Rubik's Cube Challenge (Very Difficult)

[AZ196F]

It is said that any position of a Rubik's Cube can be solved in 17 moves. So, I set off to make a program where it would find these 17. However, with 12 different moves possible, the program, if complete, would take 2 years to finish. I made it solve 4 moves which takes around 45 seconds at most to complete. After this, 5 steps takes around 9 mins and then 6 steps is over an hour. Most of this time, however, is wasted. If a face is turned 4 times, nothing has changed and a lot of time is wasted. I'm sure it is possible for this program to complete in a resonable amount of time by using more than just for next loops to go though every combination. This is beyond my mind. The challenge I pose is to modify my program so it doesn't ever turn a face 4 times in a row. The challenge requires substantial spacial thinking and creativity. Goodluck to anyone who attempts to solve it.