[EricH]

Originally Posted by Smitty1707

The "stacked 4-bars" you are referring to are known as scissor lifts. They seem like a simple concept, but can be very difficult to execute well. They require a high degree of precision as the links need to lie in the same planes as well as have the same lengths to prevent the lift from leaning.

The other term for a scissor lift, at least in FRC, is "What were you THINKING???" In addition to the degree of precision for the manufacture of individual links, they all have to go together precisely, and one end of the stack needs to be free to move horizontally, but not vertically. (This on top of the lift being rather unstable when fully extended--even a typical 26' lift can sway a bit when an average person walks from one end to the other while it's near the top of its travel.) Speaking as someone who uses one on a minimum of a weekly basis (and spent most of today on top of one), if someone successfully uses one in FRC, I will be quite surprised. (Current count of scissor-lift robots I've seen in elims: 1, maybe. On Einstein, 0.)