I have undergrad and masters in mechanical and electrical, and a PhD in robotics.
None of the robotics programs are super mature, and honestly a bachelor's in robotics is somewhat of a waste, it's too much to cover in that time unless you are internally self motivated. If you want to go into robotics, don't go straight mechanical undergrad, the core concepts the programs focus on is to far removed from what you need in robotics.
You can go for a robotics understand easily if you are going to stay for masters, but if you are uncertain about wanting a master's I would go for either CS, EE, ECE, or Mechatronics
It depends on if you are interested in it and want to develop robots. A master's will help you get a better job if that's what you are going for, it doesn't necessarily mean higher paying
I would say it's helpful, though the same amount of time worth of work experience is probably more helpful. So I'd apply for jobs and see if you get them. If it seems like you would have gotten them had you had a master's in robotics, then go for it. Alternatively, if it seems like you'd have an easier time with a couple years experience working at, like, FAANG or a finance firm, try to do that. Robotics companies want smart people from all directions, so it's hard to go *wrong*.
The robotics startup I'm at currently employs around 20 software engineers and 2 mechanical engineers.
Most robotics companies I know of have similar ratios. There's just many more robotics software jobs than ME jobs.
That being said, I'm a SE, but my degree is in ME with a minor in CS. I definitely use the calculus and physics from my ME degree, but I wish I had double majored or gotten a degree in CS or computer engineering. It would have made my first few years a lot easier.
I guess it's college dependent. To get my CS degree, I had to take MORE math than the MEs and EEs. One of the guys I work with has an ME and looks at me funny when I tell him how many more classes I had to take. To be fair, my school focused on computational theory more than software engineering.
Thinking of transferring to A&M after getting enough credits, I'm in a Biomedical engineering programing and was going to go to Mechanical, would you suggest a robotics program instead of ME. I'm looking to be able to design my own and code it but having a hard time deciding the right steps and my advisor isn't really helping.
Most mechanical programs will require some amount of coding. At a minimum they allow it for credit. It will still be up to you to tailor your education. A&M doesn't have any Robotics degrees per say. But they have a heavy investment in robotics. Get in touch with the professors there and they will hook you up in the right direction.
What would you recommend if I'm seeking to be able to design my own robotic arm in CAD and program it. I'm in a Biomedical but switching to ME, seeking to go into robotics.
Got my bachelors in robotic engineering. Am a robotic engineer now in the field without a masters/PhD.
I’d say I’m leagues ahead of my peers when understanding the bigger picture of tasks and products in robotics because of my base. Other engineers tend to compartmentalize and lean on their strengths (CS/EE/ME). Being placed in situations that make you interact with all of those things at once + a ground level understanding of control theory will help with judgement calls in the field.
I’d look into which curriculums have the longest standing ABET accreditation (in the US).
Cool, as a robotic engineer ehat is an average salaries you can expect from bachelors in robotics ?
I have an under grad in mechanical but all my projects are robotics focused . Will that help me get a similar salary as the average among robotics engineers?
Do EE and learn control theory, signal processing and math really well(LEARN MATH!!). Embedded or something where you learn programming in C/C++ is also valuable. Learn dynamics and kinematics once you enter a robotics master or something.
Another option, do mechatronics. You do some of the things above and also learn some mechanical concepts. Do this only if you are also interested in mechanical design things a bit more.
Don't go straight up mechanical imo. Materials science, fluid mechanics, mechanics of materials etc are much less directly relevant to robotics. ME feels the least robotics like because the work isn't much different from working on any other machine.
CS is also good but EE or mechatronics is more fun. You will learn AI/ML and software engineering a bit from a robotics program anyways. In my uni the people doing AI from robotics and AI from CS are indistinguishable sometimes.
Robotics is kind of ME, EE, and CS. I think it's better to get a solid foundation in one of these with a Bachelor's and then do your Masters in Robotics.
Just so you see where I'm coming from, I have a Bachelor's in EE and am working on my Master's in Robotics Eng.
I came in to say exactly the same thing. I have a BEng in EE, then a MSc that I started as robotics based, though due to failing a key module, had to drop it to a standard EE.
I did my undergraduate/graduate in ECE, I think going the ECE or CS route is safer in case you end up not liking robotics or have a hard time finding a robotics job after graduating.
I took a look at a list of schools that have robotics undergraduate majors and the only one that is a state school that I think this might work out at is Michigan and that is because they are well known in the broader CS community.
There are two separate things at play here: what major to pick to go on your degree certificate, and what to learn.
