In smart factories, the entire manufacturing process from design to the final product is simulated in a virtual manufacturing environment and optimized before starting production. Suppliers and customers make decisions based on the simulation results. Therefore, effective rendering of the information of the virtual products to suppliers and customers is essential for this manufacturing paradigm. In this study, a method of rendering the surface roughness of the virtual products using a tactile display is presented. A tactile display device comprising a 3 x 3 array of individually controlled piezoelectric stack actuators is constructed. The surface topology of the virtual products is rendered directly by controlling the piezoelectric stack actuators. A series of experiments is performed to evaluate the performance of the tactile display device. An electrical discharge machined surface is rendered using the proposed method.
