Fundamental theoretical knowledge and soft skills for a career in robotics

Embarking on a career in robotics undoubtedly demands a spectrum of technical competencies, which you will explore shortly. But first, let’s consider the equally vital theoretical foundations that potential roboticists should nurture.

Theoretical knowledge

The scope of theoretical knowledge in robotics is expansive and might vary based on the niche, role or even the specific job function you’re interested in. Nonetheless, these foundational concepts play an instrumental role in various facets of robotics.

You should aim to master your mathematics and physics. In particular:

• mathematics: make sure you have good foundations in the following branches: algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, probability/statistics
• physics: make sure you have good foundations in the following branches: classical mechanics, optics (if working on developing hardware sensors).

Concepts from these could occur in a single robotic problem. For example, consider a scenario where a robot arm needs to retrieve an item from a fridge. The robot needs to ‘plan its motion’ to successfully complete the task. This is known as the motion planning problem.

A prevalent approach to this is trajectory optimisation, which interprets motion planning through the lens of optimisation. Crafting such algorithms might call upon calculus, differential equations, optimisation techniques, probability, control theory, classical mechanics, and dynamical systems. While the requisites may vary per problem, having a grasp on these subjects will undoubtedly serve you well in robotics.

Again, these are subjective, and you may never use some of these in your career, depending on your particular specialisation. However, this theoretical knowledge could really help in your career as a roboticist as they frequently occur in different problems.

The next step will discuss the technical skills that you need to develop.