I need to create an intake system that flips down/or out from the sides without using motors to make it flip down or out Any suggestions?
Pretty much your only method to power the robot now is rubber bands and pneumatics.
pneumatics is a bit self explanatory. Mount where you need it, make it fold out
If you’re using rubber bands, make the motors of whatever you’re using to grab objects to unlock the system to fold out. For example, if you’re using side rollers, you want to spin the rollers to make it expand, not raising the lift. Also, be careful with your wiring when making this type of system.
In addition, you do not want to have a claw for Skyrise flip down or up to expand out; that causes problems with the claw assembly flopping around when you are assembling the Skyrise. Our claw swings in from one side and locks in place with a bent metal hook that grabs onto the edge of another metal plate. It is very stable and can not move around once locked. Alternatively, you can have your claw extend out horizontally on sliders, though that can be more difficult to mount since it will probably take up more space.
We have robot that has a flip down skyrise intake. We do not have the “flopping” problem. That can be remedied with some simple “ratcheting” type locks.
We utilize a 180-degree flip for our Skyrise intake, and the “flop” is actually beneficial to us. As long a there is only one axis of rotation for the intake, it is held in place by elastics, and intaking a Skyrise section won’t pull it down a lot, it should work fairly well.
A video showing our intake and how it deploys.