The thriving robotics field, growing by leaps and bounds, has inspired many colleges and universities to provide high quality robotics programs. Students have numerous robotics engineering colleges from which to choose. Some schools offer a robotics engineering degree or a type of robotics degree, however many schools offer robotics-related undergraduate and graduate degree programs in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or computer programming.

Robotics serves as the science and technology for the design, manufacturing and application of robots. Robotics, an interdisciplinary field, includes the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer programming.

Robotics professionals develop and apply robotic solutions to a wide range of industrial and consumer issues.

Robotics collaborates artificial intelligence with robots to allow robots to react and respond to their surroundings in real time, without guidance other than computer programming. Companies use robots in arenas, dangerous for humans (such as defusing bombs), however companies increasingly use robots in fields to fill labor roles in manufacturing, complete tasks in healthcare, and serve as receptionists, guides, and helpers. Robots are also utilized for domestic or household use.

A robot is a programmable mechanical device with the ability to perform tasks and interact with its environment, without the aid of human interaction. Robots can sense, compute, and act. Some robots can move around; some robots can manipulate things; whereas some robots can move around and manipulate things. Robotics engineers design some robots to perform specific tasks, whereas some robots can perform many different tasks.

Robotics Colleges Ranking Guidelines

Robotics Career and Job Growth Information

Carnegie Mellon University, a private research university, averages a 13-14% acceptance rate. The university is the fourth largest in Pittsburgh based on number of students.

The school, Andrew Carnegie founded in 1900, has grown to include these colleges: Engineering, Fine Arts, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mellon College of Science, Tepper School of Business, H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy and the School of Computer Science.

US News and World Report ranks Carnegie Mellon University #25 in the United States, and #81 in the world. The School is the best robotics college in the nation.

Carnegie Mellon, entrenched in the world of robotics since 1979 when they opened the Robotics Institute, offers robotics related degree options as an additional major, a minor, a bachelor of science, a master of science, or a PhD program.

Robotics Masters Research Program: Students complete a compilation of course requirements, electives, and supervised research. Students complete a public thesis talk and a Masters thesis document as the capstones of the program.

Graduates of the program can seek a career in the research field with companies such as NASA or Google, or they can continue their studies to a doctorate program. During the program, students gain a broad-level understanding of the robotics field, but they also select a specialization area. Some of the possible selections include Haptics, Human-Robot Interactions, and Machine Learning.

The core learning a student participates in comes from the following divisions: Perception, Cognition, Action, and Math Foundations.

Students can complete the entire program in 24 months.

Robotics degrees: Additional Major in Robotics, Undergraduate Minor in Robotics, PhD and Master of Science in Robotics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) founded in 1861, is a private research university. The school mascot, Tim the Beaver, represents the over 11,000 students who managed to be a part of the 7-8% of accepted applicants.

The School has always emphasized the importance of early laboratory introduction; researchers began working on computers, radar and inertial guidance during World War II and the Cold War.

US News and World Report ranks MIT 7th in the United States and 2nd globally.

While MIT does not offer a specific robotics major, the School offers students a couple of paths to specialize in the field. Students may choose to select Course 2, Mechanical Engineering, as their major. Within this major there are two courses which offer students exposure to the study of Robotics:the Design of Electromechanical Robotic Systems course and the Design and Manufacturing I course which also allows participation in a robotics contest.

Additionally, MIT offers some freshman seminars regarding robotics for example, one within Course 6 (EECS) titled Mens at Manus: Building on the Science Core. Students may also select EECS as their major then choose one of three paths: Electrical Science and Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, or Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Within Course 6, students have many courses around robotics to choose from.

MIT also recognizes a number of Robotics Groups: Perceptual Science Group, DArbeloff Lab: Robotics, and Personal Robotics Group among them.

Robotics degree: Master of Science in Computer Science: Intelligent Robotics

Established in 1740, the University of Pennsylvania, or Penn, is the fourth oldest university in the United States, and the first to offer both graduate and undergraduate studies. The school was one of only nine universities to receive a charter before the American Revolution.

Penn was founded by Benjamin Franklin, and the universitys coat of arms, consisting of a dolphin on the red chief, is modeled after that of the Franklin family.

The University is third behind Harvard and Stanford when it comes to the production of CEO of Fortune 500 companies. Through its rich history, Penn has grown to accommodate a student body of over 21,000.

