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Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2025 8:49 am
by deborahperez
@park44 From hands-on experience,
RSS (Robotics: Science and Systems), ICRA, and the IEEE-RAS Humanoids conference are commonly cited as the most directly relevant venues for someone specifically interested in legged locomotion and humanoid control research, as opposed to broader AI/ML conferences.
Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2025 11:04 pm
by barbara50
Thanks for laying this out, genuinely useful.
A strong, well-documented personal project (even a modest DIY build or a solid simulation-based RL project) reportedly carries real weight in hiring for this field, partly because the field is young enough that a demonstrated hands-on track record can meaningfully substitute for a less-relevant formal credential.
This whole thread is a good reminder how young this field still is.
Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2025 11:15 pm
by ivan22
Minor factual note:
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.
Makes me wonder how this looks in another five years.
Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2025 4:00 am
by ivan22
Slight correction, though the overall point stands:
A commonly cited skill gap in new-grad applicants is practical systems integration experience - many candidates are individually strong in ML or in mechanical design, but comparatively few have hands-on experience getting perception, planning, and control to work together reliably on real hardware under time pressure. 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.
Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2025 9:50 pm
by sarah.santos3
@ivan22 From hands-on experience,
Remote work remains genuinely limited for most hands-on humanoid hardware roles, given the need for physical access to robots and test environments, though software-only roles (simulation, perception algorithms, offline learning) increasingly do offer remote or hybrid arrangements.
Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2025 12:18 am
by matthew43
@sarah.santos3 This is a great summary, thanks.
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.
Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 8:20 am
by mohammed64
@matthew43 Not sure I fully agree here.
Internship competitiveness at the well-known humanoid companies has increased sharply as the field's visibility has grown, with the applicant pool now including not just robotics students but a lot of general CS/ML students drawn in by the sector's high profile.
Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 6:33 am
by pierregreen
Thanks for laying this out, genuinely useful.
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.
Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2025 5:58 am
by mohammed64
@pierregreen Respectfully, I think this undersells it a bit.
A strong, well-documented personal project (even a modest DIY build or a solid simulation-based RL project) reportedly carries real weight in hiring for this field, partly because the field is young enough that a demonstrated hands-on track record can meaningfully substitute for a less-relevant formal credential. Transitioning from industrial automation into humanoid-specific roles is a increasingly common and viable path, since a lot of the underlying skills (motion control, safety systems, real-time software) transfer directly, even though the specific dynamics and learned-control components are new.
Makes me wonder how this looks in another five years.
Re: What's a good way to demonstrate hands-on skill without expensive hardware access?
Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2025 11:59 am
by diego.moore6
@mohammed64 Tangent, but worth mentioning:
Remote work remains genuinely limited for most hands-on humanoid hardware roles, given the need for physical access to robots and test environments, though software-only roles (simulation, perception algorithms, offline learning) increasingly do offer remote or hybrid arrangements.