Peace, Love, and all that hippy stuff: robotics career outside the defense industry?

[Lil' Lavery]

Katy,

As a few others pointed out, you may want to look into "motion control" and "controls" rather than "robotics." In addition, as Jared pointed out, the defense industry is a big place. Many devices in the defense industry are applied to civilian and private industry (GPS is the perfect example). Granted, it sounds like your problems come more from the "iron triangle" relationship and ethics rather than the moral dilemmas caused by violence.

I wouldn't abandon the search within the defense industry and defense-related jobs entirely, as you might find one that suits your interests, desires, and ethical standards. Perhaps even look into a government job rather than a contractor (assuming you're willing to take the pay cut for the job security).