English: This image is a close-up view of the flat, planar surface of a 2-dimensional linear motor (Sawyer motor) used for motion control applications. This surface is known as a platen. The surface contains small steel cylinders arranged in a grid pattern with the gaps filled with an epoxy resin such that the overall surface is flat to within one-thousandth of an inch. Each circle has a diameter of approximately .25 millimeters

An air bearing separates the platen surface from the controlled induction-coil motor unit which moves on top of this surface. The grid allows a full range of finely-controlled motion in two dimensions.

The vertical object shown is the tip of a depth gauge, used to measure the deviation of the steel surface from the epoxy surface.