System for positioning a work point in three dimensional space

A system for positioning a work point, the system comprising:

• a plurality of reeving systems spaced apart from one another;
• a plurality of adjustable support elements, each of said support elements connected to the work point and to a corresponding reeving system, the length of each support element between the work point and each respective reeving system determining the location of the work point with respect to at least two spatial coordinate axes;
• an actuator for each of said plurality of reeving systems, each actuator adapted for releasing and taking up each support element connected to said reeving system;
• a control system for controlling said actuators to release and take up each of said the support elements to move the work point with respect to each of the at least two spatial coordinate axes while controlling at least one motion parameter of the work point in a predetermined manner;
• and
• a passive pulley disposed between two of said plurality of reeving systems to allow the work point to be moved from a first plane to a second plane.

A system for moving a work point through three dimensional space, the system comprising:

• a plurality of reeving systems spaced apart from one another;
• a plurality of adjustable support elements, each of said support elements connected to the work point and to a corresponding reeving system to support the work point, the length of each support element between the work point and each respective reeving system determining the location of the work point with respect to at least a first spatial coordinate axis and a second spatial coordinate axis different from the first spatial coordinate axis;
• a plurality of actuators, each of said actuators associated with a corresponding reeving system, for releasing and taking up the support element connected to the corresponding reeving system to move the work point with respect to at least the first and second spatial coordinate axes;
• and
• a programmable control system for controlling at least one motion parameter of the work point in a predetermined manner by controlling the release and take up of each of said support elements to move the work point with respect to each of the at least two spatial coordinate axes,
• wherein each of said plurality of reeving systems is capable of movement with respect to at least a third spatial coordinate axis different from the first and second spatial coordinate axes to move the work point with respect to at least the third spatial coordinate axis.