The University of Pennsylvania offers a General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) laboratory within the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The group was an early adopter of the idea of robotics, getting its start in 1979. Ms. Ruzena Bajcsy, who is now considered a pioneer in the field and still active in the arena, founded the research lab.

Penn claims being a pioneer in the concept of interdisciplinary research in robotics and the strong foundation has only grown now including faculty from Electrical and Systems Engineering, Computer and Information Science, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and the medical school.

Robotics degrees: Master of Science in Robotics and Doctorate on Philosophy focusing on robotics (through either the Computer and Information Science, Electrical and Systems Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics departments within Penn Engineering)

The University of Michigan, a public university established in 1817, has nearly 45,000 students and boasts over 540,000 living alumni. The campus includes nearly 600 major buildings (including the Central Campus, North Campus, two regional campuses and a center in Detroit).

In establishing the University of Michigan Robotics Institute, the university seeks to integrate all disciplines studying robotics to foster collaboration and accelerate robotics research. While this research will take place across campuses, at collaborating universities, at research sites around the world, and even in space, the hub of Michigan Robotics where the next generation of roboticists train will beunder one roof in a new state-of-the-art $75 million facility scheduled for completion in 2020. The University designed the space to serve as collaborative labs and classrooms, with an indoor flight lab for flying autonomous vehicles, an outdoor playground for testing robots, and a partnership with Ford Motor Company, whose employees will share the building with students and faculty.

The University of Michigan Robotics Institute offers both a Masters and a PhD option that look to build robotics applications through the integration of knowledge from across various fields of study.

Michigan Robotics focuses on three main essential disciplines: Sensing the environment, reasoning to make decisions, and acting to produce motion or other outputs. Specific focus areas include: legged locomotion; human-robot interaction; autonomous vehicles; manipulation; cooperative robots; manufacturing; mobile, perception and rehabilitation robots.

Robotics degrees: Master of Science or Doctorate in Robotics

The Georgia Institute of Technology, a public university founded in 1885 and commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, has grown to accommodate a student body of nearly 30,000 individuals.

The university has six colleges, but still has an emphasis on sciences and technology and is well-known for engineering, computing, business administration, sciences, design and liberal arts programs. US News and World Report ranks Georgia Tech 7th among American public universities, 34th of all universities in the United States and 71st globally.

Georgia Tech manages the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines. The Institute serves as an umbrella to cover individuals studying any and all disciplines and who have an interest in robotics. Through the joint venture, the Institute achieves new strengths as inter-disciplinary individuals come together and solve problems with maximum collaboration and creativity.

Georgia Tech offers a robotics degree, a PhD in Robotics, which serves many disciplines, and an undergraduate summer program for underrepresented minorities. The School also has a traineeship program involving healthcare robotics.

Robotics degrees: Master of Science and PhD in Robotics

Stanford University has a total enrollment of over 16,000 students. Leland and Jane Stanford established the University in 1885 in memory of Leland Stanford Junior, their only child. Their son passed away in 1884 of typhoid fever at age 15. Leland Senior served as a California governor and made his fortune through the railroad.

Stanford alumni and faculty have experienced success as entrepreneurs the nearly 40,000 companies they have founded since the 1930s produce nearly $3 trillion in annual revenue, and have created nearly 5.5 million jobs. If those stats were combined into an independent nation and ranked among economies, it would have the 10th largest economy in the world. Some of the companies: Instagram, Nike, Cisco Systems, Capital One, Hewlett-Packard, Netflix and Trader Joes.

Among the graduate studies at Stanford, students interested in robotics can explore the School of Engineeringgraduate program, specializing their research in robotics through either Mechanical Engineering or Computer Science through the Artificial Intelligence research area.

Research facilities include the Stanford Robotics Lab and the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab. Members of the Artificial Intelligence research group have contributed to fields such as computer vision, knowledge systems, decision theory, and bio-information.

Some robotic creations and advancements attributed to Stanford include the Sanford Arm, the Stickybot, OceanOne, flapping robots, Vinebot, and Jack Rabbot.

Robotics programs: Robotics minor, Master of Science through Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics

Harvard University provides undergraduate programs in Applied Mathematics, Bioengineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.

Graduate students focus on one of seven areas during their studies: Applied Mathematics, Applied Physics, Computer Science, Computational Science & Engineering, Data Science, Design Engineering, or Engineering Sciences.

