Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

MIT is one of the biggest researchers of AI and robotics.

A Google Search on "MIT Robotics" shows that they have a ton of laboratories and groups associated with robotics. They have also graduated founders of many major robotics companies such as iRobot the creators of the Roomba and many military robots.

MIT also is home to the famous Kismet .

But as many have mentioned here, there are many colleges with good degrees in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence), and Electrical/Mechanical Engineering. It really depends on what part of robotics interests you.

Another interesting career to pursue is animatronics or robots designed for the movies (though these days computer graphics seem to be taking over). But with more and more consumer "robots" popping up in the marketplace, it is likely that there is a good future in whatever types of robotics you get into.

Keep in mind that FIRST robots are just a tip of the iceberg. most other robots rely on a lot more AI than we use in autonmous, but as they say, FIRST is a microcosm of the real engineering world!

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

I personally am not necessarily interested in robotics as a whole--but moreso the biomedical applications of it. Notice how the recent FIRST games resemble something that Dean Kamen and the rest of the BME community are working on. Actually FIRST sold me not on robotics, but on Biomedical Engineering. There are plenty of schools with it, but Johns Hopkins University and Duke University are two of the best in that field. (Too bad they don't offer FIRST scholarships.)

But if you are looking for straight-out robotics in the MD-VA area, Maryland-College Park, Maryland-Baltimore County, and Virginia Tech are all good choices. VT and UMBC have even participated in the DARPA challenge.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

Heehee...Kismet :)

Robotics is an interesting combination of several majors, primarily mechanical engineering and computer science. I personally like a strong dose of mechE with a sprinkle of comp sci, but if you want a more even mix, look for a program that will allow you the flexibility to take courses in both disciplines..."create your own" major.

I'm taking the infamous "2.007" this semester. (For those not familiar with the history behind this, 2.007 used to be 2.70, which was taught by Prof. Woodie Flowers back in the day.) While it promises to be fun and a good learning experience, I can comfortable say that I've learned more about robotics from FIRST than I will from that class. I am always amazed when high school teams come up with things, particularly in the programming department, that they don't teach here until higher-level courses. I guess my point is this: look for a school with good opportunities to pursue what you like outside the classroom as well...often that is where you learn the most.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

From what I've heard, Waterloo University (Waterloo, Ontario, CA) and McGill University (Montreal, Quebec, CA) have engineering programs, and I know McGill has robotics programs if not for undergrads but definitely for grads. I know for undergrads that there are courses in robotics. Pity you don't want to go outside of Dallas.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

The University of Waterloo has mechanical, mechatronic, electrical, and systems design undergraduate engineering programs, among several others (all 5-year programs with mandatory co-op). Depending on your interests, you could make a concerted effort to "roboticize" one of those programs. However, to be realistic, it wouldn't be until your 4A and 4B terms (i.e. your fifth calendar year) that you'd even get an opportunity to do anything meaningful with robots (in your technical elective courses), in any of those programs.

It's more of a graduate thing, unfortunately.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

The NASA Robotics Education Program has a list of universities that have robotics programs. See:
Robotics Education Project - Universities

Most of the above programs involve graduate-level research robotics laboratories, but there may be a few undergraduate options as well. The reason for the predominance of graduate programs over undergraduate is that robotics laboratories in universities are run by research faculty who obtain grants to do cutting edge research. These programs often integrate artificial intelligence, machine vision, control theory concepts that require a good understanding of mechanical and/or electrical engineering, with computer science/engineering thrown in. The labs will have team members (graduate students and post-docs) that have degrees in engineering or science working on one or more research projects. FIRST robotics gives students a taste of what is involved, without all of the rigorous engineering analysis.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

There is more information on WPI's robotics programs in the 2006-2007 Course Catalog at
http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/Catalogs/Ugr...robotdept.html
and
http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/Catalogs/Ugr.../robotics.html

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

Carnige Mellon I am very sure does not allow undergraduates into the robotics labs.

Oh also...
WPI has a biomedical engineering major and WPI offers a full ride FIRST scholarship. You may want to seriously consider WPI: just about everything good there is to be had here the undergrads get their hands on. Many other "big name" schools are "big name" because of the things the graduate students do, not the undergrads. Be careful to distinguish the difference.

My friend Nick is in BME at WPI and has offered to be interrogated by prefrosh if you feel like asking him some questions. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...31&postcount=2

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

Everyone, I'm no expert, but it seems as if people are thinking of a robots major as a combonation mechanical/computer AI/electrical degree. Wouldn't most engineers specialize in one area and other members of the team would specialize in other areas? That was what the way the DARPA Red Team(the one with the hummer that went the farthest in the first challege, and came in second and fourth the next year), was organized. So, it seems that one could just get a good degree in any one area, with an approprite specialization, such as AI for computer science, and pick up the rest with graduate programs.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

I finished my freshman year at MIT this past May and also declared my major: Course 2A - Mechanical Engineering with Instrumentation, Controls, and Robotics. Course 2A allows flexibility - students take the rigorous Course 2 (ME) core classes and then select classes to fit their specific interests (might be ME w/Biomed, Entrepreneurship, etc.) In my case, I will end up taking quite a few Course 6 (EE, CS, EECS) classes in addition to Aerospace Engineering classes to support my interests. I think you'll find that most of the fun work will be found through easily obtaining UROP (Undergraduate Research Oppurtunities Program) research positions in robotics labs or whatever fits your interest and doing actual work with professors and graduate students. There are many ways to explore your interests at MIT and even more through free cross-enrollment at Harvard. Plus, Cambridge and Boston are full of wonderful startup robotics companies in addition to well established firms that recruit heavily.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

As a freshman who considered Carnegie-Mellon for quite some time before deciding on a college, I can tell you that they do indeed allow Undergraduates into the robotics lab; the link to the requirements for the undergraduate robotics minor can be found here , and furthermore, Red Team, which operates from the robotics lab at CMU, has undergrads on the team as can be found here .
CMU, to the best of my knowledge, does not have an undergraduate robotics major though. Hopefully this is helpful.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

Apologies for bringing up an old thread but I would be a jerk if I did not admit I'm wrong when I'm wrong.

CMU does permit undergraduates in the robotics labs. One of my coworkers this summer attends CMU and he informed me of my error. When I was a candidate prefrosh I apparently had a rather low quality tour guide who gave me incorrect information (what a shame, that very question and the answer I received were why I did not apply to CMU!) My most sincere apologies for the incorrect information and thanks to mgreenley for catching me on it.

Also update: WPI has an undergraduate robotics major now.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

undergrad CS majors at Carnegie Mellon can choose to minor in robotics. You can also be a part of the best DARPA team and robocup team on the planet. Right now the DARPA team is busy at work trying to get to the moon :).

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

They sure do. ;)

WPI is now the first university in this country to offer an undergraduate major in Robotics Engineering (RBE), and already RBE is the third most popular major on campus.

I'm currently a freshmen at WPI, majoring in RBE with a concentration in ME.

Re: what colleges have good robotics majors
 

Yep, same here, sold on BME!! JHU actually came out w/ the brain cap and robotic arm implementation shown at the championship (last year, i think?) where the user simply thinks about moving the hand, and the brain cap picks up brainwaves and interprets it to real mechanical movements on a robotic arm. i recently met the professor who heads the lab for that. Robotics and sensors is one of 4 focus areas that BMEs have to choose from at Johns hopkins, ppl should apply here, since I could barely find any FIRST ppl here!!