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Programmable Magnets
Martin Hellman writes "A few weeks ago Popular Mechanics awarded one of its Breakthrough Awards for the invention of 'programmable magnets.' Instead of having a single North or South pole, these clever devices have an array of North and South poles. If a matching device with exactly the same array is aligned with the first one, they will experience strong repulsion, just like two single North poles do when brought near one another. If the matching device has the complementary array (North and South interchanged), with correct alignment the two devices will attract. But a slight misalignment will cancel most of the force. Other configurations are possible as well, allowing frictionless magnetic gears and exploding toys. The inventor, Larry Fullerton, used techniques similar to those from CDMA modulation. (Watch the intro video for a brief explanation. While I don't understand magnetism that well, I do understand CDMA and carrying over those ideas to magnetic arrays does make sense to me.)"
Used to do some music back in the 60s. Can you name their tunes?
Effing magnets - how do they work?
If my theories are ultimately correct, this is but one small step toward realizing long-distance space travel. Using huge magnets to repel a craft long distances is the answer. It's crazy, I know.
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
Please edit your submissions.
There is no need to capitalize north or south in this context. Maybe you didn't make it that far in grammar school (sigh) to know this, but if you didn't, you really need to turn in your editor's badge and give it to someone who knows his stuff. Like me.
I can finally complete my perpetual motion machine!
Before becoming the standard critical slashdotter, I'd like to start positive: I think it's really cool - I believe that, as the video says, there are many applications for these magnets.
The youtube video is worth the time too...
That said, I wonder if the magnets are stable in time. some of the applications described do not allow for failures after a few months/years.
Hope that the costs of the magnets will drop soon too...
Sounds like a research goal in Alpha Centauri. I am pleased.
Weren't those called firecrackers and fireworks?
Or are we talking more like filling a bag with hydrogen and throwing matches at it?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
"The applications appear limitless and include a diverse array of fields: from pick-proof locks and easy on/off snowboard bindings to frictionless gears and robots that can scale walls without touching them."
These programmable magnest will be great for making robots that clean windows and do repairs in highly-dangerous altitudes and situations. Plus, we can finally build a suit with magnets in it to let us climb like Spider-Man!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
A decade or so back, I created something called "Super Magnet", and the whole idea was to create a system of atoms/magnets with completely customizable forces - a bit like an infinitely extendable version of what Nature does.
Yes, I know this is in software, but the results can be pretty cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTW09McfCjA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdfSWsTBtyE
http://www.skytopia.com/project/magnet/magnet.html
Bear in mind these animations are about 10 years old - modern hardware and algorithms would use many more magnets (though creativity counts for quite a bit too).
Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
Having objects, linear or otherwise, with a differing array of N/S, or plusses and minusses, that can attract or repel allows one to create objects that can interact in ways similar to proteins that fold - objects will be able to configure or reconfigure in very interesting ways.
And we can see it in our space, without microscopes, and play with them.
Impressive, but how do the modified magnets handle the constant stress of other magnetic fields? Magnets naturally have a general north/south pole because that's the tendency of magnetism. Aren't these magnets likely to "wear off" sooner? Used as gears, wouldn't the exertion of magnetic-kinetic force tear up the "programmed" array of magnetic fields? As gears I'm skeptical they could even be reliable without being staggeringly large. You'd never have to worry about stripped teeth but the weight of the gears is an important factor in energy transference.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
How small can you make these thingys and how fast can you make them flip?
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Wake me up when they invent magnets with east and west poles.
The "frictionless" magnetic gear shown will still have friction in the bearing. The magnetic "teeth" will introduce a huge amount of backlash into the gear system. And you would run into problems if you tried to stack gears beside each other in a gearbox. The high pull-off force/low twist-and-pull force application is neat though. One limitation is that rare earth magnets tend to be brittle, and make a mess when they break.
To be clear though, magnets have been made with multiple poles for a long time, for example those flexible fridge magnets will often have alternating poles across their surface. Also, the pull off application is in many ways similar to the "switchable magnetic bases" . In these devices, the orientation of the magnetic is changed to force the field lines to go through the surface underneath, or to be contained within the base. The innovation in the present work is the use of coding theory to design the patterns.
I might be able to see those exploding toys if you'd all quit clicking on it, jerks.
The main pattern shown in the video is stronger than standard NIB magnets at close range. But die out quickly with distance. That makes them much safer to handle. The strongest NIB magnets could seriously injure you.
I'm curious though about how the pattern used affects how they attract ferrous objects. My hope would be that it has a very similar effect with ferrous objects as with the corresponding magnet, namely that it has greater attraction at short range, but dies out quickly with distance. That also seems logical based on my understanding of induced magnetic dipoles, but I'm no magnetism expert. If so, this also helps to mitigate the other main danger of powerful magnets. (Flying paperclips, etc)
The pattern they show also has minimal net force if one of the magnets is rotated out of alignment, and provides relatively small resistance to such rotation. That has lots of obvious uses for quick- connect quick-disconnect cables, especially those that need to need to withstand high normal forces, but not rotational forces. I'm not clear how the magnets they show handle shearing forces, but either way would have uses for various connectors.
Stylish sheet to fix many problems in Slashdot's D3: https://gist.github.com/801524
I believe indeed he was - about 50 years earlier.
What the heck was that green plastic that showed the fields/domains?
Dave
I envisioned a flying device that can build with this magnet. Only a small detail is unknown. (hope it works) :-)
The guy in the video, Larry Fullerton, looks EXACTLY like the road commissions guy in SimCity 3000. "YOU CAN'T CUT FUNDING TO ROADS! YOU WILL REGRET THIS!"
I'm picturing a train with the 'track' being rails of these magnetic gears, and the underside of the train itself being likewise. It floats above the track, and to cause it to move, you turn the gears on the rails. Seems like not requiring the propulsion on the train itself would make it considerably lighter, would it not?
I sincerely enjoy reading about new technologies and techniques as presented by the free-energy charlatans.
Good entertainment and exercise.
Run your car on water!
Generate free electricity; get off the grid!
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field_viewing_film
http://www.google.com/search?q=magnetic+viewing+film&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:*&prmd=sv&source=univ&tbs=shop:1&tbo=u&ei=bqvBTMvQK4G8lQey6rzHCg&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQrQQwAA
derp.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Ironically both things you list are possbile.
The car oner isn't practical, and the 'off the grid' requires a certain amount of space to use. But they are possible.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Off-topic, the magnets are stronger, but the attraction distance is reduced. This doesn't make it possible to generate "free" energy
I understand that people doing those ads are selling things that aren't really practical. I also understand for all internets and porpoises, it's a scam.
I don't recommend any of them.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
two interacting magnets still have energy lost and converted to heat.
all frictions are electromagnetic on microscopic level anyway.
I was attempting to solve a problem in a device that I was developing and this would be great. My item is a device to align two objects so as they approach each other they can connect together, in a proper alignment without the aid of a computer or person to oversee the operation.
Something that might assist in space station docking.
Unless it explodes it is neither fun nor scientific.
Mythbusters taught me that.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
great news no more magnatism!
I've watched the video of "exploding" toys. .
Quite often, if you look closely, you will see a strange glow on one side when magnets jumps. The glow is slightly purple and lasts something like 0.3s
Does anyone know what's happening ? Where does this light comes from ?
Owing to their slowness to respond to what ought to be very straightforward queries, I find myself suspecting that they haven't invented everything that they claim.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'