Anyone changed specialization mid-career (e.g. perception to controls) - how hard was it?
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donna_wata
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- Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2026 5:06 am
Re: Anyone changed specialization mid-career (e.g. perception to controls) - how hard was it?
@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.
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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?
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.
Re: Anyone changed specialization mid-career (e.g. perception to controls) - how hard was it?
@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