Mechanical System:
The majority of the mechanical design in this project was concerned with attaching the stepper motor to the shaft that controls tilt and the brush motor to the strings that control the telescoping motion.  

The stepper motor was be attached directly to the rotating shaft that opens and closes the blinds.  Two ideas for connection were considered: a belt and a rigid connection.  Connection by a belt would be the easiest to build, but there are concerns about slipping, especially with a device as precise as a stepper motor that moves in small increments.  Therefore, it was decided that a rigid connection would have to be manufactured.

The brush motors were also housed above the blinds and were rigidly connected to a shaft.  This shaft was connected to the strings that control the telescoping of the blinds.  When the motor turns in one direction, the strings will wrap around the shaft, pulling the blinds up.  
When the shaft moves in the other direction, the strings are released, allowing the blinds to fall to the desired height.  The brush motor was selected because of its resistance to an external force.  Thus the weight of the blinds on the motor did not cause the shaft to rotate and the blinds stayed at the desired height.