Strong Magnets With Printed Poles Have Endless Engineering Applications

 

The Brilliant Idea: Magnets printed with multiple poles, opening the door to myriad applications.   Snowboard Bindings Two magnets tightly attract when aligned but repel when twisted more than 45 degrees, easily clicking on and off. Other apps: cycling cleats, pick-proof locks, standard prosthetic-limb fittings. Spinal Implants Magnetic discs attract and repel simultaneously, offering friction-free cushioning for bones of the spine. Other apps: bearings for energy-storing flywheels, assembly-line arms. Idiot-Proof Assembly Magnets on the joints of furniture or toys click together only when correctly aligned, making Christmas Eve easier for dads everywhere. Other apps: car parts, aircraft machinery. (Icons by Dogo) Innovator: Larry Fullerton, Correlated Magnetics Research Larry Fullerton set out to invent a self-assembling magnetic toy that would fuel his grandchildren's passion for science. Instead, he invented a way to manipulate magnetic fields that redefines one of the fundamental forces of nature. Fullerton's breakthrough tramples the long-held assumption that magnets have two opposing poles, one on each side. He found that if he used heat to erase a magnetic field, he could then reprogram material to have multiple north and south poles of differing strengths. "People look at magnets as having a north pole and a south pole. That limits your thinking," he says. "I came along from the field of radar and said, 'Hey, that's not a magnet—it's a vector field!'" To program the magnets, Fullerton invented a device—picture a printer whose head emits 200,000-amp bursts of electricity rather than ink—that creates magnetic pixels he calls "maxels." Using the printer and some vector math, Fullerton is now learning how to produce magnets that exhibit different behaviors. The practical applications appear limitless: from precision switches and a new generation of fasteners to robots that can scale walls without touching them. www.popularmechanics.com