Compact, constanwas t-torque telescoping mechanism

[dentistbot]

I'm old and crufty and only work on Battlebots now, but came across this super cool lift mechanism on reddit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIuAAN0FbO8

It consists of a flat (in z) toothed spiral section locking together flat vertical helical sections with tabs, sort of in a locked version of that thing everyone used to do by rolling up a piece of paper and then pulling the inside loop one direction and the outside loop the other direction. The highlights of this design that make it better than say, a scissor lift are:

• Constant torque throughout travel range
• Final z height only proportional to starting x,y dimensions, so you can build this even in a super short bot
• Made almost entirely out of low(ish)-precision sheet metal
• Powered descent
• Passive holding capability
• Hollow, for passing game elements or wires through internally
• Isotropically stable - it's rotationally symmetric about the z-axis

I'd love to see someone prototype this during the off-season.