Also called: Robot Foundation Model Engineer, Embodied AI Engineer
Trains robots to learn new skills from demonstrations and data instead of hand-written code.
You collect hundreds of examples of a robot folding laundry, train a neural network on them, and watch it try on its own. When it drops a sock, you figure out why and what data to add.
Humanoid and AI robotics startups pay at the top.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Master's or PhD in robotics, computer science or mechanical engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing much faster than average. One of the hottest areas in robotics.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI coding tools speed experiments, and the field is booming; designing training methods and testing on real robots stay human.
Classes: AP Computer Science, AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Physics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2199.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.