Students and faculty have resources and research opportunities through facilities such as:

Additional research areas include robotic assistance in physical therapy, rescue robots that can respond to natural or man-made disasters, bio-inspired robotics, the automation of manufacturing and shipping with robotic technology, and more.

Robotics related degrees: BS or MS in Electrical and Systems Engineering, BS or MS in Computer and Information Science, BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering

The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science manages nine academic departments: Applied Physics and Applied Math, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Computer Science, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, and Mechanical Engineering. Each of these departments offers a variety of bachelor, master, and doctoral level degrees relating to robotics in their own unique ways.

In Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, for example, students can study self-driving vehicles, can research and improve the effectiveness of green roofing, and can understand the use of sensors to help maintain bridge safety. Students in the Mechanical Engineering department deal most directly with human-robot interactions such as improving laser robotic surgery.

Students interested in further research and networking in the field of robotics can connect with the Columbia University Robotics Group. The Group has several on-going research areas including: Multimodal Brain Computer Interface for Human-Robot Interaction, Surgical Tool Tracking, Dexterous Manipulation Using Predictive Thin-Shell Modeling, Protein Streak Seeding, and Visual Servoing: A Partitioned Visual Feedback System.

Robotics related degrees: BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, BS or MS in Electrical Engineering

Cornell University is a private, land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant and research institution. Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White established the University in 1865 with the desire to educate and contribute to all fields of knowledge.

Cornell University has over 21,000 students across its campuses including the main Ithaca campus, two satellite medical campuses (one in New York City and one in Education City, Qatar), and Cornell Tech, which has a campus on Roosevelt Island. The student body represents over 120 countries.

The University does not have a specific robotics program for undergraduate students, but between the Engineering and Computer Science departments, the University covers a substantial amount of Robotics material.

Students studying robotics at Cornell University can learn about various facets of Robotics including perception, learning, control, and human-robot interaction. The team utilizes several robots for research and learning purposes: aerial robots, humanoids, office and home assistant robots, and autonomous cars, among others.

Some of the background courses helpful in the Robotics field offered at the University include Intro to Computer Science using Robots, Intellectual Physical Systems and Foundations of Robots. Some of the intermediate and advanced courses include Autonomous Mobile Robots, Human-Robot Interaction, Foundations of Robotics, Computer Vision, and Machine Learning for Intelligent Systems.

Robotics Degree: PhD in Robotics, Undergraduate Summer Program, Traineeship Program involving Healthcare Robotics

Johns Hopkins University, named after abolitionist, entrepreneur and philanthropist Johns Hopkins, was founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1876. Hopkins was the first benefactor for the university, his gift the largest in the history of America at the time went partially to the university and partially to fund Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Hopkins University followed the example set by Heidelberg University in Germany to begin their graduate studies program, and hence earned the title of the first research university in the United States. The private university calls Baltimore home, but the School also has divisions on campuses in Washington, DC, Italy, Singapore and China, allowing the school to reach over 20,000 students.

Hopkins University offers robotics as either a minor or a Masters degree through their Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics (LCSR). Both programs encompass areas of study such as mechanics, dynamics, kinematics, signal processing, planning, artificial intelligence, control systems, and signal processing.

The laboratory operates through the Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, but the minor is not actually owned by any one college. Students receive credit for their studies in the Robotics field on a transcript, instead of just through specialized classes. This fosters students from various disciplines to participate in the Robotics arena.

The minor consists of earning six to 12 credit hours from three core areas: robot kinematics and dynamics; systems theory, signal processing and control; and computation and sensing.

The Masters degree has two options either a course work option, which requires 10 full-time courses, or an essay option, which requires eight full-time courses and a masters essay. Students in the masters program can select a specialized track from the following: automation science and engineering, bio-robotics, control and dynamical systems, perceptive and cognitive systems, general robotics, and medical robotics and computer integrated surgical systems.

Robotics related degrees: BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, BS or MS in Computer Science

Founded in 1880, the University of Southern California is Californias oldest private research university. USC contributes $8 billion each year to the economy of LA and California. USC boasts over 42,000 students and nearly 4,000 member staff.

USC houses the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center (RASC), founded in 2002. The RASC serves as an organized research unit intended for multi-discipline use within the College of Engineering. The lab members focus their research on the far-reaching field of technology of robotics systems. The research impacts areas at USC such as humanoid, reconfigurable, and nano and space robotics, and applications such as training, rehabilitation, emergency response and entertainment.

