Arm design - rotation mechanism?

[n0cturnalxb]

I was discussing a design I came up with with a mentor on my team and he mentioned that getting a part of the arm (eg the manipulator) the rotate the way I wanted it to would be difficult/complex. Annd.. since I'm no engineer (yet! HA -cough-), I wanted to ask..

Just how complex is it to get a part of your arm to rotate? Preferably 180 degrees..

For example, something like this:

Before rotation:

||==

After rotation:

==||

It'd just be the horizontal part that would be rotating, I guess.

If it's mechanically feasible and not overly complex, how weak would the rotating horizontal part become? Would it be able to sustain a good amount of vertical force without falling apart (breaking) or malfunctioning?

If there is any information related to this outside of ChiefDelphi, please point me there I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!


PS: I'd imagine the rotation would have to depend on a motor or something, but I'm not completely sure how difficult/complex it would be to build something that works smoothly/consistently like that.


[edit] SteveO brought up a point I failed to address.. the horizontal bar would be rotating up and over (vertically), not right to left/left to right (horizontally).