Robotics: Applications, courses and career prospects

By Nitin Deshmukh

Robotics is the upcoming technological disruption and robots are going to be an essential part of the human society. People are looking for new ventures in the field of robotics engineering and companies are investing heavily towards buying other companies.

The field is dynamic and needs expertise from development to maintenance. With the advancements in computer science, electronics and niche areas like AI, robots are gaining popularity across the globe. They are being developed to perform numerous tasks varying from transportation, military, research, services and medical sciences.

With robots being used to perform so many tasks, the professional duty to work in this field too is rising. Some engineers work on designing, others just develop the programs to automate the functionality. However, every robotics engineer are a part of any of - testing, designing, development, troubleshooting, and testing. In India, there are a few which institutes offers courses on robotics. There are several other courses to enter this field like - CAD, CAM, Engineering Graphics, Nano-Technology, Signal Processing, Artificial Intelligence, bio-cybernetics and so on.

Applications

Robotics is a division of engineering. Its base is mainly linked to computer science, electronics and communication and mechanical engineering. Students opting for these specializations can also move into the field of robotics. Because of the versatile usage of this technology, one should not look for only robotics engineering.  Now a days, robotics are finding application in medical science too. Nanotechnology is being used in surgery. Remote controlled robots assists surgeon. Space researchers send robots to places where environment is hostile for humans. Cloud-connected home robots are already becoming part of our lives. We can set up the vacuum cleaner to do the work for us. Multi-function robotic cookers are able to fry, steam, bake, slow cook, and perform any other action without our intervention. We just set them up. These cloud-connected robots are likely to evolve into more advanced version. We expect to see speech comprehension and increased interactions with humans in the upcoming years.

Artificial technology for predicting and detecting crime might seem far-fetched, but it's quite possible for the future we’re looking at. Drone footage, for instance, will make that happen soon. In addition, automatic recognition of suspicious activities is already a reality for camera-based security systems. Students with mastery in his/her own specialization can easily shift to robotics engineering.

Courses

Students can go for 4 year robotics engineering course or one can get into the research field. No doubt IITs are best institutes for engineering. These premier institutes offer Masters (MTech) course in Mechanical Design/Production & Electrical Control/Automation. IIIT-Hyderabad has a research Robotics Research Centre, IIT-Kanpur too has a research programme in Robotics & Automation specialization area. Other institutes offering courses on Robotics:

• The University of Hyderabad offers MTech course in AI
• Osmania University - University College of Engineering, Hyderabad offers masters course in Robotics and Automation
• M.S. University, Baroda offers masters in Automation Control and Robotics
• IIT-BHU offers masters in Production Engineering/Industrial Management Engineering with Robotics and Automation as electives
• BITS-Pilani and Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning Prasanthi Nilayam offers MTech in Computer Science with specialization in artificial intelligence
• PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore offers MTech in Mechanical with robotics as an elective subject
• SRM Institute, Kancheepuram offers MTech in Robotics

Job prospects are brighter for aspiring robotics engineers. India being a developing nation most industries are using robotics mainly for quality improvement and cost-effectiveness. Today chemicals, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverages industry also embraced the technology. Robotics engineers, trainers, programmers, supervisors, and robot operators can now choose from an array of opportunities. Aspirants can also explore opportunities with companies like ISRO, DRDO, and BHEL as robotics specialists. Number of top global firms also take on qualified specialists in the field of robotics.

Future

In the coming days, robotic assistance will be more widely used in medical science, commercial space, domestic chores, security, transportation, distribution, android systems and most other aspects of human life. Immense opportunities are there in robotics but training options are limited, as robotics education is still in nascent stages in India. Being a multidisciplinary arena, it exists as a specialization at the Master’s Level along with more defined disciplines like Mechanical Engineering, Electronics & Communication or Computer Science. Independent courses focusing only on robotics are few in India like other engineering disciplines. One has to wait and watch for more offerings in this from the premier institutions of the country.

Digital Transformation is disrupted in big way across sectors in recent times. Businesses are now moving hand-in-hand with current technology trends and development methodologies. Organisations still working on legacy systems are facing existential issues. Technologies like Artificial Intelligence systems, Robotics, that were until recently largely in academic research labs have suddenly moved into the mainstream. Added to this, over the past year, is the rapid emergence of AI/ML-based solutions in the mainstream enterprise space. And therefore opportunities in robotics engineering will only increase from here.

About the Author:

Nitin Deshmukh is currently working as an ‘Associate Consultant’ with Infosys Ltd. He has a keen interest in capital markets domain and actively trades in equities.