Usage Instructions
To lift a ball I tried build a number of arm assemblies, none of which were satisfactory.
I re-visited Paul Tingey’s Clamp-n-Lift design, where a single motor closes the grabber and then causes the grabber to lift the ball. I wanted to mount the NXTCAM as close to the plane of the ball as possible, which implied that I had to modify the Clamp-n-Lift design. After a number of experiments I mounted a smaller Clamp-n-Lift on the end of two parallels lifting arms, mated to a Medium PF motor driving a worm gear.
The NXTCAM fit snugly between the lifting arms, and was only obscured when the arm was lowered. The best part was the Clamp-n-Lift would close when the arm lifted, and open as it lowered, which saved me a motor!