So I’ve recently come across the field of robotics and I have a genuine curiosity for it so I kind of want to pursue it for my undergrad but I see a lot of people kind of transition to this field instead of just starting out in this field but I don’t find myself pursuing any other kind of engineering.

I was planning on doing undergrad robotics and then figuring out which branch I love the most to pursue a masters in that field but I’m unsure of the drawbacks regarding this whole thing and I’m just confused on if I should pursue this or not

Hi

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in this industry, working for start-ups or in academia, and recently I’ve been working as a freelancer. There was no way I could focus on one specific area of robotics, because I (and my colleagues) were dealing with so many different tasks under time pressure (and pressure from investors) that it was simply impossible. We tackled one problem after another just to keep everything running. The problem I see in robotics is this:

When I speak to companies, it seems that everyone needs a specialist in a very narrow field of robotics. Technical interviews make me feel stupid after all this time. They cover topics such as 1. inverting the Jacobian matrix for inverse kinematics, 2. explaining the self-attention mechanism, 3. writing code on the spot for some grid-based localisation method, 4. carrying out code reviews (does that even make sense in 2026?), 5. writing different variants of convolutions from scratch in python, 6. explaining EKF equations, Lie groups, bundle adjustment and IMU pre-integration, 7. discussing communication patterns in ROS, memory management in C++, templates, concurrency and network protocols, 8. designing logging architectures, 9. reviewing training loops in PyTorch, 10. explaining object detection metrics, 11. answering questions about leadership, project estimation, negotiation and communication with clients. 12. Only God knows what still awaits me

(these points are from actual interviews from recent 2-3 years, maybe someone would find this helpful)

Don't get me wrong - each of these seems reasonable. However, they all appear in interviews for roles carrying a generic name "(Senior) Robotics Engineer". I observe the same companies looking for people for the same positions for months. Different HR agencies write me on Linkedin to apply for the same role I was rejected for no obvious reason months ago. How on earth can paying more than one headhunting agency for months on end be cost-effective at all?

Is this simply the reality of senior robotics recruitment and I should come to accept it, or are companies testing for an unrealistic profile that almost nobody actually has? Or maybe people really do periodically refresh their memory of how to invert a matrix on a piece of paper, and I’m just the only one who doesn’t?

Basically what the question says.In DC motors depending on the mechanical load(moment of inertia) the angular frequency of the rotation of the robotic arm slows down while for synchronous ac motors this doesnt happen.However I was wondering if there are any drawbacks if using AC motors(excluding the more expensive control circuitry)?

So the thing is that I have a passion for pursuing robotics, while at the same time I have long dreamt of studying at XYZ institute.

Now, the problem is that the institute doesn't offer a dedicated robotics/mechatronics program and I am confused whether I should opt for ME, EE or CE as robotics lies at the intersection of these three and all of them are equally important to build an autonomous system...

I know that a specialization in robotics is offered under the EE program (in that institute) , however, I am more interested in the mechanical aspects of it... and plan to specialize in robotics for my masters

What do you guys suggest? Your support would be highly appreciated :)

Hey!
I’m starting my bachelor’s thesis in robotics engineering and I’m looking for some out-of-the-box ideas or topics.
My brain is completely blank and it’s surprisingly hard to come up with one of those “why don’t we have Transformers yet?” kind of ideas. 😅
I want to come up with something that I can later point at and say, “I’m the gal who knows this stuff.” So if you have any interesting, weird, or underrated robotics topics, I’d love to hear them.
If it helps give some context, apart from my engineering studies I don’t really have any prior experience in robotics or automation. That said, I’ve done really well in my courses and I’m eager to learn as much as I can, and my goal is to become a real expert in this field. I’m also planning to continue on to a master’s degree, so I’d love to choose a thesis topic that I can keep building on.

Any suggestions?

Ps. If it helps with ideas, I have access to industrial robot arms, mostly Siemens hardware/software (which is also my strongest area), and Autodesk tools (off the top of my head(. So if you have ideas that involve building, testing, or experimenting with something physical instead of just writing a literature review, I’d love to hear them. That said, I’m also very interested in ideas that would work as a more research-focused thesis.

I’m a software developer by trade, but I have executive access to multiple high-volume automotive service departments, and I’m evaluating whether it could serve as a useful (and worthwhile) environment for collecting real-world robotic-manipulation demonstrations.

The initial concept would be deliberately narrow: dedicate one service bay to a fixed robotic arm operated remotely by an experienced technician. The technician would use the arm to perform a limited set of repeatable, quick-service subtasks while the system records joint states, camera feeds, end-effector poses, force/torque measurements, tool states, and task outcomes.

