Robotics Merit Badge

[gblake]

If the thought of Brad L. and another Vex/IFI employee in tee-shirts isn't too scary for you...

Check out this video of a Tee-shirt shooting robot that combines Vex equipment with some custom parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzFpo6K8ewo&NR=1

Vex' tent in the Merit Badge Midway is one of the hottest attractions at the Boy Scouts of America's 100th anniversary National Jamboree, underway right now at Fort A. P. Hill in Virginia.

Blake
PS: Northern Virginia's high temps have been in the 90s lately; but the 80-90% humidity makes it a wet heat, so it really not all that uncomfortable. Brad tells me he can't imagine why we don't get more tourists here this time of year.
PPS: A BSA Robotics merit badge is most definitely in the works; but it isn't available yet.

[Lucario231]

Hello,

I'm working on the Robotics Merit badge with several people from BSA as well as experts from around the country. The requirements are just about done and we are writing the main text. There is a display for it at Jamboree. We expect to introduce early next year. We still have to get approval from BSA National before publication.

I'm an Eagle Scout as well and this has been an exciting project to work on.

[big1boom]

Any chance we could get some cold hard fact's about the badge? I am giving a presentation to my troop on Robotics next Monday, and it would be helpful if I could tie in a merit badge.

Thanks

[Bryan Herbst]

I'm excited to see the badge design. I will have to pick one up for myself once it comes out just for fun.

As an Eagle who turns 18 in exactly one week, I am however very disappointed not to have the opportunity to earn the badge. Definitely excited for future scouts though!

I was at the scout shop earlier this summer and saw slots for both the Robotics merit badge and Inventing merit badge, but both were empty. I asked a worker about them and was told that they were supposed to be released this summer, but that they had been delayed. Both sound like fantastic badges!

[Zholl]

Originally Posted by Tanis

I'm excited to see the badge design. I will have to pick one up for myself once it comes out just for fun.

As an Eagle who turns 18 in exactly one week, I am however very disappointed not to have the opportunity to earn the badge. Definitely excited for future scouts though!

I was at the scout shop earlier this summer and saw slots for both the Robotics merit badge and Inventing merit badge, but both were empty. I asked a worker about them and was told that they were supposed to be released this summer, but that they had been delayed. Both sound like fantastic badges!

I'm kind of in the same boat, though I'm not 18 until October. Still, if they don't come out until next year...

[gblake]

Originally Posted by big1boom

Any chance we could get some cold hard fact's about the badge? I am giving a presentation to my troop on Robotics next Monday, and it would be helpful if I could tie in a merit badge.

Thanks

Sorry - I don't have that level of info. Maybe someone else will read this thread and spill a few beans.

[chessking132]

I would support this 100 hundred percent. I am a camp counselor and would be willing to encourage my camp to pick up the merit badge.

Matthew Simpson
Team 75 Alumni

[Bryan Herbst]

Originally Posted by chessking132

I would support this 100 hundred percent. I am a camp counselor and would be willing to encourage my camp to pick up the merit badge.

Matthew Simpson
Team 75 Alumni

The problem that I have with this is that camps usually don't run merit badges quite the way I would like/expect, and most camps probably wouldn't have the equipment necessary for some requirements.

The latter is fine because they can just have pre/post requirements for those taking the badge.

However, at camp, most merit badges (in my experience) are mostly you show up, you get the badge. Only at summer camp do I see a bunch of 14 year olds earning the Nuclear Science merit badge. Unsurprisingly, none of them actually learned much about nuclear science, other than that you can model a nuclear reactor with brownies, ice cream, twizzlers, and pretzels.

[cooker52]

The more and more I sit around and listen about what's going on at the National Jamboree this year the more I wish I had gone. I thought the Shining Light Across America did it for me in Fort Wayne last night, but this put the decorations on the icing of the cake.

I am an eagle scout and 2 year Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 130, Huntington, IN, Anthony Wayne Area Council. This has been something I've wanted happen for a while.

I did some quick research, found nothing from the National Jamboree page or scouting.org. I also looked at Meritbadge.com and found that it is not in their system yet.

