Scissor lift?

[Newo95]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

My team has three Design "Rules":
1. No Jaguars
2. No Suction Cups
3. No Scissor Lifts

In all seriousness, scissor lifts are pretty difficult to get working, especially at a reasonable weight compared to elevators or arms.

Why no jaguars?

[BJC]

My team has a running joke with scissor lifts.
"Everyone tries a scissor lift once, nobody tries it again."

This is one of the more common rookie design errors in games like this. Scissor lifts look promising, but are just no good in FRC for reasons unapparent at first glance.

Just the other day:

New Mentor: Couldn't we just use a scissor lift?
Other Mentors and Older Students: *Laugh*
Older Mentor: "Everyone tries a scissor lift once, nobody tries it again. We are NOT doing a scissor lift."

Basically, don't use a scissor lift.

[billbo911]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

There is only one use I can ever see for a scissor lift in FRC, and that's a horizontal scissor lift with a cuckoo bird on the end that pops out when a Minibot hits the trigger. Sadly, the 12" cube means we'll probably never see this.

Well as long as it pops out after the match is over.........

[kgzak]

I think it's doable. What reasons have others seen not to do a scissor lift? If it's made right I think that it could work.

[Jared Russell]

Originally Posted by kgzak

I think it's doable. What reasons have others seen not to do a scissor lift? If it's made right I think that it could work.

It is absolutely doable. The issue is that several other designs (single bar arms, 4 bar arms, elevators) can do the same things but win out on simplicity, mechanical advantage, etc.

[nitneylion452]

Originally Posted by Newo95

Why no jaguars?

See post #7

Mostly superstition and bad luck. We got a bad batch in 2009 and have generally had a bad time with them since. We like Victors a lot more due to their smaller footprint, lack of automatic overcurrent disablement, and general reliability.

The list, like any absolute in a design discussion, is a joke.