An Application of a 3-DOF Parallel Manipulator for Earthquake Simulations

In this paper a novel application is presented for a parallel manipulator to be used as an earthquake motion simulator. A formulation and experimental results are presented for a 3-DOF CaPaMan (Cassino Parallel Manipulator) prototype to simulate point seismograms and 3D earthquake motion. The rigid body acceleration (linear acceleration, angular velocity and acceleration) has been experimentally evaluated to simulate real 3D earthquakes by using the parallel manipulator.