Robotics Merit Badge

Little known fact about me, is that I am an Eagle Scout.  As such I remember my scouting days quite fondly.  BSA has always been good about adding or removing merit badges based on current cultural influences.  Now they’ve added a new merit badge for Robotics.  Honestly, if I were still a scout I would make sure I earned this merit badge.

An example of some of the badge requirements shows that it’s no cakewalk to earn this merit badge.  Some of the requirements include:

• Explain and discuss hazards and safety prevention
• Explain how robots are used today
• Discuss three of the five major fields of robotics (human-robot interface, mobility, manipulation, programming, sensors)
• Design, build, program, and test their robot
• Demonstrate the robot, and share the engineering notebook for that robot
• Attend a robotics competition or do research on robotics competitions
• Discuss career opportunities in robotics (Must include information on the education, training, and experience required.)

There’s some fun looking stuff to do there.  The only problem is, this won’t be a cheap merit badge to do.  It’s definitely not one that you would be able to earn during a one-week Scout Camp.

It’s also impressive to note some of the organizations that helped develop the merit badge requirements. Definitely lot of robotics experts weighed in.

• AUVSI Foundation
• Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy
• Carnegie Science Center, Roboworld
• iRobot Corporation
• LEGO
• Education North America
• Museum of Science, Boston
• NASA
• National Electronics Museum
• National Robotics Week
• Robotics Education and Competition Foundation
• University of Texas-Dallas, Science and Engineering Education Center
• VEX Robotics, Inc.

For more information on the merit badge I encourage you to read the Press Release regarding the Robotics Merit Badge.