Robotics is where building, coding, and problem-solving come together. You will design your own robot, make it move and sense the world, and learn how engineers test and improve their ideas. Expect some things to fail at first — that's how every good robot gets built.
Why it's worth it
Robots explore Mars, help surgeons, build cars, and sort packages, and someone has to design, build, and program every one of them. This badge lets you be that someone. You'll build a robot that senses the world and makes decisions, keep an engineering notebook like real engineers do, and learn that every failed test tells you something useful. The mix of mechanics, electronics, and code you'll practice here leads straight into competition teams, maker clubs, and careers in nearly every industry.
Start this week
- List every robot you've seen or used, from a robot vacuum to a self-checkout arm, and write how each one senses and moves.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Robotics counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- With a parent, find out whether your school, library, or a makerspace lends robot kits or runs a robotics club.
- Start your engineering notebook today with a sketch of a robot you'd like to build and the one job it should do.
Stay safe
- Keep fingers and hair clear of gears and wheels while a robot is powered, and switch it off before working on it.
- Use soldering irons and power tools only with an adult, and charge and store batteries the way the maker says.
Requirements · 7
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab) (updated 2025).
- Requirement 1
Safety
Tips for this section: Think about pinch points, moving parts, batteries, and tools. Make a short list of hazards and how you'd treat a small cut or burn.
- Requirement 1a
Explain to your counselor the hazards you're most likely to face working with robots and how to anticipate, reduce, prevent, and respond to them. Describe the right safety gear and clothing for robotics work
- Requirement 1b
Discuss how to prevent and treat injuries that can happen during robotics activities or competitions, such as cuts, eye injuries, and heat or chemical burns
- Requirement 2
Robotics industry
Tips for this section: Look around you for robots: vacuum robots, factory arms, rovers. For each, ask how it moves and what sensors help it know where it is.
Example for this section: Pick three robots and break each down: a robot vacuum moves on wheels and senses walls with bump and infrared sensors; a factory arm moves on joints and uses position sensors; a Mars rover drives on rocker suspension and uses cameras to avoid rocks.
- Requirement 2a
Discuss with your counselor what robots can do and the best ways robots are used today
- Requirement 2b
Discuss with your counselor how remote-control vehicles, telerobots, and autonomous robots are alike and different
- Requirement 2c
Discuss with your counselor three ways robots can move besides wheels or tracks, and when each would be a good choice
- Requirement 3
Talk with your counselor about three of the five major robotics fields (mobility, sensors, manipulation, programming, human-robot interface) and why each matters, either for one robot system or in general. Use pictures or at least one video
Tip: Pick three fields that sound most interesting to you and find one real example of a robot in each to talk about.
For example: Pick three of the five fields, like mobility, sensors, and manipulation, and show a picture or video for each: how a Mars rover's wheels and suspension carry it over rocks, how a self-driving car's cameras see the road, and how a surgical robot's arm makes tiny, precise moves. Explain why each field matters.
- Requirement 4
Design, build, program, and test
Tips for this section: Start simple with a kit or classroom robot. Build, program one task, test it, then improve it one change at a time.
Example for this section: Build a wheeled robot that follows a black tape line using a light sensor. Write the code, test it on a curve, and when it drives off the line, change one thing at a time, like speed or sensor height, and record the result.
- Requirement 4a
With your counselor's approval, choose what your robot or robotic subsystem will do, making sure the task uses sensor feedback and programming, and record it in your robot engineering notebook
- Requirement 4b
Design your robot to use sensors and programming with at least 2 degrees of freedom, and document the design in your notebook with drawings and a written description
- Requirement 4c
Build a robot or robotic subsystem of your own design to do the task you chose in 4a
- Requirement 4d
Discuss with your counselor the ways your robot could be programmed, then do 4d1 or 4d2. Choose 1 of 2
- Requirement 4d1
Program your robot to do the task from 4a, and put a sample of the source code in your engineering notebook
- Requirement 4d2
Make a flowchart of the steps your robot would follow to do the task from 4a, including actions based on sensor input, and put it in your engineering notebook
- Requirement 4e
Test the robot and log the results in your notebook, with ideas for improving it and pictures or sketches of the finished robot
- Requirement 5
Demonstrate
Tips for this section: Keep your engineering notebook as you go — sketches, code ideas, what broke, and how you fixed it. It makes the demo easy to explain.
