> In the 1980's I used to play with solving the cube, using the layer at
> a time methods, I cheated and used moves found by other people, I think
> from vague memory I might have got to 90 seconds.
That's a great result, given the state of the art back then!
I never timed myself; it never occurred to me at the time to compete.
When I started, there were not even books available, let alone tutorials.
But am now tempted to see if I can learn new tricks and progress at all.
Time/dexterity is now everything, since algorithms seem to be totally optimized and
well known.
> Now-days I understand that the method is view the cube and understand
> it and then solve in far fewer moves, using more complicated compound
> moves than I used, and so the action time would be quicker, not sure if
> the total time is less, but could easily be quicker.
I believe they have 10-15 seconds for examination, but what counts is the actual
action. Some kids don't even use up those 10-15 seconds; they grasp the
configuration instantly, it seems.
I've forgotten the cube for a few decades and was astonished to
see how the scene has changed. There seems to be a revival, but how far can
humans go?
This LEGO robot does it in 3.5 seconds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO5DLbpp3-M
> 6 seconds action time seems very quick, whoever did it in that time
> must have some very good understanding of the relative movements of the
> parts of the cube, well beyond my understanding.
Indeed. Humans are amazing.