Door sizes might need to be updated

[moriarty]

This is the minimum size of doors but we have had complaints from teams with various robots that this size is too small...

I think most university labs are using accessible door standards not minimal door standards.

[LeroyR]

While it would be nice if all doors would be accessible it does not reflect the real world ☹

I don't recall any robot not physically fitting through the door. Is some giant humanoid interested in participating?
DSPL is pretty small and OPL should design robots that fit real world scenarios (most apartments are sadly not accessible)

Our robot had no issues inside our lab (accessible) and suddenly had problems navigating the smaller spaces in the arena and needed tuning and hacking. While something like that is frustrating, it is also an important lesson about moving robots outside the lab into the real world.

I am not enthusiastic increasing any spaces to make navigation easier and would rather see robots securely navigating in smaller spaces, tight navigation along furniture, safer distances from persons (social navigation).

[moriarty]

No, it does reflect the reality of where robots would likely operate, and does not have to do with Humanoids.

It came out of needing to provide the LOC with more accurate arena description.

The reality is: @home domestic robots aren't likely to be operating in homes built to older building standards... they are more likely to be operating in homes which are already built to modern building codes that require accessible doorways.

And, it's not just about the robots- it's about ensuring the league is accessible for all human participants. If we have a participant who is in a wheelchair they would be unable to enter the arena given the current doorway width.

I'm adding this todo issue and will make the change I just wanted to gather more data on various international building code standards.

I know that my local standard is 90cm but in some areas it is 81cm and our rulebook specifies 70cm.

[DavidG-Develop]

Maybe to also keep in mind that even though the doors themselves might be wide enough, using pivot hinges on the door reduces the space by a large amount (like we saw on German open 2024). As pivot hinges can reduce the gap by 10 - 15cm then we are no longer speaking about a door of 70cm but rather 55-60cm which could be problematic for lots of robots (our larger sized robot that was with us in Eindhoven would not fit).

[LeroyR]

Germany is something.
For "Barrier free":

• Outside doors 90cm.
• Inside (Apartment entrance) would be just 80cm.

But for wheelchair accessible it is 90cm again.

Should the rulebook just say something along the lines of "wheelchair accessible as defined in the host country"? As available door sizes may depend on the local legislation 😅