Our team is trying to build a mechanism that allows standoffs or high strength to be flipped out from our the ends of our lift (without a motor) and lock in place once the match begins in order to have a reliable cap flipper while also staying within the 18" limit. I’ve inspired by 62a’s ramp at the back of their robot that flips out and locks in place but have to idea how it was built. Any thoughts or ideas on how to build their mechanism or anything that allows our standoffs to flip out and lock in place without the use of a motor.
Well, the most common way to build something like this is to tension it so that its pulled into the position you want it to be in, and then use something that holds it in place and moves out of the way when the match starts so they can flip out and lock in place. You could do this in many ways. You could have it held back by either your descorer or shooter motor as some kind of hinge or a pull pin, any way you want, and then when that motor moves its own mechanism, it also moves the stopper out of the way, thus enabling your mechanism to fold out and lock in place due to the rubber tensioning pulling on it. As for the lock itself, you could design a mechanism similar to a door, where it’ll just close if you push it, but won’t open if you just pull on it, you’ll need to turn the knob to retract the holder. However, if you design something like this and make it so it locks in place, i think it would hinder your parking ability from either side because even if you approach the platform backward, getting your front wheels on will make this dig into the ground and you won’t have any wheels contacting either the ground or the platform.
62’s wedges were passively deployed by resting on the wheels of the robot (when they drove forwards they were pushed off the wheels and fell down) and held down with gravity and a rubber band. I m curious why you want to motorize these and lock them down, would you not want to raise them back up a bit to assist in flipping a cap? if you do want to lock it though there are many resources, specifically in starstruck, on YouTube that would help you. I also suggest looking at 240P’s medium quality reveal, they have something similar to what it sounds like you are looking for.
If you’re going to use a motor anyways I’d go with the 448x design which is compact and easy to build Team 448X Early Season VEX Turning Point Reveal - YouTube
The wedge 62 has does not use standoffs. Instead, they drilled holes in HS Axles and screwed a screw in them. I have done this before, and you must be extremely cautious as to how you drill the hole into the axle, primarily because it needs to be big enough to be able to fit a screw, but not too big where it weakens or rips the HS Axle due to the hole being too close to the edge. Drilling out a hole shouldn’t be too time consuming. Just put it on a vice and drill away until it makes a hole. Make sure that you are aware about screw joints, as well as ensure that everything will not bend easily or the wedge may bend downward over time and completely immobilize you if the axles dig into the ground.
I really think that was a reliable way for deploy, but it could’ve been much simpler by using gravity to stay up, then deploy by using inertia while turning or driving forward.
EDIT//: I just realized they had tensioning on their spikes, which makes sure that the spikes do not jump due to vibrations while driving