Task · part of 4. Design, build, program and test a robot
4(a). Choose a task, with your counselor's approval
Required Often forgotten
The approval is on the task and it comes before the build. The task must include sensor feedback and programming, and the choice is documented in your robot engineering notebook. Read 4(b) before agreeing it: the design that follows needs at least two degrees of freedom, and 4(a) never says so.
Notes and warnings
Warning. TWO THINGS HAPPEN HERE AND BOTH ARE EASY TO GET WRONG. First, the counselor APPROVES THE TASK, and that approval comes before the build rather than after it. A robot built over a weekend and shown to a counselor afterwards has skipped this step, and there is no way to grant it retrospectively. Raise it at a meeting. Second, READ 4(b) BEFORE YOU AGREE THE TASK. The design that follows has to have at least two degrees of freedom, and 4(a) does not mention them. A task such as detect a line and stop satisfies 4(a) completely and can be built with a single moving axis, which then cannot meet 4(b) without coming back here and starting again.
Where this step comes from
- Robotics Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2026-01-07), Requirement 4(a) · The requirement states that the task is chosen with your counselor's approval and documented in your robot engineering notebook.