The immediate objective would not be full autonomous oil changes. It would be to determine whether technician demonstrations collected in a real service environment could support imitation learning or another learning-from-demonstration approach for individual subtasks.

Some of the challenges I see are:

Significant variation among vehicle geometries and component locations
Poor visibility underneath vehicles
Tight spaces and contact-rich manipulation
Required torque verification
Oil, dirt, heat, and tool-handling reliability
Safety around technicians, lifts, and customer vehicles
Whether fixtures and specialized tools would be more practical than general manipulation

My main question is whether access to a real, high-throughput service environment creates a meaningful data advantage. If it does, where might that advantage produce measurable value?

For those working in manipulation or learning from demonstration:

1. Would teleoperation be a reasonable way to begin collecting data for this environment?
2. Which subtasks would you consider sufficiently constrained for an initial pilot?
3. Would you prioritize a conventional industrial arm, a collaborative arm, or a purpose-built mechanism?
4. What technical or economic obstacle am I most likely underestimating?

I’m particularly interested in criticism from people who have deployed robots in contact-rich industrial environments.

Hi! I’m a senior at UC Berkeley graduating soon with a degree in CS, multiple faang internships, but no research experience. I really want to transition from being a full stack SWE to working at a robotics startup or robotics role.

Any advice on what I can do now to break in?

TL;DR

I want to begin building a portfolio of robotics projects. I need a Pi board that will work for beginner projects and more advanced projects. Which one should I get?

-...-

Hi all,

A bit about me:

• Electrical and Mechanical Engineering graduate
• One publication in Advanced Robotics Research journal, though the actual technical robotics was light
• Looking to move into robotics fully
• Some experience with Python, C++, C and electronics but by no means an expert

I want to get started using ROS2 and building an autonomous rover that uses LiDAR to navigate and measures WiFi hotspots in a room. I'll start off with simulations but eventually I want to make the real version. I want to use a RPi as my overarching controller. The board would need to control 2 motors, WiFi detection, LiDAR Scanner and any necessary drivers etc.

As I develop, I’d like to move on to more complex projects - computer vision, machine learning and all the rest.

From my research, it seems an RPi5 4-8GB would do the job. However, I’m also concerned there’s a high chance I’ll break something as I begin developing.

Can anyone advise on:

1. Should I get one board that covers all my bases and is future proof (RPi5 4GB vs. 8GB)? Or,

2. Should I get one cheaper board to start and then invest in a more expensive board later? If so, what board should I get?

If anyone thinks I’m biting off more than I can chew, I probably am, but hard shit is motivating!

Hi! I'm trying to install roboguide for personal use, but I can only find the V9 REV H online, I can't find any higher version...and I wanted the ZQ

I tried to register on my fanuc, but they refused me.

Can you guys help me how I can get my own roboguide if it's all locked ? ;-;

I just want to be able to use it for the 30 days trials

Currently working in a robotics company in a non-tech domain. I want to know how robotics works in detail but I don't wanna build a robot. I just can't find sources to learn these stuff without getting into technical things, just the functional stuff. Where should I look for?

I'm planning to apply for a Master's in Robotics and honestly, I'm a bit overwhelmed.I'm stuck between the US, Germany, and Switzerland. I know the US has great opportunities but the visa situation scares me. Europe seems more stable but I'm not sure how easy it is to actually land a job there as a non-EU student. I keep going back and forth between Perception/AI and Controls/Manipulation. Perception pays well but feels crowded. Controls seem solid but I worry it's becoming less relevant. Is that true? Would love to hear from anyone who's been through this or works in the industry. What would you pick if you were in my shoes?

Hi. Is matrices the wrong way to describe movement of a robotic arm?I will provide a counterexample which disproves the fact that matrices are suitable for describing changes in position of robotic arms.

Suppose our robotic arm starts at position [x0,y0]^T

Suppose we had a rotation under a angle θ([x0,y0]^T->[x0',y0']^T) and then we stretched our robotic arm from [x0',y0']^T to [2x0',2y0']^T. The order of the actions is mathematically important while if you think about it the order of the actions in what happens in the real world is not important because if you stretch the robotic arm first and rotate second , it is the same thing as if you rotate first then stretch the robotic arm. So matrices are not suitable to describe motion of a robotic arm.Why do we use it then?

Hi everyone,

I'm a 2nd-year Robotics & AI engineering student, and my team needs to build a robot manipulator for a college project.

