Folding RoofThis was a design project undertaken during the first year of my mechanical engineering degree. The object was to design a section of a retractable stadium roof. The resulting design is based on a compound scissor lift mechanism, although the last section has a prismatic joint that telescopes out as the two halves come together. Power is provided by two RC servos modified for continuous rotation, and control duties are undertaken by an 8-bit PIC microprocessor. Dead reckoning timing is used to accelerate/decelerate the mechanism, with limit switches at each extreme of motion (for each half of the roof) allowing the roof to reach fully open/closed positions.
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