Development of a graphical user interface for a Stewart platform

A user friendly graphical interface was developed to control a Stewart platform which is a six degree-of-freedom in-parallel mechanism. The interface allows the user to define the platform motion relative to various coordinate systems: base, platform and joint. The velocity/position reference to the platform's controller can be provided by the following ways: preprogrammed data file, serial communication RS-232, 6 degrees of freedom joystick and soft teach pendant. The platform was designed to be used as "Space Emulator" and therefore a 6 degrees of freedom force/torque sensor was needed. Two different models of such sensors were designed and analyzed using finite element analysis techniques. Based on the results one particular model was selected, fabricated, instrumented with strain gages and calibrated in order to obtain its stiffness matrix. The effect of drifting of the sensor output due to self heating of the strain gages and the electronic components of the strain gage amplifiers was also studied.