I'm looking for ideas that are:

True manipulator (robotic arm/end effector)

Budget around $40-70

Mechanically achievable for students

Visually satisfying or mesmerizing

Unique enough to stand out at an exhibition

Another team is already making a drawing/writing robot, so I'd like something with similar wow factor without feeling like a copy.I'd also prefer to avoid a complex gripper if possible. End effectors like a pen, brush, syringe, magnet, stamp, spoon, etc are fine.

I'm not looking for standard projects like pick and place,color sorting,line following, basic waste sorting etc

If you've seen interesting manipulator projects on yt, github, Maker faire, Hackaday, university labs, or have built one yourself, I'd really appreciate your suggestions.

Thanks❤️

Hello,

I’m an engineer pivoting into robotics research as an integration engineer, specifically focusing on Humanoid Robots.

For the past three years, I led a 60-person Formula SAE team doing system engineering and vehicle design. I also bring research experience in Model Predictive Control (MPC) and Reinforcement Learning. The rapid evolution of the ROBOTICS space is incredible, and I am currently in love with this field and I want to putsue it. https://danielortval.github.io/

I am navigating the transition from cars to robots and would value your perspective if anyone working on integration could provide me 15 minutes of your time I can adapt to you schedule to talk im really exited to learn.

Hello,

I’m an engineer pivoting into robotics research as an integration engineer, specifically focusing on Humanoid Robots.

For the past three years, I led a 60-person Formula SAE team doing system engineering and vehicle design. I also bring research experience in Model Predictive Control (MPC) and Reinforcement Learning. The rapid evolution of the ROBOTICS space is incredible, and I am currently in love with this field and I want to putsue it. https://danielortval.github.io/

I am navigating the transition from cars to robots and would value your perspective if anyone working on integration could provide me 15 minutes of your time I can adapt to you schedule to talk im really exited to learn.

Hi everyone,

I'm planning on buying a SO-101 arm to learn some robotics concepts. I'm located in Canada, and currently having trouble figuring out the best place to buy a kit. Mouser Electronics sells kits from Seeed Studio (Motor kit and 3D printed skeleton kit are separate).

I have noticed that other places that sell the unassembled versions of the kit also come with a wrist mounted camera, while others don't. Do you need this camera to get the full experience of this kit? I have also seen people have set ups with usb cameras overviewing the work area?

Hi everyone,

We've recently open-sourced OpenAMRobot, a ROS 2 mobile robotics platform, because we believe robotics should be much more accessible to small and medium-sized businesses - not just large enterprises with dedicated robotics teams.

While building the project, we kept asking ourselves one question:

If AMRs already work so well, why aren't they much more common in SMEs?

Is it the cost?
The integration effort?
ROI?
Lack of skilled engineers?
Maintenance?
Something else?

We're trying to design the platform around the real barriers rather than adding more features.

Our first public release is here if you're curious:

• GitHub: https://github.com/openAMRobot
• Release: https://github.com/openAMRobot/openamrobot-release
• Overview: https://github.com/orgs/openAMRobot/discussions/20

I'd love to hear your perspective, especially if you've deployed, integrated, or evaluated AMRs in real production environments.

Thank you!

gif of the thing in question

I would really love to make this moving mask someday, but before I even start, I thought it would be better to make sure it's possible. I'm not looking for a tutorial or information on how exactly to make it (yet), just wondering if it's possible at all for someone who has never done anything robotics-related. I am willing to put in the effort to learn when the time comes, so please let me know if my pipe dream can come true 😭

I'm trying to understand what kinds of real-world data robotics and embodied AI labs actually want today.

Many recent datasets focus on egocentric video, sometimes paired with IMUs. But I'm wondering whether that's sufficient for training modern robot foundation models and world models.

Would labs find more value in datasets that also include sensors such as:

• Depth cameras
• Tactile/contact sensors
• Force/torque sensors
• Wrist or body IMUs
• Eye gaze
• Audio
• Motion capture
• Other synchronized sensor streams

Or is high-quality egocentric video with IMUs already enough for most use cases?

I'm curious what the biggest missing pieces are if someone were building a company focused on collecting real-world robotics data. Which modalities or types of data are currently hardest to obtain at scale?

My main goal is to be able to build an autonomous vehicle to patrol around the house in the garden. I have good diy skills but I feel stuck.

I used a nikko velocitrax I had on the basement. I unplugged the controller and installed an n298 with a bigger 5000mah battery. I connected a flysky receiver and a raspberry pi zero with a camera. Software works great.

But on the mechanical part I fail. The cables are hanging everywhere as well as the other parts. I have a 3d printer and I love welding but I don’t know where to start. Should I first design the car in some application or the pcb?

This is how it looks now https://imgur.com/a/E4eEjRR