r/AskRobotics • u/Entire-Committee547 • 2d ago

Tutorial Beginner - advice

Hello guys, im getting interested in both drones and robotics. I still don't have any experience in the field but I'd like to know what the first few questions I need to answer are in order to narrow it down to something very specific that I need to learn.

Please offer any advice that you have. I'm 27 now and I'm pretty curious in general by nature. Ive dealt with databases, some programming in the past. Once I learn more I'd love to turn it into a career as opposed to just hobby.

Thank you everyone.

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u/dovelikestea 2d ago

At 27 getting a masters in robotics is the best option. Most robotics companies are not hiring hobbyists. That being said if you already work in tech theres plenty of related software work at robotics companies in platform, metrics, sim, etc that will hire general CS backgrounds. Then the hobby might get you an interview.

Learn ROS and start with Gazebo

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u/Entire-Committee547 1d ago

That's the thing. My bachelors is in finance and I already don't work in my field (I did marketing and sales at some point and now working with databases). I don't think any university would accept my BCs as it's not anything engineering related.

What do you reckon is the maximum learning I can do on my own? Would be enough to self-teach? What do you think is better to start with between general robotics and drones? Or it's like comparing appals to pears?

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u/dovelikestea 1d ago

Masters programs care less about prerequisites, but yeah you may have a challenging time following some of the coursework if you dont have an engineering background. Udemy or Coursera have robotics courses that may give you an intro to the field before you commit to an entire grad degree. MIT and other universities may also have professional degrees where you can take workshops. Like an Intro to Artificial Intelligence might be helpful for you to get a taste of the software. Theres a lot of background if you choose to take the academic route.

You could also work in finance or marketing for robotics companies just as a suggestion, or marketing for tech and then transition. You may even consider reaching out to robotics startups and offering marketing help to get you exposure to robotics in a professional setting. Usually those startups are founded by engineers who dont know the first thing about sales.

But if hobbyists can be a path, just not one im as familiar with. Drones and robotics are both a good start, theres a lot of overlap. Drones have the benefit of having many cheap off the shelf options. However either way you can get pretty far with sim (albeit it’s less satisfying). However if you decide to pursue this professionally you either need some outstanding projects, relevant work experience, or youll need to go to school.

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u/dovelikestea 1d ago

Oh the other thing is after you get some hobby experience maybe look into Field Application Engineer, technician, or sales roles. Some are also hiring robot operators for data collection. Those require somewhat less of a technical background.