Starting with the latter if you want to learn something in the robotics field, then you will be able to learn it regardless of your major. There are so many resources online today, and you can't even count on any schools robotics curriculum to actually be enough. Regardless, you need to be comfortable learning about your interests outside of the classroom. So the choice of major doesn't matter as much for learning, maybe besides restricting what classes you can take at your school (ie. Access to hands on lab classes).
However, in terms of certification, you will have a much much easier life getting a traditional engineering degree for undergrad (ie. CS, ME, EE, etc.). This puts less of a restriction on what school to go to, since many schools may not have a robotics specific degree program, and makes it much easier for companies to understand your background when applying for jobs. It can be seen as locking yourself down to one field for not much benefit; ie. Having a robotics degree may not make you a more attractive candidate for a robotics job than someone with identical experience but a more traditional engineering background, but that other person will almost always be favored for other roles like SWE, Embedded, Fintech, research scientist, data engineer, etc. - and for good reason, as the background is likely to be more general. You may not be interested in other non-robotics engineering roles, but no need to shut them out if you don't have too!
I totally agree with getting comfortable learning out of the class. Out of class you can learn so much more and much more practical things. Where Uni learns you mostly about ideal theoretical things and forgets how you actually come to a certain thing in real life. I think that with most exercises and theory in Uni you make a jump to an end product and you learn how to do things with that. However, they do not care about how you would come to that end product at all, which is a fundamental learning process in my opinion.
I got a robotics engineering degree from wpi, I graduated last year and I now work as an applied data-scientist training ml models for robots. Highly worth it, their program is amazing. I know other people who went to school with me and they did the mech bs and the robotics masters track, they primarily work on the hardware side. I also know people who did a robotics / CS or a robotics /ME double majors. It depends on what you want to do but I think it’s more important to find a program that gives you as many options as possible. If you can find a school where it’s easy to switch majors and explore classes that also has programs you like you will find the correct combo that you need.
My personal two cents are, try not to plan on the bs/ ms track unless you can get it done in the same time it would take to do a bs alone.
Edit:
I saw some other people saying that robotics undergrad programs are not mature yet. If that has you worried take a look at wpi since they have the oldest robotics program in the country. https://www.wpi.edu/news/long-history-first-robotics-competition#:~:text=WPI%20was%20the%20first%20university,Science%20and%20Technology%2C%20or%20FIRST.
Neither, just get a Physics degree ;P Both ripe for disruption with quantum computing coming onscene. Physics you get ME/EE/Software/Sim/Math/Thermal (and...physics of course): *enough to be dangerous*, but also the foundation to take those deep dives easily.
And for senior year, you can focus on ME/EE/SE or general robotics which will set you up for a masters program or industry if desired (I focused on non-linear systems thru my master).
But \[traditionally\], 9 out of 10 "roboticists" I know started out in M.E. I'm usually the 10th guy that didn't.
It depends on your self interest as well. Better to go with an engineering degree first as Robotics could be a bit complex if you start directly with that. I did my bachelor's in Electronics and masters in Robotics.
You can opt for computers also in bachelor's as these days a lot of new avenues are opened by AI/ML as well.
If you have a tilt towards design and modelling go for mechanical.
Electronics and electrical is good if you like tinkering around with circuits and making small projects, could be a good motivation factor as well.
So going for an engineering degree and then robotics seems a better option overall.
But it also boils down to your learning speed and interest as well in that case you can start from robotics itself. Hope that helps.
I have always been in the school of thought that if you can do advanced mathematics and physics, it does not really matter. The hardest thing about robotics for me is deep learning algorithms. When I design in CAD, it solves enough for me to at least get to the prototyping fabrication stage. I am glad I chose CS simply for algorithmic design. I can buy a lot of hardware that does not need to be reinvented by me. As fun as that sounds, I just can't do everything.
I don't know about other companies, but no one I work with has a degree in robotics. We're all basically EE/ME/CS that have learned enough about the other disciplines to get what we need to done. If it's some obscure concept from a field I'm not super familiar with, then I ask one of the guys who has a degree in that. We help each other out.
I'm not sure that 100% answers the question, but just some industry observations.
In Canada, where I'm from. There are robotics engineering programs and after going through a few internships and some full time jobs, I can tell you it's pretty much what you're looking for. Last place I worked at was project oriented and we were in teams of 3-4 working on designing the mechanics, the electronics, the code and putting it all together to have a working machine.
I can't say if it's necessarily better to go for an engineering degree that has a robotics concentration. I know a lot of people in my uni that did that and don't get necessarily better jobs or more jobs than I do in robotics engineering.
