Analysis, Properties, and Design of a Stewart-Platform Transducer

This paper analyzes the behavior of a force transducer that has the form of a Stewart platform with instrumented elastic legs. The algebraic relationship between externally applied wrench and resulting leg extensions is derived, using the algebra of dual vectors. Using this model, and by suitable choice of dimensions, it is shown how the transducer can be designed to give the most advantageous behavior. A simple illustrative example is given.