Sizing Tolerance

[aechmtwash11]

Does anyone know the normal tolerance for the sizing devices at robot inspection? Or does anyone have experience designing a frame that is the exact length and width of the allowance. We just noticed that our frame is going to be right on the limit.

[45Auto]

My experience with the sizing devices has been that there is NO tolerance. They are as close to 28 x 38 x 60 as you will see.

If your robot is right at the limits then be assured that it will NOT fit. Your robot is not perfectly square, some of the sides are not perfect angles. A bolt head sticking out will keep it out of the sizing box.

We spent practice day on our rookie year cutting our robot up with a sawzall and ramming it into walls getting it small enough and bent straight enough to fit into the box. Not much fun.

We make sure every measurement is a minimum of 1/2" inside the limits. Fix it now or fix it at your regional, your choice. It's much easier to fix things at your shop.

[Mike Betts]

There is zero tolerance.

Your inspectors will do their best to insure that the sizing box is correct and square but, the box design and manufacture is done by FIRST and it is out of their hands. Also, the boxes travel from event to event and are subject to shipping damage, wear and tear. If you are "exactly at the limits" you invite huge issues on Thursday if you don't fit.

Right now you have over a week and your shop facilities to resolve the issue. At the event, you will have less than a day and only the hand tools in your pit.

Also keep in mind that the size inspection is absolute. Bolt heads, non-functional decorations, wires and even ty-wraps must fit, unsupported, in the box.

It is your team's decision to make...

Regards,

Mike

[aechmtwash11]

Thanks for the input. I had a feeling this was going to be the result.

[MrForbes]

Not only does the bottom of your robot at the frame need to be a bit smaller than the specified maximum, but you should leave some extra margin at the top too. We discovered in 2008 that the sizing box is not necessarily "square". A quick check with our level confirmed our suspicions when our robot didn't fit--the sides of the box were plumb, but the bottom (which has a sliding table) was not level.