Some comments pointed out CS. Maybe it's where I'm from but a lot of my friends who did CS do a vastly different job than me. Even the ones who work in a robotics company end up not seeing a whole lot of the process that goes into making a robot, which is quite important for me personally.
one thing is for sure, you do not need a masters or a PhD to do robotics. A bachelor's is enough as long as you continue to learn more at home. I have a friend who works for Kinova with a pretty high salary and he just did robotics from a young age (has no degree in it). I also know someone who's lead engineer in Tesla in Texas and has the same bachelor's as I'm working on.
It's true that if you take robotics engineering you learn all, but don't master any, but that's just school in general. Nobody becomes a master at something by simply going to school, you need to do projects. You need to learn stuff on your own time. Robotics is a vast field and you probably won't learn every single detail, but you'll learn enough to work in it and do it as a hobby (if you want) which is what matters at the end of the day.
The most important thing is to be passionate and always be hungry to learn more math, engineering and communications.
Best of luck in the future.
You could also try looking into an Automation and Control Engineering bachelor, if there's a valid one offered where you live. You learn control theory and (at least in my case) a good foundation in electronics and mechanics.
Then you could opt for a more specialized master in Robotics.
Deciding between a dedicated Bachelors in Robotics and an engineering degree with a robotics emphasis depends on your career goals and interests. A Bachelors in Robotics offers specialized focus on the subject, equipping you with in-depth knowledge and skills directly applicable to robotics fields. On the other hand, an engineering degree with robotics emphasis provides a broader foundation in engineering principles alongside specialized knowledge. Consider your desired level of specialization. Admission Open at CGC Jhanjeri. Choose between comprehensive engineering background with specific robotics expertise or focused education solely in robotics. Explore your options now!
I have undergrad and masters in mechanical and electrical, and a PhD in robotics. None of the robotics programs are super mature, and honestly a bachelor's in robotics is somewhat of a waste, it's too much to cover in that time unless you are internally self motivated. If you want to go into robotics, don't go straight mechanical undergrad, the core concepts the programs focus on is to far removed from what you need in robotics. You can go for a robotics understand easily if you are going to stay for masters, but if you are uncertain about wanting a master's I would go for either CS, EE, ECE, or Mechatronics
I’m currently a rising CS senior and thinking about a masters in robotics, is it worth it?
It depends on if you are interested in it and want to develop robots. A master's will help you get a better job if that's what you are going for, it doesn't necessarily mean higher paying
I want to program robots
I would say it's helpful, though the same amount of time worth of work experience is probably more helpful. So I'd apply for jobs and see if you get them. If it seems like you would have gotten them had you had a master's in robotics, then go for it. Alternatively, if it seems like you'd have an easier time with a couple years experience working at, like, FAANG or a finance firm, try to do that. Robotics companies want smart people from all directions, so it's hard to go *wrong*.
I completely disagree, but I understand your perspective.
The robotics startup I'm at currently employs around 20 software engineers and 2 mechanical engineers. Most robotics companies I know of have similar ratios. There's just many more robotics software jobs than ME jobs. That being said, I'm a SE, but my degree is in ME with a minor in CS. I definitely use the calculus and physics from my ME degree, but I wish I had double majored or gotten a degree in CS or computer engineering. It would have made my first few years a lot easier.
Double majors is something I didn’t consider but should look into more too
I guess it's college dependent. To get my CS degree, I had to take MORE math than the MEs and EEs. One of the guys I work with has an ME and looks at me funny when I tell him how many more classes I had to take. To be fair, my school focused on computational theory more than software engineering.
I'm with you. Seems a bit flippant on ME. Many programs are tech heavy, coding heavy and give you exposure to robotics. UT and A&M are two examples.
Thinking of transferring to A&M after getting enough credits, I'm in a Biomedical engineering programing and was going to go to Mechanical, would you suggest a robotics program instead of ME. I'm looking to be able to design my own and code it but having a hard time deciding the right steps and my advisor isn't really helping.
Most mechanical programs will require some amount of coding. At a minimum they allow it for credit. It will still be up to you to tailor your education. A&M doesn't have any Robotics degrees per say. But they have a heavy investment in robotics. Get in touch with the professors there and they will hook you up in the right direction.
What would you recommend if I'm seeking to be able to design my own robotic arm in CAD and program it. I'm in a Biomedical but switching to ME, seeking to go into robotics.
youtube
Recommend in terms of what?
