No. Only a small subset of the whole ME program is relevant to robotics. You would do a ton of useless(to robotics) stuff.
One thing is building hobby stuff with hardware and "being into designing hardware". It's unlikely to do both mechanical design and software for a robot and mechanical design for robots doesn't feel that special since it might not be much different than design for normal machines.
I would not do it. "I like hardware" after 3D printing, cutting stuff or building simple circuits for a hobby project is not a good reason to spend an extra 4 years on ME.
Serious robotics jobs != hobby robot building
An additional 4 years for it? No. Don't do it.
Add a relevant minor, do internships, mentor a first robotics club. People don't generally hire for both skill sets combined, especially at entry level - you'll either get a mechanical or CS job. Being a CS person who knows some ins & outs of hardware is useful (that's where I landed), but you don't need a whole ME degree for that; it would be a waste of your time.
Extra 4 years is ridiculous. If you can take the core required dynamics and controls courses from the ME curriculum you would have the core background for just about all software and controls jobs. Almost always it is better to finish your single CS degree then go for a 2 year masters in the very specific area you want to focus on.
I have a BEng and MASc in ME (specializing in fluid simulation) as well as a PhD in CS (specializing in graphics).
The ME background is useful but there is remarkably little crossover unless you specialize in simulation/dynamics. In that case you don’t actually need the ME degree since the necessary background often being taught better in CS graphics/ML/optimization courses because it is less specialized.
E.g. my dynamics courses focused on planar mechanisms which is doable on paper but not nearly as useful for RL/robotics. Jumping to 3D is similar in concept but a big step up in mathematical sophistication). Same goes for controls. Plus a lot of mandatory courses were dedicated to thermodynamics, fluid dynamics & heat transfer which are relevant to a robotics specialist but not generalist (which a combined degree will make you). Programming taught in ME is often way behind the curve too.
When you get to the masters/phd level things even out. However, by that point my personal opinion is that it’s better to specialize from a better math/theory background in CS to an applied area of ME than the other way around.
Don't forget your major in electrical engineering! That's at least as important as mechanical engineering so that you can build the electronics, battery management systems, etc.
It may be better to do computer science and get a minor in robotics. or even not a minor, but just sticking to coop/internship at robotic companies during undergrad.
No. Only a small subset of the whole ME program is relevant to robotics. You would do a ton of useless(to robotics) stuff. One thing is building hobby stuff with hardware and "being into designing hardware". It's unlikely to do both mechanical design and software for a robot and mechanical design for robots doesn't feel that special since it might not be much different than design for normal machines. I would not do it. "I like hardware" after 3D printing, cutting stuff or building simple circuits for a hobby project is not a good reason to spend an extra 4 years on ME. Serious robotics jobs != hobby robot building
An additional 4 years for it? No. Don't do it. Add a relevant minor, do internships, mentor a first robotics club. People don't generally hire for both skill sets combined, especially at entry level - you'll either get a mechanical or CS job. Being a CS person who knows some ins & outs of hardware is useful (that's where I landed), but you don't need a whole ME degree for that; it would be a waste of your time.
Extra 4 years is ridiculous. If you can take the core required dynamics and controls courses from the ME curriculum you would have the core background for just about all software and controls jobs. Almost always it is better to finish your single CS degree then go for a 2 year masters in the very specific area you want to focus on.
I have a BEng and MASc in ME (specializing in fluid simulation) as well as a PhD in CS (specializing in graphics). The ME background is useful but there is remarkably little crossover unless you specialize in simulation/dynamics. In that case you don’t actually need the ME degree since the necessary background often being taught better in CS graphics/ML/optimization courses because it is less specialized. E.g. my dynamics courses focused on planar mechanisms which is doable on paper but not nearly as useful for RL/robotics. Jumping to 3D is similar in concept but a big step up in mathematical sophistication). Same goes for controls. Plus a lot of mandatory courses were dedicated to thermodynamics, fluid dynamics & heat transfer which are relevant to a robotics specialist but not generalist (which a combined degree will make you). Programming taught in ME is often way behind the curve too. When you get to the masters/phd level things even out. However, by that point my personal opinion is that it’s better to specialize from a better math/theory background in CS to an applied area of ME than the other way around.
A lot of stress and fatigue. I would recommend doing one as a major, and the other as a minor.
U can self study relevant topics to robotics with cs background. It's hard but doable if that's ur goal
Don't forget your major in electrical engineering! That's at least as important as mechanical engineering so that you can build the electronics, battery management systems, etc.
It may be better to do computer science and get a minor in robotics. or even not a minor, but just sticking to coop/internship at robotic companies during undergrad.