Answered before the first call
Motion Platform FAQ
Almost every question on this page first arrived by email, from an engineer or a buyer trying to decide whether a Chinese motion platform manufacturer was worth a conversation. Most were practical: what payload, what lead time, who installs it. Some were sceptical: are you really the factory, and what happens if it fails acceptance? Both kinds get a direct answer here.
FAQ · Answered by the CSCmotion Motion Control Engineering Team · Updated October 11, 2026
The questions buyers hesitate to ask
Six Hard Questions, Answered in One Line Each
These are the questions that decide whether a conversation with an overseas supplier is worth having. The short answer is here; the full answer is one click away.
The Hard-Questions Ledger Ask every supplier on your shortlist the same six.
| The question | Our short answer | Full answer |
|---|---|---|
| "Are you a manufacturer or a trading company?" | A manufacturer: kinematics, controller, cylinders and platform are built in-house in Nanjing. | Is this a fit? → |
| "Why is there no list price?" | Cost follows the load case; payload × acceleration sets the size of every component. | The platform itself → |
| "Why no lead time in weeks?" | It depends on engineering effort and workload; it is confirmed at quotation, not guessed in advance. | The platform itself → |
| "Can we see the acceptance test before we order?" | Yes — sample protocol during quotation, FAT items proposed before order, witnessing welcome. | Testing and acceptance → |
| "What if it fails acceptance?" | It is fixed and retested before it ships. | Testing and acceptance → |
| "Who supports it if something fails in year five?" | We do: the cylinders, controller and software are ours, and spares come directly from us. | After delivery → |
Want these answers in writing for your supplier file? Send the questions; an engineer replies on the record within 24 hours. Get the answers in writing →
All questions
Motion Platform Questions, by Project Stage
Search, or read by stage. Every question has its own link, so you can send a colleague straight to the answer.
The platform itself
Specification, performance and cost — the questions asked before anyone talks about a project.
What payload can a CSCmotion motion platform carry?
How fast do your platforms accelerate?
How accurate are your motion platforms?
Accurate to the figure agreed for your application, stated with its conditions. Accuracy and repeatability depend on payload, pose, reference point and how they are measured, so we do not print one number for every platform.
Every figure we give says whether it is a design value or a measured result, and the agreed figures are checked at the factory acceptance test. See how to read an accuracy figure.
What does a motion platform cost?
There is no list price, because cost follows the load case rather than a model number. Payload multiplied by acceleration dominates: together they set peak actuator force, which sizes the cylinders, motors, drives, structure and foundation.
Two platforms with the same payload can differ several-fold if one needs twice the acceleration. Price is confirmed at quotation. See what drives the price.
What is your lead time?
Confirmed at quotation, not quoted in advance. It depends on how much engineering your configuration needs, whether a previously delivered configuration can be adapted, and the current workload.
If you have a fixed installation window, tell us at enquiry rather than at order — it can change the configuration we recommend.
Do I need a 3DOF or a 6DOF platform?
Only as many axes as your task uses. If it needs pitch, roll and heave, a 3DOF platform is usually cheaper, simpler to integrate and easier to maintain. If surge, sway or yaw carry information the task depends on — braking onsets, cornering, heading changes — three axes will not do.
See 3DOF vs 6DOF.
Electric or hydraulic: which should I specify?
We build all-electric platforms, so read this answer as an interested one. Electric wins on noise, maintenance, site services and positional stability for most industrial and research work. Hydraulic still wins at some extremes of force per leg and shock loading, or where a hydraulic plant already exists.
Why do your 6DOF platforms use Cardan joints?
For the load path. A Cardan joint blocks rotation about the limb axis, giving a determinate load path and higher stiffness under alternating load — the condition that governs fatigue life in a motion base. Every CSCmotion 6DOF platform uses them.
The trade-off is a narrower articulation range, so we check every joint angle along your trajectory before quoting. See the parallel mechanism.
Is this a fit?
The questions worth settling before either side spends time on a specification.
What does CSCmotion actually build?
All-electric motion platforms from 2DOF to 6DOF, including Stewart-type platforms, together with the servo electric cylinders, controller card, firmware and kinematics software that drive them. All four layers are designed and built in-house.
That is why stroke, force and controller behaviour can be adapted to a project rather than chosen from a supplier's catalogue.
Are you a manufacturer or a trading company?
A manufacturer. We write the kinematics, build the controller, assemble and test the servo electric cylinders, and build, calibrate and acceptance-test the complete platform in Nanjing. You are welcome to visit and see it.
The quickest way to check any supplier is the seven questions in the builder test — ask them of us too.
Do you sell standard products or only custom platforms?
We engineer to order. Each platform is designed against a gross moving load, a trajectory and a duty cycle. Where a previously delivered configuration is close to a new requirement, we adapt it, which shortens engineering and lead time.
If a standard catalogue product would serve you better, we will say so. See standard or custom.
Will you supply a platform as an OEM subsystem inside our product?