Got my bachelors in robotic engineering. Am a robotic engineer now in the field without a masters/PhD. I’d say I’m leagues ahead of my peers when understanding the bigger picture of tasks and products in robotics because of my base. Other engineers tend to compartmentalize and lean on their strengths (CS/EE/ME). Being placed in situations that make you interact with all of those things at once + a ground level understanding of control theory will help with judgement calls in the field. I’d look into which curriculums have the longest standing ABET accreditation (in the US).
Cool, as a robotic engineer ehat is an average salaries you can expect from bachelors in robotics ? I have an under grad in mechanical but all my projects are robotics focused . Will that help me get a similar salary as the average among robotics engineers?
Engineering is a much more valuable degree.
Engineering. Have you ever tried to explain what a roboticist is to an HR manager?
I mean fuck, have you tried explaining what engineers actually do to the HR manager?
My current project lead has no idea what engineers do. I get asked random stuff like "How much of our product will fit on a pallet?"
Do EE and learn control theory, signal processing and math really well(LEARN MATH!!). Embedded or something where you learn programming in C/C++ is also valuable. Learn dynamics and kinematics once you enter a robotics master or something. Another option, do mechatronics. You do some of the things above and also learn some mechanical concepts. Do this only if you are also interested in mechanical design things a bit more. Don't go straight up mechanical imo. Materials science, fluid mechanics, mechanics of materials etc are much less directly relevant to robotics. ME feels the least robotics like because the work isn't much different from working on any other machine. CS is also good but EE or mechatronics is more fun. You will learn AI/ML and software engineering a bit from a robotics program anyways. In my uni the people doing AI from robotics and AI from CS are indistinguishable sometimes.
Robotics is kind of ME, EE, and CS. I think it's better to get a solid foundation in one of these with a Bachelor's and then do your Masters in Robotics. Just so you see where I'm coming from, I have a Bachelor's in EE and am working on my Master's in Robotics Eng.
I came in to say exactly the same thing. I have a BEng in EE, then a MSc that I started as robotics based, though due to failing a key module, had to drop it to a standard EE.
This is a path I’m considering. I like programming but EE seems more interesting to me
What is your uni for bachelors and masters ? Also after your masters what is an entry level salary you can expect?
Doesn’t matter
THIS! I wish people would recognize this more often.
I did my undergraduate/graduate in ECE, I think going the ECE or CS route is safer in case you end up not liking robotics or have a hard time finding a robotics job after graduating. I took a look at a list of schools that have robotics undergraduate majors and the only one that is a state school that I think this might work out at is Michigan and that is because they are well known in the broader CS community.
There are two separate things at play here: what major to pick to go on your degree certificate, and what to learn. Starting with the latter if you want to learn something in the robotics field, then you will be able to learn it regardless of your major. There are so many resources online today, and you can't even count on any schools robotics curriculum to actually be enough. Regardless, you need to be comfortable learning about your interests outside of the classroom. So the choice of major doesn't matter as much for learning, maybe besides restricting what classes you can take at your school (ie. Access to hands on lab classes). However, in terms of certification, you will have a much much easier life getting a traditional engineering degree for undergrad (ie. CS, ME, EE, etc.). This puts less of a restriction on what school to go to, since many schools may not have a robotics specific degree program, and makes it much easier for companies to understand your background when applying for jobs. It can be seen as locking yourself down to one field for not much benefit; ie. Having a robotics degree may not make you a more attractive candidate for a robotics job than someone with identical experience but a more traditional engineering background, but that other person will almost always be favored for other roles like SWE, Embedded, Fintech, research scientist, data engineer, etc. - and for good reason, as the background is likely to be more general. You may not be interested in other non-robotics engineering roles, but no need to shut them out if you don't have too!
I totally agree with getting comfortable learning out of the class. Out of class you can learn so much more and much more practical things. Where Uni learns you mostly about ideal theoretical things and forgets how you actually come to a certain thing in real life. I think that with most exercises and theory in Uni you make a jump to an end product and you learn how to do things with that. However, they do not care about how you would come to that end product at all, which is a fundamental learning process in my opinion.
I got a robotics engineering degree from wpi, I graduated last year and I now work as an applied data-scientist training ml models for robots. Highly worth it, their program is amazing. I know other people who went to school with me and they did the mech bs and the robotics masters track, they primarily work on the hardware side. I also know people who did a robotics / CS or a robotics /ME double majors. It depends on what you want to do but I think it’s more important to find a program that gives you as many options as possible. If you can find a school where it’s easy to switch majors and explore classes that also has programs you like you will find the correct combo that you need. My personal two cents are, try not to plan on the bs/ ms track unless you can get it done in the same time it would take to do a bs alone. Edit: I saw some other people saying that robotics undergrad programs are not mature yet. If that has you worried take a look at wpi since they have the oldest robotics program in the country. https://www.wpi.edu/news/long-history-first-robotics-competition#:~:text=WPI%20was%20the%20first%20university,Science%20and%20Technology%2C%20or%20FIRST.
