Stewart-Gough Platform

General Design

A Gough-Stewart platform is a type of parallel robot that has

six prismatic actuators, commonly hydraulic jacks or electric
actuators
A structure which consists of two rigid bodies which are held in
relative position to each other by means of six rigid rods
The jack is attached in pairs to three positions on the platform's
baseplate, crossing over to three mounting points on a top plate.
 Can consist of a fixed base, six universal joints, six prismatic joints, six
ball joints, and a moving platform.
 Any devices placed on the top plate can be moved in the six degrees
of freedom in which it is possible for a freely-suspended body to
move.
Kinematic Diagram
Using Grublers Equation, we
can find Stewart-Gough
Platforms degree of freedom
S S
= 1 +
S S Ball Joint/Spherical
Joint
= 6 14 18 1 + (2
6 + 1 6 + 3 6) S S

=6 P P
P P Prismatic Joint

P U U P

U
U Universal Joint
U
U
Mechanism
 Applications

The Stewart-Gough platform design is extensively used in full flight

simulator for which all 6 degrees of freedom are required.
 Stewart-Gough is used in Taylor Spatial Frame, an external fixation used
in orthopedic surgery for the correction of bone deformities and treatment of
complex fractures.
The Low Impact Docking System (LIDS) developed by NASA uses a Stewart
platform to manipulate space vehicles during the docking process.
 Stewart-Gough platform is also used to adjust the trajectory of large
spherical radio telescopes such as AMiBA radio telescope.
Thank You