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For OEMs, equipment builders and system integrators
Custom Motion Platform Manufacturer
We machine the servo cylinders and build the controllers ourselves. So when your load, stroke, geometry or interface falls outside a standard platform, we change the hardware — we do not go looking through someone else’s catalogue for a part that almost fits. All-electric, 3 to 6 axes, 100 kg to 50 t, engineered and tested under load in our own plant in Nanjing.
What we supply: the motion platform subsystem — structure, servo actuation, controller, cabinet, contracted interfaces, documentation and a loaded factory acceptance test. Cockpits, cabins, visual systems, avionics, training software and test instrumentation stay with you or your integrator unless we agree otherwise in writing.
We Make the Parts That Usually Block a Custom Design
Most motion platform suppliers assemble. They buy actuators from one company, drives from another and a controller from a third, then design around whatever those catalogues allow. That works until your project needs a stroke, a force or a command behaviour nobody stocks — and then the schedule goes sideways. We build those three things ourselves, which is why our answer to an unusual requirement is normally a drawing rather than a apology.
Servo cylinders made here
Stroke, force, rod diameter and mounting are ours to change. A non-standard actuator is a machining job in our own workshop, not a six-week enquiry to a supplier who may decline it.
Controllers written here
Command set, coordinate handling, update rate, operating states and fault behaviour are our own code. Custom messages and non-standard host protocols get implemented by the engineers who wrote the original.
One plant, one owner
Design, machining, welding, assembly, wiring, configuration and testing all happen inside our 20,000 m² base in Nanjing. Over 40% of our staff work in R&D. Nothing gets lost between subcontractors.
Proof before shipment
Custom means unproven until it is measured. Every platform is tested under representative load — cycle time, repeatability by laser tracker, envelope, safety functions — and the report ships with it.
When a Standard Platform Runs Out
Custom engineering should be justified by a constraint you can name, not by a wish list. Six situations account for almost every project we take on. If none of them describes yours, a released platform will very likely do the job — and we will tell you so.
01 · Non-standard moving load
The assembly has unusual mass, a tall or offset centre of gravity, high inertia, load that changes during operation, or a fixture flexible enough to affect control.
02 · Restricted installation
Footprint, floor-to-platform height, ceiling clearance, access route or swept envelope conflicts with every released geometry.
03 · Project-specific motion
Travel, rotation, velocity, acceleration, frequency content or combined-axis workspace has to be checked against a real motion profile rather than a datasheet maximum.
04 · Mechanical interface
Your payload needs a particular top frame, bolt pattern, adapter, service access or base connection to a machine that already exists.
05 · Host and safety interface
The platform has to exchange commands, states, faults and interlocks with your controller or a system-level safety chain we did not design.
06 · Controlled repeat configuration
An accepted first unit needs frozen configuration control so later units match it — for a machine you sell rather than a one-off you operate.
We are a good fit when
- Your team owns the complete equipment, or you have named a system integrator
- The moving assembly, motion task and installation can be described
- You want a platform subsystem with defined interfaces and a written acceptance basis
- You are buying an engineered subsystem, not a turnkey training package
Start somewhere else when
- You are still comparing 3DOF and 6DOF — begin with the platform pages
- The requirement is still an idea — send what you have and we will help define it
- You need a complete cockpit with visuals and courseware — appoint a simulator integrator and bring us in for the motion subsystem
- You need an off-the-shelf unit next month — check the released configurations
Choose the Least Complex Route That Meets the Requirement
“Custom” covers everything from a different mounting pattern to a clean-sheet machine, and the cost and schedule between those two are not comparable. We work out which level your project actually needs before quoting — a modified baseline is faster, cheaper and lower risk than a new design whenever it will do the job, and we will tell you when that is the case.
Controlled Configuration
Your load, motion and installation fit inside a released configuration. No design change, no new drawings, no first-article risk.
Modified Configuration
A released baseline changed in defined areas: top frame and mounting pattern, actuator stroke, base footprint, cabinet layout, host interface or documentation scope. The core architecture stays proven.
