Figure 2.

Texture exploration apparatus with the BioTac and texture. A stepper motor (left) is attached to a lever (blue) that can raise or lower the BioTac on textures. Adjusting the vertical position of the stepper motor provides control of contact force. To produce lateral motion, a special vibration-free linear stage is used to slide textures past the BioTac. Textures are adhered to flat, square magnets that can be mounted and dismounted rapidly on a steel plate attached to the linear stage.