Robotics Engineer in 1921: Čapek's R.U.R. coins 'robot'

No. Most working robotics engineers hold a degree in mechanical, electrical or computer engineering rather than a dedicated robotics degree, since standalone robotics or mechatronics programs are still fairly new and less common than the core disciplines. A strong hands-on project background — a competition team, a research lab, a personal build — matters as much as the major on the diploma.

What's the difference between robotics and AI? AI is about decision-making — recognizing an object, planning a route, choosing an action — and can run entirely inside a computer. Robotics is about acting on that decision in the physical world: moving a motor precisely, gripping without crushing, staying balanced. A robot usually needs both, but a robotics engineer's distinct expertise is the physical half, the part that fails for reasons no AI model predicts.

Is robotics engineering at risk from AI? Parts of it, yes — perception, motion planning and even some mechanical design exploration are increasingly automated or accelerated by AI tools. What resists automation is physical debugging: figuring out why a real robot behaves differently from its model, and the accountability for a machine that can injure someone if a judgment call is wrong. AI is changing the tools, not yet removing the job.