Product from Polymagnet. .gif from hackaday.com

This mysterious red thing was given to three engineers with the question: “Can you explain this?”

They took it in their hands, and pulled, turned and twisted the thing, only to be more confused.
When the two handles were far apart, they attracted each other, but when they were close they repelled. And when twisted to a certain position, they came together.

Magical. How is it possible? They asked, mindblown.
Actually, it is magnets. But in a completely new way.

The scene above is from this video (click, it’s a must-watch!), by smartereveryday, who visits the company behind this ‘toy’, Polymagnet.

They have developed a technology to print magnetic designs on the surface of magnets. This means that they can create multiple north and south poles on the same surface, and the higher density of poles – the tighter the ‘reach’ of the magnet gets.

The reach of the polymagnets can be tailored. Screenshot from the video by smartereveryday.

Apart from being able to tailor the reach of the magnetic field, the focused force of the polymagnets mean that there are less interference and energy waste. And of course, since the magnetic patterns are printed to a very fine detail, where every maxel (magnetic pixel) represents one pole, the designs have no limits.

Printing maxels (magnetic pixels) allow infinite possibilities of magnetic patterns. Screenshot from the video by smartereveryday.

So, if we have a look at the mysterious red object again, the magnetic viewing film shows that the magnetic pattern is in the shape of the cog, which explains why it comes together when twisted to the right position.

The latch mechanism shown on magnetic viewing film.
Screenshot from the video by smartereveryday.

And with our new knowledge about the ‘reach’, we can imagine the magnetic pattern has been designed with a long reach attraction and short reach repulsion. And it’s all between two magnets.

This specific design, with its spring and latch mechanism, is thought be a good fit for a cabinet door closure. But really, when you can tailor the strength and geometry of the magnetic pattern, the possibilities for the Polymagnets are endless.

They call it ‘smart magnets’.
And it is hard to disagree.

It is clear that these are not only toys, that instead this innovation can revolutionise the use of magnets in product design.

The alternative motor without rare-earth minerals was developed by Toyota Motor, If this motor can be produced in large amount, Toyota Motor doesn’t need at risk of supply disruptions in the future. The alternative motor was called induction motor which is lighter and more efficient than the magnet-type motor. It has been used in Toyota Prius and Tesla Model S.¹

Induction motors, except not requiring rare-earth materials, induction motors also can offer higher efficiency and durability than permanent-magnet motors in some applications. Induction motors operate by inducing electrical currents in conductors in the motor’s rotor. these currents in turn give rise to a magnetic field in the rotor and thus produce torque. As a result, when switched off, these motors are inert, producing no electrical voltage or current, no losses and no cogging torque. These machines can produce high levels of performance using modern and well understood vector control techniques.²

References

1. Toyota Reading Motors That don’t use rare earths. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-01-14/toyota-readying-electric-motors-that-don-t-use-rare-earths

2. J. D. Widmer, R. Martin, M. Kimiabeigi. Electric vehicle traction motors without rare earth magnets. Sustainable Materials and Tecnologies. Volume 3, April 2015, Pages 7–13