STEWART平台是一个六自由度并联机构，作为制造机械手正在进行应用开发。由于其封闭的运动学结构，该机械手能够实现比传统串联机器人大一个数量级的力重比。它的刚度也要大得多。STEWART平台机械手看似机械简单，但其运动学难以实时求解。此外，操纵器具有奇点，在该奇点处，它获得一定程度的自由并变得不可控。 开发了新的运动学和动力学解决方案，使实际控制成为可能。组装、轻加工和零件成型应用正在研究中。一个直流伺服控制的STEWART平台已经建成，一个正在开发的模块化实时控制器将被用来控制STEWART

THE STEWART PLATFORM IS A SIX DEGREE OF FREEDOM PARALLEL LINKAGE WHICH IS UNDERGOING APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT AS A MANUFACTURING MANIPULATOR. BECAUSE OF ITS CLOSED KINEMATIC STRUCTURE, THIS MANIPULATOR IS CAPABLE OF FORCE-TO-WEIGHT RATIOS THAT ARE AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE GREATER THAN CONVENTIONAL SERIAL LINK ROBOTS. ITS STIFFNESS IS ALSO FAR GREATER. THE STEWART PLATFORM MANIPULATOR APPEARS TO BE MECHANICALLY SIMPLE BUT ITS KINEMATICS ARE DIFFICULT TO SOLVE IN REAL TIME. FURTHERMORE, THE MANIPULATOR HAS SINGULARITY POINTS AT WHICH IT GAINS A DEGREE OF FREEDOM AND BECOMES UNCONTROLLABLE. NEW KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED WHICH MAKE PRACTICAL CONTROL POSSIBLE. ASSEMBLY, LIGHT MACHINING, AND PART FORMING APPLICATIONS ARE BEING INVESTIGATED. A DC SERVO CONTROLLED STEWART PLATFORM HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED AND A MODULAR REAL TIME CONTROLLER UNDER DEVELOPMENT WILL BE USED TO T