How to become a robotic engineer

Dear Yousuf,



Happy to see you enthusiastic about robotics, although this field existed from late 1960's, currently it is gaining a lot of momentum. The field is expanding at a very fast pase, and the research that has been going on from last 20-30 years is now showing its effects. Look at Boston Dynamics, the robots they build are a class apart from what used to be earlier.



Now, coming onto crude robotics, any robot that has some sort of moving parts has two systems beneath it which are working together.

1. Hardware

2. Software



Hardware:

It gives the physical characteristic to any robot and it ranges from the internal circuits to the moving mechanical parts, the motors and various sensors etc.



Software:

If you compare a robot in today's date, then the onces that existed 20 years ago from today (say Boston Dynamics ones with Honda Asimo), the software has completely changed. The basics are still the same but the application standpoint has diversed. Today robots are capable of taking there on decisions ( thanks to machine learning, artificial intelligence) etc, and in case you are looking forward to be a good robotics engineer in future, you have to stay build yourself as per the future. Today, robots are not about being able to take your order and do stuff, they have become autonomous.



So, what exactly you need to learn to become good robotics engineer. Here is a list.



1. Mathematics ( A lots of it ), the extremely important parts are linear algebra, probability theory, statistics, calculus.  You need not to byheart the formulas but the application point, and the most important thing, how to use computers to solve all that mathematics.



2. Programming and Problem solving: To be honest, if you have lived in 1950s, you could have made a robot with all hydraulic systems, but in today's world, since computers are becoming smaller and smaller, you have to have a very good programming base. All the inputs from sensors are to be read by something called microcontroller, which is the heart of robotics. You must be able to program a microcontroller to do some task as per your requirement. You will have to practice a lot.



3. Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning: There is a slight difference between both, you can always find about it with a simple Google search. But to have a ball park idea about what it is, it is basically making a machine do all the analysis on its own, enabling it to take it's own decisions at the end. This is what that will bring "autonomity" to that robot of yours.



4. General Awareness: Having knowledge about what is actually going around you. Since your interested in robotics, you have to look onto what are some of the top robotics companies in the world, and what are they actually doing. Read about the research papers published by them, problems they are looking forward to solve etc. Some of the top robotics companies are Kuka, Boston Dynamics, DJI, iRobot, etc. Use Google, search about them, the solutions they are providing, use YouTube, watch their videos.



What are the courses that your should enroll into?

If you are at undergraduate level, go for computer science or electronics degree. It will give the most exposure towards robotics.

If you are a graduate, looking for job, try to contact the companies that are working in the same field. Try to score a internship or job and get your hands dirty. Start learning.

If you are looking for PG degree, search for the college that provide degree in robotics, visit all IITs, IISc, IIIT Hyderabad, Banglore and Delhi's websites look at what they are doing, find a course of your choice and try to enroll into it.

If you are currently in your undergraduate degree, try to enroll in MOOCs online. Find the courses that are mainly focused in this area, and enroll into them and start learning.





Hope this helps.

Hello Yousuf,

To become a robotic engineer, you would need to give entrance exams of engineering. For example JEE, MHT CET if you are from Maharashtra, GUJCET if you are from Gujarat.

Various colleges that offer robotics engineering course in India are as follows:

1. DSCE - Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan College of Engineering in Tamil Nadu offers B.Tech in Robotics and Automation Engineering for 4 years full time .

2. CT University, Ludhiana also offers B.Tech(Hons.) In Robotics and Automation Engineering.

3. Gulzar Group of Institutes in Ludhiana offers same course and accepts JEE Main scores.

4. KL College of Engineering, Guntur -  The college offers B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics(Robotics) Engineering and accepts scores of entrance exams like JEE Main, JEE Advanced, AP EAMCET, KLEEE. The fees is around Rs. 8.10lakhs.

5. Park College of Engineering and Technology(PCET) in Coimbatore offers B.Tech in Robotics and Automation.

6. The Neotia University in Kolkata offers B.Tech in Robotics Engineering and accepts the scores of WBJEE, JEE Main, TNU Entrance Test.The fees is around Rs. 4.42 lakhs.

7. SAGE University accepts SAGE Entrance Test scores for B.Tech in Augomation and Robotics.

8. School of Engineering and Technology, Ansal University in Gurgaon offers B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering (Robotics) and accepts the test scores of JEE Main, AUEEE. The fees is around Rs. 9.35 lakhs.

9. Bharti Vidyapeeth, College of Engineering in Pune offers B.tech in Robotics and Automation and has fees approximately around Rs.4.8 lakhs.

10. MIT Pune offers B.Tech in Robotics and Automation Engineering and accepts scores of JEE Main and MHT CET and has fees around Rs.6.32 lakhs.

11. SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai offers B.Tech in Mechatronics Engineering(Robotics) and accepts the scores of SRMJEE and JEE Main.



I hope that the above information is helpful for you.

All the best...!!!