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To raise the platform, we wanted to incorporate two scissor lifts on the inside walls of the box. One end of each lift would be a slider joint, which would allow a sliding motion that could raise the mechanism itself as well as the platform raised above. Connecting the links to each other would be a large screw in the middle, which would add stability but also not too much friction. We wanted the scissor lifts on both sides to be the same lengths and place them directly parallel to each other to ensure maximum smoothness and efficiency when raising the platform.
These lifts would be connected to a servo motor that would make them turn, which would result in a raising motion. The platform would then lay on top of these lifts. We chose this kind of mechanism because we believed it would be more stable than just the platform laying on a traditional four bar linkage.
Initially we wanted the servo to be mounted on the outside of the box and we would cut a hole for the servo to connect to one end of the links. However, we had to change that during assembly.
Our initial idea and design of our prototype.