A compact low-stiffness six degrees of freedom compliant precision stage

► Design of the first low stiffness 6 DoF compliant precision stage. ► Combination of 3 statically balanced units for out-of-the horizontal-plane motions. ► A statically balanced unit consists of a negative and a positive stiffness unit. ► Combination of 3 flexible rods for the in-the-horizontal-plane motions. ► A prototype showed high potential, with a smallest residual stiffness of 0.4 N/mm.