In the initial design, the only factor taken into account was the kinematics of the basketball shot. In order to accomplish this task, we experimented with different designs involving both Watt and Stephenson 6-bar mechanisms. In addition, we acknowledge that if the proper motion could not be achieved with one of these isomers, we would need to explore 8-bar linkages.
Figure 1: Watt 6-bar Mechanism
Figure 1 shows the Watt 6-bar mechanism we chose to implement. As can be seen, the SolidWorks model is a crude initial design. There is no effort placed in fasteners, bearings, human-robot interfacing, or ascetic design. This prototype was just to show that the design, kinematically, was feasible.