Complete parameter identification of Gough-Stewart platform with partial pose measurements

Kinematic calibration of Gough-Stewart platform using a new measurement device is presented in this paper. The device simultaneously measures components of position and orientation using commercially available gadgets. Additional kinematic parameters are defined to model the sources of inaccuracies for the proposed measurement device. Computer simulations reveal that all kinematic parameters of the Gough-Stewart platform and the additional kinematic parameters of the measurement device can be identified with the partial pose measurements from the proposed device. Results also show that identification is robust for the initial errors in the parameters and the noise in measurements. The device is general and can be used for other parallel manipulators. The measurement procedure can easily be automated with the proposed measurement device.