Within the department of Computer Science, USC offers a Master of Science in Computer Science (Intelligent Robotics). The graduate-level degree exposes students to the design and construction of robots, and to the computer systems required for control and information processing.

While earning their Intelligent Robotics degree, students complete courses such as Analysis of Algorithms, Robotics, Self-Organization, Machine Learning and Probabilistic Learning. The school is one of the best robotics colleges in the nation.

Robotics related degrees: BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, BS or MS in Computer Science

The School of Engineering dedicates time and energy to innovative research which includes robotics and other forms of artificial intelligence.

UCLA has several research facilities for the study of robotics and their various aspects including the following:

UCLA also has a team of researchers developing soccer robots.

Robotics related degrees: BS or MS in Engineering, BS or MS in Computer Science

The University of California, Berkeley also known as UC Berkeley or Cal was founded in 1868. In 2019, US News and World Report ranked UC Berkeley the #2 public school. The University has over 41,000 students.

Berkeley is heavily involved in various research capacities.

Students interested in robotics can participate in the Berkeley Robotics and Intelligent Machines Lab. The Lab manages several research groups including:

The Biomimetic Millisystems Lab which seeks to harness features of animal manipulation, sensing and actuation to improve millirobot functionality.

The People and Robots group emphasizes societys interaction with robots focusing on areas such as Bio-Inspired robotics, Deep Learning, and Cloud Robotics.

The Robot Learning group researches new and interesting methods for machine learning, perception and control.

Other group options and research areas include theBerkeley Laboratory for Automation Science and Engineering, The BErkeley AeRobot (BEAR) project, the Computer Vision group, Medical Robots, and more.

Robotics related degrees: BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, BS or MS in Computer Science

The University of Washington, founded in 1861, located in downtown Seattle, Washington, also has campuses in Tacoma and Bothell. Overall, the University includes over 20 million square feet of space, and over 500 buildings. The university also has over 26 libraries, making it one of the largest university library systems in the world.

The school has over 46,000 students and nearly 6,000 academic staff members.

The Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering offers multidisciplinary study of robotics covering a variety of study areas includingmechanism design, Bayesian state estimation, biomechanics, neural control of movement, robot learning, and natural language instruction.

The robotics research areas includes labs such as:

Some courses at University of Washington, applicable to robotics at the undergrad level include the robotics capstone and capstone software Kinect.

Other affiliated research centers include the Institute for Learning and Brain Science, the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, the Center for Game Science, and the Intel Science and Technology Center for Pervasive Computing.

Robotics related degrees: BS or MS Computer Science

The University provides over 20 undergraduate and graduate level degree programs, the majority of which allow students to study robotics. These include the undergraduate majors of Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. Students can study the same undergraduate areas at the Masters or Doctoral levels.

The School of Engineering manages several facilities of research including the Institute for Systems Research, which houses the Maryland Robotics Center. This interdisciplinary research facility studies all aspects of robotics including intelligence, component technologies, and system autonomy.

The School of Engineering maintains the Space Systems Laboratory and the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility. These facilities specialize in astronautics and the simulation of microgravity environments. The University of Maryland has a unique neutral buoyancy tank.

Robotics related degrees: BS or MS in Computer Science, BS or MS in Engineering

Oregon State University (OSU), founded in 1868, is one of only three American institutions designated as a land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant and sun-grant university. It is one of only two public universities with all four designations, along with Penn State. OSU enrolls over 30,000 students, including over 25,000 undergraduates.

Oregon State University has adopted the position robots are here to stay, thus the educational system must adapt to create the next generation of researchers and innovators. OSU recognizes robotics touch numerous fields business, engineering, communication, transportation, agriculture, national defense, and medicine. OSU is one of the few institutes of higher education to offer graduate studies in Robotics.

Working to develop and harness the potential of robotics in todays world led to the formation of the Collaborative Robotics and Intelligent Systems Institute (CoRIS) at OSU.

OSU faculty members consider their position unique; they approach the idea of robotics holistically studying technological advancement, while considering how the robots impact people and how the changes brought by the widespread use of robots will shape our society.

Faculty members involved in robotics explore the technical, ethical, social, and economic implications innovations will bring.

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The Best Robotics Colleges | Successful Student