Project-Specific Platform
Load, geometry, dynamics, environment or interface fall outside every baseline. We size the structure and servo cylinders from your requirement upward, with a full design review before release.
OEM Repeat Configuration
A design frozen after first-article acceptance, with controlled drawings, a fixed bill of materials and a repeatable acceptance procedure so unit twenty matches unit one.
What We Can Change on a Motion Platform
Six areas cover almost every custom requirement we receive. Anything in the table below is a design decision we can take in-house; anything outside it we will tell you about before you spend time on a specification.
| Degrees of freedom | 3 and 6DOF. Stewart / hexapod parallel architectures, plus reduced-axis builds where a full six axes are not needed and headroom or budget is tight. |
|---|---|
| Payload, CG and inertia | 100 kg to 50 t gross moving load. Capacity is set by mass, centre of gravity height and required acceleration together — a high CG at 500 kg can be harder than a low one at 2 t. |
| Actuation | Servo cylinder stroke, force, rod diameter, mounting and joint arrangement, all machined in-house. All-electric throughout; no hydraulic power units to site, maintain or contain. |
| Structure and mounting | Base footprint and height, top frame geometry, bolt pattern, datum features, service access and the swept envelope your building has to accommodate. |
| Workspace and dynamics | Travel, angle, velocity, acceleration and duty cycle, traded against each other and against payload. We give you the achievable combination, not the best number for each in isolation. |
| Control and interface | Cabinet layout and location, command protocol and message content, coordinate frame and rotation order, update rate, operating states, safety I/O and E-stop architecture. Open API for host integration. |
| Documentation and FAT | Drawing scope, manuals, spare parts list, test conditions, measurement instruments, tolerances and witnessing arrangements — all agreed before we build, not after. |
Design Starts From the Complete Moving Assembly
The single most common reason a custom platform underperforms is that it was sized against the payload someone remembered, not the assembly that actually moves. Everything bolted above the mounting plane counts: your equipment, the fixture, adapter plates, instruments, cabling, coolant lines, guarding — all of it.
| Input domain | What to send | Why it decides the design | Useful evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moving assembly | Total mass, dimensions, centre of gravity, inertia, fixtures, instruments and cables. | Sets static and dynamic actuator loading, and therefore cylinder force and structure. | CAD mass properties, drawing or measured data |
| Motion definition | Axes, reference point, coordinate convention and rotation order. | Stops your workspace and our command interpretation from meaning different things. | Axis diagram and requirement table |
| Motion profile | Travel, angle, velocity, acceleration, frequency content, RMS and duty cycle. | Separates a peak the platform can touch from a load it has to sustain all shift. | Representative time-history file |
| Installation | Footprint, height, swept envelope, access route, base and foundation. | Controls geometry, and decides whether the platform can physically reach its position. | Site layout, photographs, dimensional drawing |
| Mechanical interface | Top-frame mounting, load path and the stiffness of your structure. | Determines how the moving assembly is supported and where compliance appears. | Interface control drawing |
| Controls | Host owner, command mode, message fields, units, update rate and status return. | Defines the platform-side interface and how much integration work exists. | Protocol note or interface specification |
| Safety | Enable, E-stop, interlocks, access control and who owns fault response. | Separates platform safety functions from complete-machine risk control. | Safety concept or I/O list |
| Site and duty | Power supply, operating environment, shift pattern, noise limits, service access. | Affects electrical scope, thermal duty and what installation actually involves. | Site utility and environment sheet |
| Commercial | Project stage, quantity, country, target date, FAT, SAT and document expectations. | Sets proposal depth and where delivery responsibility changes hands. | Project brief and acceptance outline |
How a Custom Platform Gets Built
Seven steps, each with something you receive at the end of it. Nothing moves to the next step until the previous output is agreed in writing — which is what stops a custom project from drifting.
