The Stewart platform manipulator: a review

This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of the literature on the six-degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator commonly known as the Stewart platform. The existing studies in the field are critically examined to ascertain the trends of research in the field and to identify unsolved problems. The Stewart platform being representative of the class of parallel manipulators, the concepts applicable for it have direct relevance to the entire class. The distinctions of this class from the conventional serial robot manipulators are also highlighted and the novel perspectives that are necessary for the analysis and design of the Stewart platform in particular and parallel manipulators in general are recommended. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.