Synchronization in real time of two Stewart platforms

Abstract

This paper presents two mechanisms that have been designed, built and put into operation by our research team at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona (Spain) which have many practical applications in the scientific, industrial and academic fields: the Stewart platforms. They are electromechanical systems capable of moving with six degrees of freedom, that is, three translations and three rotations that allow simulating the movement of any object in the space. The characteristics of a Stewart platform for its design, assembly and construction are presented. However, the main contribution of this paper is to demonstrate that it is possible to synchronize, in real time, both platforms when one of them is randomly moving and the other follows with high precision the movements of the first platform. The details about the algorithms and synchronization method are provided.