MagCeptor: Encoding Broadcast-Addressable Logic into Magnetic Receptors

TL;DR

MagCeptors encode selectivity into magnetic topology to enable broadcast-addressable control, achieving high-density, untethered distributed systems capable of complex tasks without electronics.

Contribution

The paper introduces MagCeptors, a novel magnetic architecture that decouples force from source distance and enables addressable, distributed control using magnetic topology.

Findings

Achieved a density of 385 mN/mm3, over 50 times higher than prior art.

Demonstrated signal demultiplexing, sequential logic, and distributed networking.

Enabled untethered systems to perform complex tasks solely through magnetic logic.

Abstract

Multicellular coordination relies on broadcast-addressable receptors, yet engineered magnetic systems face an addressability bottleneck because global fields intrinsically conflate power and control. Here, we introduce MagCeptors to resolve this by encoding selectivity directly into magnetic topology. Establishing an energetic isomorphism with biological receptors, these arrays utilize local couplings to shape potential landscapes where global field vectors act as spatial keys, triggering deterministic snap-through instabilities. This architecture decouples force from source distance, achieving a density of 385 mN/mm3 (>50-fold increase over prior art). We validate this primitive through signal demultiplexing, embodied sequential logic, and untethered distributed networking. This framework enables distributed systems to orchestrate complex tasks without tethers or electronics, relying solely on the intrinsic logic of matter.