7) Conclusions & Future Work

From the project, much was learned about the significance and challenges of proper tolerancing and consideration for the mating mechanisms of different components. Tighter tolerances on the pins used on the scissor lift would have provided smoother transfer of power into vertical lifting motion. Lower friction materials would have reduced snagging of sliding block on the lift as well. The importance of maintaining multiple support struts and points of contact was identified through the design of the multiple shafts and their relative alignments. Familiarity of manufacturing methods would also have better informed the list of procured materials on the BOM. Having a better understanding of the challenges faced with PLA shaft design would have led to more careful consideration of rigidity and robustness of the shafts and ways they could be supported and aligned to one another.

Possible ideas for future work include placing a spring on the bevel gear connected to the retractable shaft, so that constant contact can be maintained once the gears have meshed. Additional areas of improvement can also come from having better holding arms for the two shafts to maintain better parallelism and overall rigidity. A coupler could also be utilized to better control their relative positions to one another. To improve time-based Arduino control, a current shunt could be installed to allow precise measurement of current draw by the motor and determine maxima and minima of the lift (motor direction can switch at current spikes).