3D-Printed Magnetoelectronics for Interactive Appliances and Self-Aware 4D-Printed Mechatronics

Additive manufacturing enables fabrication of intricate electronic devices embedded in complex-shaped structural components. Here, we add a new member to the family of 3D-printed electronics - a high-performance 3D-printed magnetic field sensor featuring more than 300% magnetoimpedance effect at low frequencies and single point magnetic vector field reconstruction relying on 3D Hall effect magnetometry. The sensors are shaped as mechanically flexible and magnetically controllable springs as well as 3D crosses demonstrating abilities in tailoring the sensor response, operation field range, and operation frequency through rational design of the sensor geometry. The application potential of 3D-printed magnetoelectronics is featured via magnetic toggle switches for smart home, continuous joysticks for robotics control, three-axis magnetometers for volumetric multi-point detection, and self-aware 4D-printed mechatronic actuators. This technology enables 4D-printed structures that fold motion sensing directly into their design and enable each part to interact intelligently within a larger mechanism being aware of their environment and user interactions.