In order to comply with game rules, the entire subsystem was required to start with the frame perimeter of the robot, therefore the skid plate was designed to securely stay in place surrounding (and also protecting) the battery for the majority of the game. Only once the direction of force of the pneumatic actuators is reversed with the click of a button by the driver would the component be deployed.

This mechanism was designed to be robust to withstand a high speed collision with platform. To maintain a robust integration between the raw skid plate and the activating component we specifically chose pneumatic actuators which allowed the skid plate to extend first outside of the frame perimeter and lower into position, and more importantly retract once in this position and latch around and into the frame in order to direct force transfer through the robust frame rather than a comparatively weak pneumatic piston.