This was my senior design project in college. I worked with a team with two other engineering students. We designed the platform together and then one wrote the reports, one did the fabrication, and I did the electronics and programming.

This is an ongoing project that we have continued to work on after college for fun. The V1 platform was completed for senior design. We helped a second group work on the V2 platform for their senior design. The V3 platform is currently under development.

• Garon Knudson
• Heather Nelson
• Robert Kuyper

We did this project over two semesters. The first semester we designed the Stewart platform. The second semester was a mad dash to fabricate and integrate the electronics into the platform. We finished with just enough time left over to powder coat the machine and give it a professional finish.

• Youtube: Build Video
• Youtube: Human Trial 2

This revision of the platform increased the diameter of the cockpit to allow for more range of motion. After the second senior design was over, we continued making changes. We changed the control system and built an electronics cabinet. We also added movement compensation by adding a reference frame to the platform itself. This subtracts the motion of the platform from the motion of the VR headset so that the motions of the platform do not interfere with the view in the cockpit. The final change we made was moving the electronics from the base enclosure to an external enclosure so that it was easier/safer to program the motor controllers.

This is a complete redesign of the platform. We are changing the geometry completely to allow for more optimal range of motion. We are redesigning the cockpit so that it can be detached and used off of the simulator without having to dismount all of the control hardware. I am redoing all of the electronics to be more up to industry standards for safety.

Due to our time crunch on the first design, we spent most of our time just learning how the mechanics of a Stewart platform worked and did not have much time for optimization. This caused some sub-optimal design decisions that limited the platform's mobility. It is still exciting to drive, terrifying even, but we wanted to build something that came closer to the maximum ability of the motors and gearboxes.

We also wanted to make several quality of life improvements. Previously we have been switching between two cockpits, one mounted on the floor and one on the platform. This allows testing the platform without having to withstand being shaken by poorly tuned profiles. This is a tedious process of moving hardware between the two platforms. The new version will have a cockpit that can be easily removed while keeping the platform it running condition.

The final change we wanted to make was increasing the size of the electronics enclosure to allow for better ventilation and room to add components in the future. The current enclosure is very tight and has poor ventilation.

• Stewart Platforms