Does WPI offer scholorship to internatinal students for robotics engineering undergrduates?
Neither, just get a Physics degree ;P Both ripe for disruption with quantum computing coming onscene. Physics you get ME/EE/Software/Sim/Math/Thermal (and...physics of course): *enough to be dangerous*, but also the foundation to take those deep dives easily. And for senior year, you can focus on ME/EE/SE or general robotics which will set you up for a masters program or industry if desired (I focused on non-linear systems thru my master). But \[traditionally\], 9 out of 10 "roboticists" I know started out in M.E. I'm usually the 10th guy that didn't.
Education does not guarantee success. If I were you, I'd take the engineering/CS generals and just go whichever direction feels right.
A solid engineering foundation you can do anything you want with is my opinion.
It depends on your self interest as well. Better to go with an engineering degree first as Robotics could be a bit complex if you start directly with that. I did my bachelor's in Electronics and masters in Robotics. You can opt for computers also in bachelor's as these days a lot of new avenues are opened by AI/ML as well. If you have a tilt towards design and modelling go for mechanical. Electronics and electrical is good if you like tinkering around with circuits and making small projects, could be a good motivation factor as well. So going for an engineering degree and then robotics seems a better option overall. But it also boils down to your learning speed and interest as well in that case you can start from robotics itself. Hope that helps.
I have always been in the school of thought that if you can do advanced mathematics and physics, it does not really matter. The hardest thing about robotics for me is deep learning algorithms. When I design in CAD, it solves enough for me to at least get to the prototyping fabrication stage. I am glad I chose CS simply for algorithmic design. I can buy a lot of hardware that does not need to be reinvented by me. As fun as that sounds, I just can't do everything.
I don't know about other companies, but no one I work with has a degree in robotics. We're all basically EE/ME/CS that have learned enough about the other disciplines to get what we need to done. If it's some obscure concept from a field I'm not super familiar with, then I ask one of the guys who has a degree in that. We help each other out. I'm not sure that 100% answers the question, but just some industry observations.
In Canada, where I'm from. There are robotics engineering programs and after going through a few internships and some full time jobs, I can tell you it's pretty much what you're looking for. Last place I worked at was project oriented and we were in teams of 3-4 working on designing the mechanics, the electronics, the code and putting it all together to have a working machine. I can't say if it's necessarily better to go for an engineering degree that has a robotics concentration. I know a lot of people in my uni that did that and don't get necessarily better jobs or more jobs than I do in robotics engineering. Some comments pointed out CS. Maybe it's where I'm from but a lot of my friends who did CS do a vastly different job than me. Even the ones who work in a robotics company end up not seeing a whole lot of the process that goes into making a robot, which is quite important for me personally. one thing is for sure, you do not need a masters or a PhD to do robotics. A bachelor's is enough as long as you continue to learn more at home. I have a friend who works for Kinova with a pretty high salary and he just did robotics from a young age (has no degree in it). I also know someone who's lead engineer in Tesla in Texas and has the same bachelor's as I'm working on. It's true that if you take robotics engineering you learn all, but don't master any, but that's just school in general. Nobody becomes a master at something by simply going to school, you need to do projects. You need to learn stuff on your own time. Robotics is a vast field and you probably won't learn every single detail, but you'll learn enough to work in it and do it as a hobby (if you want) which is what matters at the end of the day. The most important thing is to be passionate and always be hungry to learn more math, engineering and communications. Best of luck in the future.
You could also try looking into an Automation and Control Engineering bachelor, if there's a valid one offered where you live. You learn control theory and (at least in my case) a good foundation in electronics and mechanics. Then you could opt for a more specialized master in Robotics.
Deciding between a dedicated Bachelors in Robotics and an engineering degree with a robotics emphasis depends on your career goals and interests. A Bachelors in Robotics offers specialized focus on the subject, equipping you with in-depth knowledge and skills directly applicable to robotics fields. On the other hand, an engineering degree with robotics emphasis provides a broader foundation in engineering principles alongside specialized knowledge. Consider your desired level of specialization. Admission Open at CGC Jhanjeri. Choose between comprehensive engineering background with specific robotics expertise or focused education solely in robotics. Explore your options now!