BUT I did find in Wikipedia their meritbadge section does include it with the release date as 2010. Nothing official there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merit_b..._of_America%29

Further research I did find a brief mentioning of the Robotics Meritbadge on the Jamboree website (correction of earlier not finding anything). It is mentioned under the "Teaching Technology" in the second paragraph mentioning that the merit badge is "on the horizon."
http://www.bsajamboree.org/Bulletins.../Release5.aspx

And to top it all off in the BSA Magazine website there is an article from just yesterday about the Robotics Meritbadge and an image with it. It states that "The badge won't be available to earn until April..." and sadly never mentioned FIRST (but does show VEX robots). http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/201...rit-badge.html

All in all, I'm pretty excited for this. It's pretty evident from the enthusiasm of many here on CD and at the Jamboree that this may be a popular merit badge and will go through.

[cooker52]

Originally Posted by Tanis

The problem that I have with this is that camps usually don't run merit badges quite the way I would like/expect, and most camps probably wouldn't have the equipment necessary for some requirements.

The latter is fine because they can just have pre/post requirements for those taking the badge.

However, at camp, most merit badges (in my experience) are mostly you show up, you get the badge. Only at summer camp do I see a bunch of 14 year olds earning the Nuclear Science merit badge. Unsurprisingly, none of them actually learned much about nuclear science, other than that you can model a nuclear reactor with brownies, ice cream, twizzlers, and pretzels.

I have to agree with all of this, it seems like many camps are turning into merit badge factories. I would like to continue this conversation but I would like to ask that we stay focused on the robotics merit badge and not about camp systems performing their merit badge sessions.

And you are right, they show up to the class, don't learn much about the actual subject, then leave with only demonstrations of candy on their mind. And because of that, I am afraid of the Robotics Merit Badge being poorly demonstrated at camps.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Just to hijack this thread a bit for all you under 18 scouts...
There are four new/old merit badges to help celebrate the anniversary year. These four badges only will have a special gold border and must be earned in this year. Check out the scout site for more info. This is a once in a lifetime chance that I would encourage you to check out. You will be able to talk about it for many years to come.

The following 2010 "Centennial" Historical Merit Badges may be earned through December 31, 2010:

Carpentry – Pathfinding – Signaling – Tracking

[Rick TYler]

I'm on the volunteer committee working on the Robotics MB (RMB). The requirements have not been finalized and the book is still being drafted, so there aren't many details to share yet. About all I can safely say is that:

1. The RMB booth at Jamboree has been wildly popular. We estimate that as many as 1,000 Scouts and Scouters per day have driven a demo robot and earned their souvenir RMB patch. It's not the MB, by the way, but a pocket patch. VEX provided the demo gear, including five drivable robots, one static display, and their big t-shirt shooting robot, along with other trinkets and t-shirts. The heat, humidity, and dust of the outdoor venue has been a great testing ground for robot durability. I know that I haven't worked on any competition robots that could survive 50+ hours of operation in these conditions.

2. The RMB will be released during National Robotics Week in April, 2011.

3. The requirements are NOT available yet, but I think you will be happy. In a nutshell, a Scout will have to research, design, build, and test a robot, including maintaining a design/test notebook, and that participation in organized competitions may be used to fulfill part of the requirements.

4. The RMB is completely brand- and program-neutral. The team chose neutrality as a primary goal from the beginning so that any robotics development platform (VEX, FRC kitbot, BEST, home brew, etc.) can be used to earn the MB.

5. The RMB patch shows a NASA Mars Rover robot. I believe this design is final, but you never know...

6. The team working on the merit badge has vast experience in industry, science, robotics competitions, and Scouting. I am privileged to work with these people.

That's about all I can say right now, but I will be glad to check back in as components of the RMB are cleared for public release. I'm not trying to keep stuff secret, by the way, it's just that the team is in the middle of making these decisions right now and the answers to most of your questions are simply not available.

[Bryan Herbst]

Thanks for the information!

I'm very happy to hear about the requirements and the platform-neutrality. As much as I love FIRST, I would hate to see the merit badge limited in any way. The patch design also sounds very cool.

Now I'm just sad that I couldn't get to the jamboree this year! I saw a video of their display and tshirt cannon robot, and it definitely looks like it would be my favorite booth.

[cooker52]

Thanks a ton for that information Rick. That is going to be one heck of a merit badge to complete then, one I would certainly enjoy teaching.

@Tanis THEY HAVE A T-SHIRT CANNON AT THE BOOTH?!?! NO WAY! Any way you could post a link to that video?

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by cooker52

@Tanis THEY HAVE A T-SHIRT CANNON AT THE BOOTH?!?! NO WAY! Any way you could post a link to that video?

gblake already posted above.