How do you measure?

[dez250]

I was wondering as i started a project today, how do all teams measure? Do you use ANSI (foot, pound, etc...) or do you use metric (meter, gram, etc...) or do you use both...
~Mike

[Venkatesh]

Do not do as a the heathen do and do not use ... metric.

I am a firm proponent of the ANSI measurement units for two reasons. The whimsical reason is the name of the ANSI unit of mass - the slug. The real reason how accustomed I am to ANSI. I "know" how long an inch is and how "far" a foot will go. A meter is an abstract concept to me, an attempt to force logic upon custom.

But thats just me.

[Marygrace]

Yup, the metric system is alien to me as well. When I went to England for eight weeks and the signs had # of Kilometers till the next exit on the highway, I didn't have any idea how long that was. Ya'll may think im an idiot for askin but.....does that equal a mile or at least close to a mile?

The ANSI system how ever is easy. An inch? Length of the tip of your pointer finger to the first knuckle joint thingy......very technical terms of course. And Im used to pounds as well, is there a team that uses the metric system?

[Jay H 237]

I can't speak for my team as a whole but I personally use both. I feel you should use whatever is most comfortable for you. It shouldn't be a problem if you have to give someone else dimensions as long as they know which system you used. The reason I use both is because being from the U.S. I naturally use ANSI since that is most used here, but the injection molding robot company I work for (thanks to my involvement in FIRST) is based in Austria and thier stuff is all metric. To be honest, even though I've grown up with ANSI, once you learn metric it's much easier since it's based on "10". It's great if you don't have a calculator handy and wind up doing calculations in your head. It's also good to have some knowledge of the metric system in case FIRST decides to hold a national competition in Canada!

[J Flex 188]

from my spiffy canadian agenda with conversions :

1 km = 0.6214 miles

Originally Posted by Marygrace

Yup, the metric system is alien to me as well. When I went to England for eight weeks and the signs had # of Kilometers till the next exit on the highway, I didn't have any idea how long that was. Ya'll may think im an idiot for askin but.....does that equal a mile or at least close to a mile?

The ANSI system how ever is easy. An inch? Length of the tip of your pointer finger to the first knuckle joint thingy......very technical terms of course. And Im used to pounds as well, is there a team that uses the metric system?

[Aignam]

I like to throw in some ANSI here, and some metric there, and maybe a little more ANSI right there. Makes for interesting Lab reports. ::sigh:: Variety is the spice of life.

[shyra1353]

okay .. perspective on this from a Canadian ... while building our EduBot for the BetaBot Challenge at the Canadian Kickoff, our team used inches ... only because that is what the measurements in the manual were .. i know that when i first said inches in proposing a height for our robot half the team looked at me and was like "what ?? " so i ended up drawing out the proposed dimensions on the board and labelling them in both inches and centimetres ... i think that for the big bot we will be following whatever dimensions that are in the manual ( so probably inches, with a side measurement in centimetres for the team on design drawings )

Yup, the metric system is alien to me as well. When I went to England for eight weeks and the signs had # of Kilometers till the next exit on the highway, I didn't have any idea how long that was. Ya'll may think im an idiot for askin but.....does that equal a mile or at least close to a mile?

don't worry youre not an idiot .. i believe that one mile is equal to 2.2 kilometers or approximately that .. so driving on a highway here (its not a freeway) the speed limit is 100 km/hr ...

[Pat Fairbank]

We use both - living in Canada, we order our parts in metric, while we use ANSI for most everything else because that's what the FIRST rules use. Personally, I'm comfortable with either for estimating measurements.

[Robert Hafner]

Our sponsor has its main North American plant right by us, but the company is actually based in Denmark. They are big on the metric, however a lot of the equipment we use is ANSI, so we get pretty good at converting.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by shyra1353

don't worry youre not an idiot .. i believe that one mile is equal to 2.2 kilometers or approximately that .. so driving on a highway here (its not a freeway) the speed limit is 100 km/hr ...

1 pounds is about 2.2 kilograms
1 mile is about 1.6 kilometers
1 inch is about 2.5 centimeteres
1 yard is about 1 meter


Wetzel

[Ameya]

Originally Posted by Wetzel

1 pounds is about 2.2 kilograms
Wetzel

Other way around--1 kilogram is about 2.2 pounds. http://www.google.com/search?&q=what...%20in%20pounds

[kevin.li.rit]

I prefer Metric, and especially metric time, but we use ANSI.

[Chris Fultz]

Originally Posted by Marygrace

When I went to England for eight weeks and the signs had # of Kilometers till the next exit on the highway, I didn't have any idea how long that was. Ya'll may think im an idiot for askin but.....

England uses a mixture of standards. Just for the record, the signs you saw were in miles, not kilometers. England uses miles and miles per hour. For other measures, they use metric - litres of petrol, etc. But, if you buy a beer, you usually get a pint, and the glass is certified as correct by a government agency. England also uses pounds for currency, but there is no conversion to ounces or grams for the money.

Much of the rest of Europe uses metric units and Euros.

[dlavery]

English - Metric / Metric - English. Ehh, there's a difference???

-dave

[BIG BANANA]

Meters,Yards, Cubits,????..........Allways measure twice !!!!