[FTC]: Building Low Cost Playing Field

[Christine3491]

Our team is new to FTC and trying to build the low cost playing field following the diagrams on the FIRST website.
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...t.aspx?id=6654

I can't figure out how it's is suppose to be 12' (144").

There are 3 long pipes that are 43.5 inches. The T-connectors from our local hardware store are 2.75" total (with .75" overlap of pipe on each connection), so the additional length is actually 1.25" per T-connector. There are two 1.75" pieces at the ends that fit into 90d connectors. The 90d connectors don't add length to the inside of the playing field.

Here are the numbers.

3 x 43.5 = 130.5
4 x 1.25 = 5
2 x 1.75 = 3.5

The total is 139" which is much shorter than the 1" variance on 144".

Even if we add an extra T-connector to the center panel for the side reinforcement, the total is only 140.25".

How do we create a 12' playing field?

Should we be lengthening the small pieces (two 1.75") to get the correct length?

Are the T-connectors we're using shorter than ones available in the US?

Is it the inside of the playing field that should be 144"?

Thanks.