Even a few decades ago, robots like HAL 90000 or Rosie the Robot were the stuff of futuristic fantasy only. But Artificial Intelligence and robotics have really come into their own today and the stunning machines frolicked in sci-fi movies have started to infiltrate human lives, making us feel like the future is here!
But what is robotic engineering, and how can you hit your target of becoming a successful robotics engineer? To learn more about the duties and requirements of this role, read on.
What is Robotic Engineering?
Robotics engineering is an interdisciplinary sector of advanced engineering and technology that centers on designing and constructing machines to mimic human actions.
A robotics engineer builds robot structures and designs robot algorithms and software that enable these machines to interact with the surrounding physical environment and objects and respond accordingly.
Robots can operate autonomously or semi-autonomously, having intelligent capabilities to streamline, and automate repetitive or dangerous tasks and help industries dealing mainly with mining, product manufacturing, mining, automation, and more.
Today’s modern robots are a blend of some degree of sophisticated AI and robotics that make them more intelligent with a wide range of capabilities, including interaction with humans, presenting facial expressions, etc., than non-AI ones.
Robotic engineering is a link between electronics, mechanical engineering, computer science, cognitive psychology, complex locomotion, and AI.
What Does a Robotic Engineer Do?
The roles of a robotic engineer can be highly dynamic based on the job requirements. However, the core responsibilities include:
- Analysis: The purposes of robot building are many – they can assist in surgeries, automate the report delivery process, handle repetitive tasks, explore the space, and the list goes on. Thus the prior responsibility of a robotics engineer is to determine and analyse what specific activity the robot is to execute and ensure its proper functioning. For instance, what should be the specialties? What environmental condition will the robot operate in? Will it have to navigate around a surface, and how will it cope with the obstacles encountered in the dynamic unstructured environment? How to power the machine in its deployment location? Before putting his hands on the project, a roboticist must find the answers and solutions to these issues.
- Design, Construction, and Testing: Robotics engineers usually rely on CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacture) or CAD (3D Computer-Aided Design) software to design and construct robots – they can better visualise the 3D robotic models from multiple viewpoints, design right down to the circuit level and make adjustments if required. Once the design is finalised, it can be simulated and verified using CAE (Computer-Aided Engineer) tools like Matlab.
- Maintenance: Though robot technicians are responsible for installing, maintaining, servicing, collecting diagnostic data, troubleshooting, and repairing robots to keep them working optimally, robotics engineers may also have to double up as technicians sometimes. However, engineers are more likely to handle complex maintenance and repair tasks like performing in-depth analytics on diagnostic information consolidated by the technicians.
- Programming: There is no magic bullet answer to what programming language a robotics engineer must excel in. However, RobotIQ indicates that advanced industrial robot machines work based on proprietary programming languages. Some widely used high-level robot languages are KRL (KUKA), JBI (Motoman), RAPID (ABB), and Karel (Fanuc) and each manufacturer uses a unique coding language. So, while operating machines from different manufacturers, a roboticist may have to deal with multiple programming languages and algorithms. As high-level robot programming relies on highly intricate and sophisticated Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, having thorough knowledge about AI and ML is crucial.
Must-have Robotics Engineer Skills
Robotics engineering is a highly competitive job sector that requires candidates to have some standard hard and soft skill sets, including:
- Communication: An proficient robotics engineer does not only master programming but is also a good listener and communicator. As robotics requires specialists from different disciplines on one single glass pane, a roboticist often has to deal with non-specialists and explain robotics concepts to them. For instance, to facilitate robot design and skeleton construction, he may need to explain advanced coding to a mechanical engineer or present thorough reports, diagnostics, etc., to stakeholders and investors. So how can you excel in the robotics field unless you have excellent communication skills?
- Technology Design Skill: As robotics is a multidisciplinary field with diverse opportunities and involves cutting-edge technologies, having top-notch technology design skills is a must-have for a roboticist. So you should know how to select the most relevant material, actuators, sensors, control system, battery, and other optional components and design a robot system that really functions efficiently.
Complex Problem Solving: Designing and constructing a robot is undoubtedly an impressive technical skill, but it is just as essential to be able to efficiently identify the flaws in your designed system and give proactive and realistic solutions to ensure the machine is fully-functioning. For instance, for mechanical issues, while you have to possess top-notch repairing skills, you should also know how to identify bugs or errors in codes. Once you diagnose the problem, as a roboticist, you have to often go through a trial and error process to implement your problem-solving skill to get a quick yet pragmatic solution.
