Jobs in the field of robotics are popular as more and more people look to work with robots and the embedded intelligence that is being developed for a variety of electronic devices such as domestic appliances, robotics used in space and the deep sea and cars, those with drivers as well as those without. National defense and the medical field are other areas where robotics are becoming increasingly important.
Robotics Engineer
A robotics engineer is the person responsible for creating and designing robots and robotic systems. He may also be responsible for designing the machines and processes necessary to assemble the robots. Depending on the complexity of the robotic system being invented, he may only end up working on a small handful of them throughout his career. After the device has been created, a robotics engineer’s role with it will change to serving as technical support, responding to fix requests as well as constantly analyzing and evaluating the robotics device to see which ways it can be improved. The work hours can vary quite a bit, depending on any deadlines that may be in place.
Robotics Technician
A robotics technician has duties similar to a robotics engineer, but this individual will be more focused on testing and repairing robotics systems while helping robotics engineers create and design them. Since she would then be thoroughly knowledgeable about the robotics systems that she worked on, she would spend quite a bit of time working with the customers to ensure that the robots are working properly, usually serving as the liaison between the customers and the robotics engineers.
Sales Engineer
Although these individuals are more focused on the sales aspect of robots and robotic products, they need to be exceptionally knowledgeable about them in order to communicate what ways they will benefit those they are selling to. Sales engineers also need to know how to make adjustments to their merchandise to ensure that it meets the expectations made of it. Individuals with this type of robotics job tend to travel quite a bit with about half of their time spent away from home, depending on what they are selling and to whom.
Software Developer
This individual focuses more on developing the software behind the commands sent to the robotics device. The robot’s computer system is pivotal as it essentially provides the brain behind the operation. When a human tells it to do something, whether verbally or by typing in some keystrokes, what the software developer has created inside of it determines how accurately those instructions are carried out. She also ensures that all instructions will be carried out as safely and precisely as possible.
Robotics Operator
Although the idea behind robots and robotics is that they do things that humans cannot do as efficiently, somebody still needs to operate them, whether that involves physically doing something to keep them going or simply overseeing a significant robotics operation to ensure that it continues to operate as intended. Since most robotics are used 24 hours a day, this position would need to be filled by a group of people or by at least having someone on-call on an ongoing basis. If something does go wrong, he would then contact the appropriate robotics salesperson, technician or engineer for assistance if it is not something he can fix himself.
Although some may fear that robots are simply taking away jobs, in this case, they are creating them. Also, many believe that allowing robotics to take care of the “dull, dirty and dangerous work” allows people to focus on “creativity and innovation,” resulting in an improved world as a result of your job in robotics.
