This paper presents an adaptive nonlinear controller equipped with a friction estimator for a 6 degree of freedom (DOF) parallel manipulator-steward platform. With the aid of direct adaptive technique and control Lyapunov function method, an adaptive controller is designed to complete the globally adaptive stability of the closed-loop system. The stabilized conditions and corresponding proof are also presented, and the selection method of the controller parameters is proposed. Simulation results are demonstrated in support of the proposed control scheme.