Yes. We supply motion platforms for integration into a customer's own product or simulator, including repeat builds of an agreed configuration. The interface document defines the boundary between our platform and your system.
Can you work as a subcontractor to a system integrator?
Yes. When an integrator delivers a complete simulator or test system, we supply the motion platform and its control system within their scope, and agree the interface document and acceptance criteria with the integrator.
Are there projects you turn down?
Yes, and we would rather say so early. We do not build complete simulators — cockpit, visual system and vehicle model — or simulation software and training content, and we do not supply consumer racing seats or DIY motion kits.
If your load case fits a standard catalogue platform and your schedule is tight, we will tell you that a catalogue product is the better buy.
Do you supply outside China?
Yes. Platforms are exported by sea, air or rail, depending on size and urgency. We quote on the Incoterm your procurement process requires, and can ship on your nominated freight forwarder's account.
Enquiry and quotation
What we need from you, what you get back, and how fast.
What do you need from us to prepare a quotation?
How quickly will we hear back?
Within 24 hours, from an engineer, weekends included. That first reply tells you what is still missing and what kind of answer to expect next. A firm quotation follows the engineering review — workspace check, dynamic solution and component selection — so it takes longer, and we tell you when to expect it.
Do you charge for the engineering review before an order?
No. Pre-order feasibility assessment and quotation are free. If a project needs substantial bespoke design work before an order can be placed — a detailed simulation study or a concept design package, for example — that is agreed with you in advance. We never start chargeable work without telling you first.
Why won't you quote a price from payload alone?
Who answers our technical questions?
Engineers, not a sales inbox. Technical questions go to the engineering team that designs the kinematics, the controller and the cylinders, so the answer comes from the people who would build your platform.
What language is the documentation in?
English. Drawings, interface documentation and acceptance records are produced in English. If your project needs documents in another language, raise it during quotation so translation can be included in scope.
Contract and commercial
Terms, scope and the questions procurement departments ask.
What is included in your quotation?
The controller card and control software, with no separate software subscription, plus API documentation and an interface document issued before integration starts. Factory acceptance test scope, freight terms, installation, commissioning, training and spares are confirmed line by line at quotation.
What payment terms do you work on?
Payment terms are stated in the quotation, set against the project. Tell us at enquiry if your procurement process requires a particular structure or instrument, so it can be reflected before a price is fixed.
What warranty is provided?
Twelve months. The start point and coverage are stated in the contract. Because we make the cylinders, the controller and the software, warranty support does not depend on a third-party component supplier's response time.
Who owns the intellectual property in a custom design?
Our platform technology, cylinder designs and control software remain ours, covered by our invention patents and registered software copyrights. Project information you supply remains yours. Where a project involves genuinely new development, ownership is agreed in the contract before work starts.
What certifications do you hold?
ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001, held by our manufacturing entity, Nanjing AllController Technology Co., Ltd. We send current certificate copies with their numbers and validity dates on request.
Note what they cover: management-system certificates prove how we work, not how a given platform performs — that is proven at the factory acceptance test. See what each certificate covers.
Engineering and manufacturing
What happens between the order and the finished machine.
What are the stages of a typical project?
Engineering review and design; mechanism and structural analysis; manufacture of cylinders and structure; assembly with joint preload recorded; identification of the as-built geometry; control integration and tuning; loaded testing; factory acceptance; packing and shipping; then installation, commissioning and training as contracted.
How will we know how the build is going?
Through progress updates at agreed project milestones, with photographs at defined stages — useful when your team cannot travel to see the build.
Can we visit the factory or watch the build?
Yes. Customers are welcome at our Nanjing facility, during manufacture or for the factory acceptance test.
Do you subcontract any of the manufacturing?
Not the parts that decide how the platform moves. Cylinder assembly and testing, the controller, the software, platform assembly, calibration and acceptance testing are done in-house. Commodity parts — bearings, fasteners, electrical components — are purchased, as at every manufacturer. If the origin of a specific component matters for your qualification, ask and we will tell you.
Can we change the specification after placing the order?
Usually, but the cost depends on timing. A change during engineering may cost little; the same change after the structure is fabricated may not be possible. Tell us as early as you can, and we state the schedule and cost effect before anything is committed.
What if the engineering review shows our specification cannot be met?
We tell you before the order, not after. Usually one requirement drives the design disproportionately, and relaxing it slightly brings the rest into range. Occasionally the honest answer is that a different architecture or a different kind of supplier suits the project better, and we say that too.
Testing and acceptance
How the platform is proved before it leaves the building.
What happens during the factory acceptance test?
The platform is run against the agreed test items, with the contracted test load, trajectory, reference point and instrument. Results, including any deviations, are recorded and delivered with the platform.
Can we see the acceptance protocol before ordering?
Yes. During quotation we provide a sample factory acceptance protocol and a sample interface document, and we propose the FAT items for your load case before you order. Reviewing them early is one of the most useful things a buyer can do.
