The Forward Kinematics of the 6-6 Stewart Platform Using Extra Sensors

To solve the forward kinematics is one of the major problems for the 6-dof parallel manipulators. The complexity of formulation and computational burden make the conventional methods hard to be implemented in practice. In this paper, the tetrahedron configurations are applied to solve the forward kinematics of the 6-6 Stewart platform. This method turns the forward kinematics to tetrahedron geometry with the advantages that it avoids to solve numerical iteration, and the solution is unique. This approach can be used in real time application for its simplicity. An experiment designed to compare the actual orientation of the moving platform and the forward kinematics solution is presented in this paper. It is found through the experiment that the proposed method can achieve real time application.