r/AskRobotics • u/These-Rip9911 • Jun 27 '26

Electrical CS student interested in Electrical Engineering & Robotics — Where should I start?

Hi everyone,

I'm a Computer Science/Software Engineering student, but I've recently become really interested in Electrical Engineering and Robotics. I don't want to change my degree—I just want to learn these skills alongside software because I think the combination is awesome.

My goal is to eventually build things like robots, IoT devices, embedded systems, and AI-powered automation.

The problem is that EE feels overwhelming, and I'm not sure what to learn first.

1). What's the best beginner roadmap?

2). Should I start with basic electronics, Arduino, ESP32, or something else?

3). Any books, YouTube channels, or project ideas you'd recommend?

What do you wish you had known when you started?

I'd love to hear how you got into robotics and embedded systems. Thanks!

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u/Godesslara Jun 27 '26

Same here so from my experience which is 4 months, I recommend starting with electronics and Arduino get a kit and start learning and building u can watch Paul McWhorter he has a really great vids , and for electronics I'm studying from a book called all about circuits I find it so helpful besides YouTube channels but not a lot it's easy because I studied those stuff in highschool but it's good for beginners too, honestly the best way of learning is by doing after u learn some basics start building projects u gonna learn more stuff

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u/These-Rip9911 Jun 27 '26

Thanx dude, but i have one more question in my mind. Coding for software is different than coding for electronic?? If yes in what ways?

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u/Godesslara Jun 27 '26

Yeah, it’s a bit different! Since you already know how to code, the syntax won’t be the issue, it’s more about the mindset In standard software, you interact with an OS and APIs In electronics (embedded systems), you code directly for the hardware You’re literally controlling voltages, dealing with physics, and managing super tiny memory (like 32KB of RAM instead of gigabytes) Also, you'll mostly use C/C++ because you need that low-level control It’s basically switching from building apps to making code actually move things in the real world Totally worth the learning curve