Can we, or a third party, witness the test?
Yes. Your team can attend in Nanjing, a third-party inspector such as SGS or BV is welcome, and the test can also be witnessed remotely by video. Agree the format in advance so camera positions, instrument readouts and the record are set before the day.
What happens if the platform does not pass?
It is corrected and retested before shipment — that is what factory acceptance is for. It is also why the test items should be agreed before the order: a test with defined pass criteria can be failed and fixed, while an undefined one turns into a negotiation after delivery.
What documentation comes with the platform?
In English: the interface document covering commands, coordinate convention, update rate and fault behaviour; the factory acceptance record; operating and maintenance documentation; and drawings as contracted.
Shipping, site and installation
Getting it to you, and what the building has to provide.
How are motion platforms packed and shipped?
In export-grade timber crates, with the moving assembly mechanically locked for transit. Larger platforms are shipped in sections with reassembly documentation. Sea, air or rail is chosen by size, destination and urgency.
Who handles export documentation and customs?
We prepare the export documentation. Import clearance, duties and inland delivery follow the Incoterm agreed in the quotation. If your organisation has a preferred freight forwarder, we can ship on their account.
What does our site need to provide?
A power supply of the specified voltage and phase, adequate floor loading and anchoring, ceiling height for the platform at full extension plus the payload, HVAC capacity for the heat the servo drives release, and an access route big enough for the crates. All are confirmed in writing during the project.
The access route is the most often overlooked. See costs outside the platform price.
What power supply does a platform need?
It scales with platform size and dynamics, and the figure for your configuration is stated during engineering. Larger platforms generally need a three-phase industrial supply. If your site is limited — single-phase only, or little spare capacity — tell us at enquiry, because it can change the configuration we recommend.
Does the platform need to be anchored to the floor?
Most platforms do, because dynamic reaction forces pass into the foundation. Anchoring and floor-loading requirements are stated with the configuration. If anchoring is impossible at your site, tell us early — it is a design input, not something to solve on delivery day.
Do you install the platform on site?
Installation scope is agreed per project, from documentation and remote guidance through to on-site installation and commissioning by our engineers. It is written into the project documents rather than assumed either way.
Do you train our operators and maintenance staff?
Yes. Training covers operation, routine maintenance, safety functions and basic fault diagnosis, on site during commissioning or remotely. Tell us during quotation who needs training and how many people, so it can be scoped.
After delivery
Support, spares and software, years after acceptance.
What support is available after delivery?
Remote engineering support for diagnosis and configuration, spare parts supplied directly by us, and software updates. Because the cylinders, controller and software are ours, support does not wait on a component supplier's escalation chain.
How do we obtain spare parts?
Directly from us. At handover we can recommend a critical-spares holding based on how intensively the platform will be used — worth doing when it supports scheduled training or testing.
Do you provide software updates?
Yes. The control software is developed in-house, so corrections and improvements can be issued for delivered platforms. Applying them is your decision: on validated installations, customers often freeze the software version deliberately, and we support that.
How long will parts remain available?
The critical items — cylinders and controllers — are designed and built by us, so their availability does not depend on another company's product lifecycle. Where a purchased component becomes obsolete, we identify a replacement. If you need a formal availability period, ask for it in the quotation.
Can a platform be modified for a new task later?
Within limits. Payload interfaces, control software behaviour and safety configuration can often be adapted. The mechanism itself — axis count, geometry and actuator rating — is fixed at build, so if a change of use is plausible, mention it at specification stage, when allowing for it may cost very little.
Question still open after reading? Send it with your load case, and the answer comes back for your project rather than in general. Ask about your own project →
Questions answered elsewhere on the site
Where Each Kind of Technical Question Lives
Technical questions keep their own guides, so each topic has one authoritative answer — next to the explanation that gives it context.
Working principle
How a 6DOF Motion Platform Works
Degrees of freedom, actuator coupling, inverse and forward kinematics, feedback, workspace limits.
Selection
3DOF vs 6DOF
Which axes your task needs, and what tilt coordination can and cannot replace.
Selection
Electric vs Hydraulic
Drive technology, where each still wins, replacing a hydraulic platform, cost of ownership.
Specification
Payload, Stroke & Acceleration
Gross moving load, centre of gravity, inertia, duty cycle — and the Specification Builder.
Procurement
How to Choose a Motion Platform
Buying sequence, supplier qualification, RFQ contents, comparing quotations, acceptance.
Reference
Glossary
Definitions for the terms suppliers use differently, with the caveat that matters for each.
Not answered here or anywhere else?
Send Us the Question
This page exists because the same questions kept arriving by email. If yours is not on it, that is useful to us — send it, and an engineer answers directly. Questions that come up again get added here. Asking one does not put you into a quotation process.
An engineer replies within 24 hours — weekends included. cscmotionglobal@gmail.com · +86 152 5530 5272 · Nanjing, China (UTC+8)