Example for this section: Demonstrate your robot doing its task three times, then walk your counselor through your notebook: the first sketch, a design that didn't work, the code change that fixed it, and what you'd improve with more time.
- Requirement 5a
Demonstrate the robot you built in requirement 4 for your counselor
- Requirement 5b
Share your engineering notebook with your counselor and talk about how well the robot did its task, what you'd change in your next design, and what the design process taught you
- Requirement 6
Competitions. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Check whether a school or library team competes in a youth robotics league nearby, and go watch a match.
Example for this section: Watch a youth robotics competition with your family and note how teams design for the game rules, how they repair robots between matches, and how they work together in the pit area.
- Requirement 6a
Go to a robotics competition and tell your counselor what you saw and learned, including how teams are organized and managed
- Requirement 6b
Learn about three youth robotics competitions and tell your counselor about each: type of competition, time commitment, participants' ages, and number of teams
- Requirement 7
Careers and hobbies. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Ask an engineer, technician, or robotics club coach what they do and what classes helped them get started.
- Requirement 7a
Name three careers that use robotics skills. Pick one and research its training, education, certification, experience, costs, job outlook, starting pay, and advancement, then discuss it and your interest with your counselor
- Requirement 7b
Find out how robotics skills could become a personal hobby. Research the extra training, costs, and organizations involved, then discuss what you learned and your short- and long-term goals with your counselor
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A youth robotics competition
You'll see dozens of robots built for the same challenge and how teams solve problems under pressure.
How: A parent can look up local events through a youth robotics program and go with you. Most events are free to watch, and teams often welcome questions in the pits.
A factory or warehouse that uses robots
Robot arms and automated carts at work show how robots handle real jobs safely around people.
How: A leader can contact the company's community relations office and ask about a group tour, including any age rules.
A university engineering lab open house
Researchers and students demonstrate robots that walk, fly, or swim.
How: A parent can check the engineering school's website for open houses or outreach days.
Where it can lead
- Robotics engineerDesigns and tests robots; usually needs a mechanical, electrical, or computer engineering degree.
- Mechatronics or automation technicianInstalls and repairs robots in factories; often trained in a two-year program.
- Software engineerWrites the code that lets robots sense, plan, and move.
- Industrial maintenance technicianKeeps automated production lines running; many learn through apprenticeships.
Ask yourself
- What problem would you like a robot to solve in your home or community?
- What broke or failed during your build, and what did it teach you?
- How did keeping an engineering notebook change the way you worked?
- When you got stuck, who or what helped you get unstuck?
- What would you add to your robot if you had another month?
Good questions to ask a robotics engineer, technician, or team coach
- How do you decide what sensors a robot needs?
- What's a robot project that failed, and what did your team learn from it?
- How do mechanical, electrical, and software people work together on one robot?
- What classes or projects helped you most when you were starting out?
- What kinds of robots do you think we'll see everywhere in ten years?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Team up with a school robotics club or library makerspace to borrow kits and expert help.
- Encourage scouts to log failures in their notebooks as proudly as successes.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- FIRST (opens in a new tab) — Youth robotics programs and competitions for many ages.
- Library or school makerspace — Many lend robot kits and host coding clubs.
- NASA JPL Education (opens in a new tab) — Robotics projects and lessons from the lab that builds Mars rovers.
- NASA Learning Resources (opens in a new tab) — Activities about the robots and spacecraft NASA sends into space.
Pairs well with
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.