Badge Required Information
This page covers the information each scout needs to learn about to complete the merit badge. These examples are just a drop of information that is out there. Feel free to go more in depth and expand your horizons.
What can Robots do? What are their uses today?
This kind of job is better done by robots than by humans. Most robots today are used to do repetitive actions or jobs considered too dangerous for humans. A robot is ideal for going into a building that has a possible bomb. Robots are also used in factories to build things like cars, candy bars, and electronics. A remote control vehicle is defined as any vehicle that is teleoperated by a means that does not restrict its motion with an origin external to the device. This is often a radio control device, cable between control and vehicle, or an infrared controller.
Types of Youth Robotic Competitions:
Robots Without Wheels
Hexbug Robots
The motor inside the HexBug Nano rotates a counterweight that causes forces up and down. The down force causes the legs to bend and the HexBug Nano moves forward. Then the up force causes the creature to hop lifting the front legs off the ground and allowing the legs to unbend to be able to repeat the downward force motion.
This vibrating motor can be applied to many situations as it can be used to relieve pain, notify when a certain outcome happens, along with many other medical applications.
Follow the link below to see the ad of working hex bugs:
Hovercraft Robots
This type of robot could be used in situations where the terrain is not the smoothest. Plus, hovercrafts are able to move from land to water which can be useful for traveling and transporting people and goods. The top link below shows a hovercraft of the navy's that goes on both land and water. The link below that shows a hovercraft robot that a person made on their own.
Follow the link below to see a working hovercraft robot that a person built at home:
Humanoid Robots
This type of robot is very useful. The fact that it has legs allows the robot to be able to bend and jump, making it able to go over unstructured domain where the land is uneven. Also, this type is useful for being able to go over things like stairs and going up steep ramps. Furthermore, legs allow the robot to be able to jump which can come in handy. All of these abilities of humanoid robot make it ideal in real world application like rescue situations where the robot has to be able to go off a paved path.
Follow the link below to see examples of humanoid robots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5UoQsHJskw
Drone Robots
This type of robot is also ideal in rescue situations as it can avoid rough terrain. Plus, this type can be used to quickly transport goods like with amazon drone delivery as drones can avoid traffic.
Follow the link below to see an example of a drone robot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf16mp6Nbh8
Remote-control vehicles, Telebots, and Auto robots
Careers in Robotics
This list is just a small amount of the types of careers a person can get that pertains to robotics.
For the badge, know three of the careers below or find other career not listed. Then, pick one of those careers that you find interesting and find out the education, training, and experience required for that profession. You will also need to discuss why this profession might interest you and discuss this, along with the information about the careers, with your counselor.
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Robotics Engineer: This job requires you to have a lot of patience because you will be developing the robot all on paper. It will take a while because of all the research and the high technicality and sophistication of robotics. You’ll also need to debug any problem with the software system.
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Software Developer: This schematic design is written and coded by the software developer along with the engineer to assure the robot performs the functions it’s designed to carry out in a safe and precise way.
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Technician: A technician builds robot parts and maintains/fixes already made robots.
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Electromechanical technician: This job is a type of technician that works with an engineer in the design process for designing a robot.
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Sales Engineer: Their job is to know everything about the robot and pitch it to customers. Also, they will have to figure out what a potential customer wants added or changed and make those changes to the product.
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Operators: They are the overseers and operators of the robots in use. They have to make sure nothing goes wrong, and if it does, then they are the ones that fix it so the robot can work properly again. This job requires shifts for people to work around the clock as someone is always needed to run the equipment.
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Robotics Account Manager: This job is for accountants that, besides the duties of an accountant, have a strong background in robot technology, sales, accounting, and customer service to make sales within the robotics industry.
More Careers can be found at the NASA Robotics Career Corner:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/robotics/careercorner/index.html
The Five Major Fields of Robotics
These major fields include human-robot interface, mobility, manipulation, programming, and sensors. Pick three of these fields to discuss with your counselor along with their importance to robotics development. Then discuss either the three fields as they relate to a single robot system OR talk about each field in general. Find your own pictures or at least one video to aid your discussion.
The following link below leads to a game on the NASA page. In the game, you program a rover to move to a certain space.
Extra Fun
Works Cited:
http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/robots/facts.cfm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_control_vehicle
https://www.gradschoolhub.com/faqs/what-types-of-jobs-are-in-robotics/
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/robotics/careercorner/index.html
http://thechallengercenter.net/programs/scout-programs/boy-scout-robotics-merit-badge/
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/robotics/home/ROVER.html#.WvNRxoiUu1s