Prosthetic Attachment

Discrete Approximation of Permanent Magnet Arrays

Controllable magnetic fields offer enormous potential for contactless actuation in mechatronic systems, and permanent magnet arrays can efficiently shape these fields. In mechatronic systems, engineers are incentivized to design, build, and test new magnet array architectures that unlock new actuation capabilities. Unfortunately, these arrays are expensive to build and difficult to assemble. In this project, we investigate a general approach to building complex magnet arrays using low-cost and tileable cube magnets. This method implements practical voxelization and discretization of any magnet array into tileable cube elements, such that assembly of these discrete arrays is straightforward and scalable to any geometry or array design. Using this method, we developed robot end effectors that utilize discretized magnet arrays, and we found their performance consistent with model predictions. Our tests with discrete prototypes provided important empirical insights with significant implications for mechatronic design. In the final stages of this project, we reflected on the paradigm of discrete approximation for building magnet arrays, highlighting its novel capabilities in mechatronic system development and noting open challenges in achieving generalizable discretization

• Project Lead: He Kai Lim
• Project Team: Will Flanagan, Cameron Taylor (alumnus)