[jvriezen]

Others have said this in different ways, but just to be sure you understand-- You place the bot on the court, with all appendages inside the frame perimeter. You walk off the court. Appendages exit the perimeter via robot actuators -- a piston, a motor, some sort of release mechanism. You don't need a way to retract the appendage, as long as you are happy with it being your only appendage option once you deploy it.

Your posting seem to indicate you need to stow your appendages for purposes of checking size during inspection -- and that is true, but it also applies to the robot rright up until the instant hybrid period starts.

You also mentioned in the OP that you built to 'maximum' frame perimeter allowance -- Most teams build to an inch or so less than the max The reason is that you MUST fit into the inspector station sizing box, which is exactly 28x38x60. Any bolt heads or 'out of square' conditions on robot that cause it to exceed this strict measurement will need to be dealt with.