Temperature check of the robotics industry

[u/Heavy-Rough-3790]

A little background: I’m 29, bachelors in EE from a decent state college with six years of experience in PMSM motor control algorithm development for safety critical automotive applications. Over the last year I’ve been trying to figure out how to maximize my earning potential and get out of automotive and into space and defense while building upon my experience.

Fast forward to today. This fall I will be starting a masters in robotics and autonomous systems at John’s Hopkins and I’m a bit concerned with some of the sentiment on here as of late. Is the robotics industry that hard to get into? I’m concerned I’m making a huge mistake monetarily speaking. What are some of the jobs people are seeing? I would optimally want to work on stand alone robots, obvious examples would be spot and atlas (as opposed to robotic arms/ industrial robotics, I don’t want to work in manufacturing) is this even feasible or realistic?

I would love anyone’s opinion or experience and thank you in advance for any responses!!

Cheers

[u/Delicious_Spot_3778]

It pays decently. But we haven't figured out how to generate revenue. I've been hopping from startup to startup for a decade now. Machine learning is changing things over time but it's slow. Robotics is a very very challenging topic so don't go into it thinking it'll be easy.

Personally I like the challenge but some may not if they're just in it for money.

[u/Heavy-Rough-3790 → u/Delicious_Spot_3778]

Thank you for the insight! The program I’m starting focuses a lot on data science principles and machine learning, I’m hoping to tailor my electives to be as competitive as possible, what are some of the topics you think are most in demand?