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A Stewart platform is a kind of manipulator using an octahedral assembly of struts. A Stewart platform has six degrees of freedom (x, y, z, pitch, roll, & yaw).
There are 6 independently actuated legs, where the lengths of the legs are changed to position and orient the platform. The forward kinematics (i.e. given the leg lenghts, find the position and orientation of the platform) of the platform has 16 solutions. While the inverse kinematics (given the position and orientation of the platform, find the required leg lengths) has a unique solution.
Stewart platforms have applications in machine tool technology, crane technology, underwater research, air-to-sea rescue, flight simulation, satellite dish positioning, aircraft simulators and telescopes.
James S. Albus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a crane, known as RoboCrane®, which uses the Stewart platform technology.
Geodetic Technology trademarked "hexapod" for a Stewart platform in a machine tool context.
The Stewart platform was first reported in a paper by D. Stewart in 1965.
References
D. Stewart, A Platform with Six Degrees of Freedom, UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers Proceedings 1965-66, Vol 180, Pt 1, No 15.
External links
"Stewart platform"