Anyone changed specialization mid-career (e.g. perception to controls) - how hard was it?

Getting into the field, degree paths, labs, papers, internships, and career/salary discussion.
donna_wata
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2026 5:06 am

Re: Anyone changed specialization mid-career (e.g. perception to controls) - how hard was it?

Post by donna_wata »

@garcia51 From hands-on experience, Active employers hiring specifically for humanoid-relevant roles span both established robotics companies (Shadow Robot, Engineered Arts, PAL Robotics) and the newer venture-funded players (Figure, 1X, Apptronik, Sanctuary AI, Boston Dynamics' electric Atlas program) - each with different team sizes, cultures, and hardware-vs-software emphasis.
lukas.singh1
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri May 29, 2026 11:20 pm

Re: Anyone changed specialization mid-career (e.g. perception to controls) - how hard was it?

Post by lukas.singh1 »

To answer this directly: Active employers hiring specifically for humanoid-relevant roles span both established robotics companies (Shadow Robot, Engineered Arts, PAL Robotics) and the newer venture-funded players (Figure, 1X, Apptronik, Sanctuary AI, Boston Dynamics' electric Atlas program) - each with different team sizes, cultures, and hardware-vs-software emphasis.
nicole57
Posts: 208
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2024 1:29 am

Re: Anyone changed specialization mid-career (e.g. perception to controls) - how hard was it?

Post by nicole57 »

@lukas.singh1 Tangent, but worth mentioning: In the UK, base salaries for robotics roles reportedly range from around £50,000 for new graduates up to roughly £200,000 for senior whole-body-control or reinforcement-learning specialists - a notably wide band reflecting how specialized the top end of the field has become.
she/her | grad student, biped locomotion
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