The pole is Ø1.5 in
nominal OD, Ø1.74 in
actual OD
EMT steel conduit. Wall thickness is roughly 0.06 in. McMaster-Carr will sell it to you as
7126K5 in a 10 ft length.
That's different from Ø1.75 in steel tubing or pipe (like
this,
this or
this, for example).
If you aren't using EMT conduit, you've got the wrong stuff. For most minibots, the differences in surface finish and flexibility probably won't matter too much—but given that the real stuff is so cheap, you might as well invest in the real material just to be sure.