Also called: Robot Design Engineer, Robotics Software Engineer
Designs, builds and programs robots for factories, warehouses, farms, hospitals and homes.
You bolt a new gripper onto a robot arm, write code so it picks up odd-shaped boxes, and test it a hundred times. When it drops a box, you figure out whether the problem is the gripper, the camera or your code.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in robotics, mechanical, electrical or computer engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Robotics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science.
Growing faster than average. Not tracked separately by BLS; robotics hiring is growing quickly.
Low risk for 10 years. AI speeds coding and simulation; designing, building and debugging real robots stays human in a growing field.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Computer Science, AP Calculus, Engineering or CAD CTE.
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.