more detail, you can check out some other recent solves which are sped up less. You're not going to be able to see the individual moves though unless the video is extremely long, and then it'd take a huge amount of time to render.

We kept a spreadsheet of all the sessions, here's the approximate amount of work from each person:
- qqwref: 30:47:43 (32.2% of the time), 201850 moves, 1.82 TPS
- soup: 27:40:41 (28.9% of the time), 212560 moves, 2.13 TPS
- dawid: 13:02:11 (13.6% of the time), 80760 moves, 1.72 TPS
- isaak: 11:45:06 (12.3% of the time), 72432 moves, 1.71 TPS
- ben: 7:07:49 (7.4% of the time), 38598 moves, 1.50 TPS
- eff: 5:23:03 (5.6% of the time), 27294 moves, 1.41 TPS
Note that Ben did the whole edges/3x3x3 stage, which took about two hours and always has much lower TPS. His TPS for his other segments was 1.83.


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## Ben Whitmore (Apr 28, 2021)

I've just finished rendering and uploading a long timelapse of the solve:


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## DNF_Cuber (Apr 28, 2021)

Ben Whitmore said:


> I've just finished rendering and uploading a long timelapse of the solve:


Very cool. I might just have to watch the whole thing.


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