So I’ve been wondering if the game pieces count with the robots dimensions for example like the beam and the pins on each side of the robot does it really have to be 20 inches with the beam and the pin?
No the game pieces are just elements being manipulated not parts of the robot so they do not count towards the size limit.
I don’t remember if it applies for this game, but do remember that a game element might make your robot stick out of size in certain configurations. So no the game elements are not counted as they are not part of your robot, but if for some reason preloading and element (maybe it pushes out your intake) causes the actual parts of your robot to be out of size then you have a problem.