Step 01
Requirements & Gap Review
We read your load, motion, installation, host and acceptance information and list what is missing or contradictory before doing any engineering.
Step 02
Concept Selection
Architecture, axis count and engineering level decided — controlled, modified or project-specific — with the reasoning written down.
Step 03
Preliminary Sizing
Servo cylinder force and stroke, structural sizing, achievable workspace and dynamics calculated against your actual moving load.
Step 04
Interface Freeze
Mounting, load data, envelope, power, commands, states, timing, I/O and acceptance criteria fixed. After this point, changes go through engineering change control.
Step 05
Design Review & Release
Internal review of structure, actuation, control and safety against the frozen baseline, then drawing release to production.
Step 06
Build & Integration
Machining, welding, assembly, wiring and controller configuration in our own plant, with in-process records against the released drawings.
Step 07
Loaded Platform FAT
Testing under a representative moving load, measured against the contracted specification, with deviations recorded rather than smoothed over.
On lead time and price: both depend on the engineering level, and neither means anything before the moving load and required motion are defined. We give budgetary figures early and label them as budgetary — a number we would have to walk back later is worth nothing to either of us.
Where our work stops and yours starts
What Arrives on Your Site
A custom platform is only useful if it fits the machine you already own. We write the boundary down before quoting, so the price you get is the price you pay — and so nobody discovers an uncosted adapter plate three weeks before commissioning.
Included in a custom platform supply
- Platform structure, joints and contracted top interface
- Servo cylinders, drives and position feedback
- Motion controller, cabinet and configuration
- Platform-side commands, status and safety I/O
- Configuration-specific drawings, manuals and spares list
- Loaded factory acceptance test and its records
Normally yours or your integrator's
- Cockpit, cabin, chassis or complete simulator assembly
- Visual systems, avionics, courseware and host application
- Your payload, fixture design and test instrumentation
- Building structure, foundations, permits and site-wide safety
- Complete-system certification and operational approval
- Site installation and SAT, unless quoted separately
| System item | We supply | You or your integrator supply | Agreed together |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform mechanics | Structure, actuation and contracted adapters. | The complete payload structure and its load data. | Mounting interface and load path. |
| Electrical system | Contracted drives, cabinet and platform wiring. | Site supply, facility distribution and your own equipment. | Power boundary, cable route and site connection. |
| Controller interface | Platform controller and contracted platform-side messages. | Host application, model, sequencing and complete-system states. | Units, coordinates, timing, status and fault mapping. |
| Safety | Platform-side limits, stops and contracted I/O. | Complete-machine risk assessment and site safety. | Interlock and emergency-stop chain. |
| Acceptance | Contracted platform FAT and its records. | Complete-system validation and certification. | SAT method, where included in the quotation. |
Need the platform to talk to something specific? Command sets, coordinate frames, timing and safety handshakes are covered in controller & API integration. If the platform is going into a machine you already own, start instead with integration support. The full engineering detail behind both is in our integration guide.
Prototype, First Article, Then Repeat Supply
If the platform is going inside a machine you sell, a working prototype is only the beginning — what matters is that unit twenty behaves like unit one, two years later, after a component has gone end-of-life. That is a documentation problem more than an engineering one, and it is where most one-off suppliers quietly fail.
Stage 01
Engineering Prototype
A working platform proving the concept, sizing and interface against your real load. Expect changes — that is what a prototype is for.
Stage 02
First Article
Built to released drawings and formally accepted against the agreed test procedure. Deviations resolved and fed back into the design.
Stage 03
Design Freeze
Controlled drawing set, fixed bill of materials, defined critical characteristics and a locked acceptance procedure. Changes only via written engineering change notice.
Stage 04
Repeat Supply
Series build to the frozen configuration, with the same test procedure and records on every unit, and obsolescence handled by notification rather than substitution.
How We Prove a Custom Platform Before It Ships
Nobody can hand you a datasheet for a platform that did not exist six months ago. What we can hand you is a measurement — taken under a representative load, with a named instrument, against the number in your contract.
