

Ask HN: Are there any decent-paying jobs in robotics? - throwawaybot2

Hi all!<p>(Using a throwaway account here) I am a software engineer, working in a factory. My job is to write software that control the assembly-line tooling robots.<p>The problem is that, I am horribly underpaid. I make about $15,000, which is low even by our third-world standard. I have had a lot of trouble finding jobs here as well.<p>My question is: are there any good, well-paid jobs in the robotics market out there, or should I consider transitioning to another field, like web development?
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glimcat
Beating $15k is certainly possible. If it's hard in your area, there's
probably work that can be done remotely paying 10x. The catch is that you'd
have to build up the reputation and the network of satisfied clients needed.

I know a few very experienced engineers doing work in robotics. There's a
fairly high variance in salary. Of those, the one I'm fairly certain clears
>$200k does so largely through things like consulting and appearing as an
expert in patent disputes. His day job is maybe half that.

You can make lots of money and do what you love, but sometimes the thing that
pays the bills and the thing you enjoy aren't the same. You'll get better
results if you work out an optimal solution for yourself, versus being wholly
dependent on an employer to give you a single monolithic package - but it will
also take much more effort, and likely many failures.

Lots of the ones doing work in industry are in areas like calibration and
maintenance, vs. design and research. Part of the issue here is working out
the specifics of what "decent paying" and "in robotics" mean to you.

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eshvk
There are well paid jobs in the U.S. robotics market. However, most of them
require a U.S. citizenship and security clearance (defense grants.).

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dragos2
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edit: c++ code.