Build and interface checks
Dimensional inspection against released drawings, mounting pattern and datum verification, wiring and I/O continuity, cabinet and labelling check, and fit of the contracted top interface.
Motion and State Checks
Travel and angle envelope, velocity and acceleration under representative load, closed-loop cycle time, repeatability measured by laser tracker, operating state transitions, limits, fault handling and E-stop response.
Repeat and Release Records
Test conditions, load configuration, instruments used, measured results, deviations and their disposition — released with the platform along with drawings, manuals and the spare parts list.
Inside a Custom Build
Three points in the process where custom work is either real or it is not: the actuator we machined for your stroke, the structure we welded for your geometry, and the loaded test that proves both.
Servo cylinders, machined to your stroke
Structure built to your geometry
Measured under load, before shipment
Where to Go Next
A delivery route is one of four decisions. Which platform architecture, what physical job it has to do, how the engineering works and what it costs are answered in their own sections — so nothing here repeats what belongs there.
Motion Platforms
Compare 3DOF, 6DOF and Stewart architectures, electric drive, high-payload and compact configurations, and the motion control system that runs them.
Applications
Industrial testing, research, driving and flight simulation, motion compensation and maritime motion — each brings its own load, duty cycle and validation method.
Technology
Stewart geometry, hexapod kinematics, motion cueing, safety architecture, and how payload, stroke and acceleration constrain each other.
Resources
Buying guides on choosing a platform, budgeting a project, comparing manufacturers and deciding whether to build or buy.
Case Studies
Delivered projects with the requirement, the engineering decisions, the interfaces we owned and the measured validation behind them.
Company
A 20,000 m² production base in Nanjing with in-house servo cylinder and controller manufacturing, ISO 9001 / 14001 / 45001 and documented acceptance testing.
Custom & OEM Motion Platform FAQ
What makes a motion platform custom?
A platform becomes project-specific when the complete moving load, center of gravity, inertia, motion envelope, mounting geometry, installation, duty, controls or acceptance requirements cannot be met responsibly by a controlled reference configuration.
Can CSCmotion customize 3DOF, 6DOF and Stewart motion platforms?
Yes. The architecture is selected against the motion task and integration constraints. Changes to payload, geometry, travel, dynamics, controls and mounting are reviewed together because one change can affect forces and usable workspace elsewhere in the system. See the motion platform comparison.
When do I actually need a custom motion platform?
When your complete moving load, centre of gravity, combined motion, platform dimensions, installation envelope, duty cycle, environment or interface requirements fall outside every released configuration. If they do not, we will say so and quote a standard or modified platform instead — a modified baseline is faster and cheaper than a clean-sheet design whenever it will do the job.
How much payload can a custom platform carry?
Our configurations span 100 kg to 50 t gross moving load, in 2 to 6 degrees of freedom. Capacity is set by total mass, centre of gravity height and required acceleration together — a high CG at 500 kg can be a harder problem than a low one at 2 t. Send mass, CG and a representative motion profile and we will size the servo cylinders and structure to it. See also payload, stroke and acceleration.
Can you support OEM repeat builds?
Yes. After first-article acceptance we freeze the design, issue controlled drawings, fix the bill of materials and lock a repeatable acceptance procedure so unit twenty matches unit one. Later changes go through a written engineering change process rather than a quiet substitution on the shop floor. Drawing rights, tooling ownership, exclusivity and supply commitment are agreed in writing before design release.
Engineering review
Send Us the Load and the Motion. We Will Tell You What It Takes.
Tell us why a standard platform will not do, and give us the best load, motion and interface information you have. Our first answer is a completeness review and a gap list — not a price pulled out of the air. If your requirement fits a released configuration, we will tell you that too.
Complete moving load, centre of gravity and available CAD
Required axes and one representative motion profile
Installation, mounting, power and environment
Host interface and safety responsibilities
Prototype, first article or expected repeat quantity
FAT, documentation, country and target schedule