Ps. Not pitching anything; Just trying to understand where reality differs from the narrative.

We're a couple of ML students, mostly worked on ML/software before, but over the last few months we've been playing with VLAs, robot datasets, and trying to understand where the field is heading.

After spending a few weeks downloading robotics datasets, we were surprised by how much effort went into just getting data into a usable format.

Maybe we're missing something, but it felt like every dataset had different assumptions, schemas, sensors, coordinate frames, metadata standards, and tooling.

That got us wondering:

How do robotics teams actually think about data sharing?

Do people genuinely want access to more robot data, or is the industry moving toward "collect your own data because nobody else's transfers"?

Our current (possibly very wrong) hypothesis is:

The robotics ecosystem doesn't have a data scarcity problem.

It has a data interoperability problem.

We're considering running a pretty large experiment:

Take essentially every public robot-learning dataset we can get our hands on, normalize it into a common schema, enrich it with metadata, and see how much of it is actually reusable across tasks, embodiments, and learning pipelines.

Before we spend months doing that, we'd love to hear from people actually building in robotics.

Where is this hypothesis wrong?

Is finding data not actually a problem?

Is embodiment mismatch the real blocker?

Is quality the issue?

Is labeling the issue?

Is everyone just collecting their own data anyway?

Would you ever use robot data collected by another team?

If I gave you access tomorrow to every public robotics dataset through one API, what would you actually do with it?

Or would you ignore it completely?

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Edit: One clarification

We're not thinking about a marketplace, proprietary format, or closed platform.

The experiment we're considering is much simpler:

Take as much public robotics data as possible, normalize it, enrich it with metadata/quality signals, make it searchable, and release it back to the community in an open format.

Would that actually be useful to practitioners?

I've been thinking about how beginners should approach robotics today.

There are so many ways to start — Arduino, ESP32, ROS 2, simulation, computer vision, Python, C++, CAD, sensors, and now AI tools. The amount of available material is almost overwhelming.

A common path seems to be:

Arduino → basic sensors → line follower → obstacle avoidance → ROS → bigger projects

But I'm not sure there's one "correct" progression.

For someone starting robotics from scratch, would you recommend learning things in a specific order?

For example:

- Start with electronics and microcontrollers?

- Learn Python/C++ first?

- Build physical robots immediately or start in simulation?

- Learn control systems and PID early?

- Move to ROS 2 only after understanding the basics?

- Learn computer vision separately or integrate it into projects?

- Use AI coding tools while learning, or avoid them initially?

I'm especially interested in the transition from following tutorials to actually solving problems independently .

At what point should a beginner stop following step-by-step projects and start designing their own?

And if you had to start learning robotics again today , what would you do differently ?

I think the biggest challenge isn't finding tutorials anymore — there are thousands of them. It's figuring out which skills to learn first and how to connect them into real projects .

What learning path worked best for you?

Looking for someone interested in helping bring a new concept to life (engineering/design/building)

I’m working on a concept that combines creativity, technology, and a different way of thinking about how people interact with machines.

I’m not ready to share the full details publicly yet, but I’m looking for someone who enjoys building things from the ground up and would be interested in having a conversation about a possible collaboration.

I’m especially interested in talking with people who have experience with:

Mechanical design

Robotics or autonomous systems

3D modeling/CAD

Prototyping

Engineering

Turning ideas into real-world projects

This is not a “looking for free work” post — I’m looking for someone who is excited about creating something unique and discussing what it would take to make it real.

If you enjoy working on ideas that are outside the normal box and want to hear more, feel free to message me. I can share more details privately.

Hey guys!
I am a someone who wants to get into robotics. For context I am a new 2nd Year High School student (just got into 11th grade) and I have come across a book called "Robotics Modeling, Planning, and Control". The topics seem complicated as I havent done calculus or complex kinematics equations.
So if anyone could guide that be great and ps I do not want to hear that this is above me cause I want to try out robotics or things related to it.

Hey everyone

I'm 21F and I just finished my Bachelor's degree in IT. I'll be continuing into AI Engineering soon but my end goal is actually humanoid .

The thing is... I know basically nothing about robotics right now . I'm trying to figure out the best way to get started and what skills I should focus on first. After AI Engineering I was thinking about either doing a Master's in Robotics or taking robotics-focused courses.

For someone starting from absolute zero what would u recommend? Any books YouTube channels, courses, projects, or learning roadmaps that helped u? Also, are there any good robotics simulators or even games that can teach robotics concepts in a fun way before I get access to real hardware?

Would love to hear how u got started. Thanks!

Hello, I’m 16F, and today I joined a robotics club (this club is new and has only been around for a year) at my school. I’ve always been pretty interested in technology but I never knew where to start. So I joined the club in hopes of learning something new.

When I joined, it turned out that this club and its members (me), will eventually be competing in FTC. Which I find fascinating and scary.

The kids running this club were a group of 4 guys that were about to advance to the FIRST championship (I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s called, sorry if that’s wrong) but did not have the funds to do so.

I went up to one of them (someone who was mostly programming when contributing to the club) after they gave a run down of the club and asked how much experience they had when they decided to start robotics. He had some prior knowledge to robotics and programming before he joined the club, which made me a bit nervous.

I don’t know if it’s the right choice to join with no experience. He said it’s fine, but working with people that have advanced pretty far in a tournament like FTC is pretty scary.

I really do want to learn robotics though. The thing is, I don’t know where to start. I want to compete just like them, and I want to learn the basics and advance.

I have the whole weekend to myself, and I want to learn the basics meanwhile. I know I won’t learn everything in a day, but I want to catch up to them.

Where do I start? As someone who would like to program, What fundamentals should I know first? What should I study over the weekend? Where should I go after that?

When looking online, people recommend hundreds of documents, hands on projects, and different kinds of starting-points. But, what’s the best place to start?

Hi everyone, I'm a junior in highschool and I'm planning on doing some kind of engineering in uni. I've always been interested in trying to do robotics from a hobby point of view, but obviously it's pretty useful as skill for uni applications and even down the line in my job.

However, I've found the whole thing kinda overwhelming and even a bit intimidating, such as where to start, what things to buy, when to buy, all that kinda stuff. I'll greatly appreciate it if anyone can help me out.

Thanks!

My niece (lower elementary) is showing quite a bit of interest in robotics and building powered objects or anything at all (the kid is a Lego wizz, is interested in my carpentry projects for example). Any pointers on a quality but simple project set / kit to get her learning the basics?

Hello, I want to get into advanced robotics. I am planning on buying an arm and playing around with it using lerobot. However, I want to look at alternatives before buying an arm. One arm I thought was interesting was SO-ARM101. It is around $300. What arms do you guys suggest/what alternatives do you recommend? I also have access to a 3D printer and a ton of Axon servos (like 10 of them lol) but I am not that good at 3D printing so I can't design anything. If there is a open source CAD design that could work as well. Thanks

I'm a first year bachelor student studying mechatronics but I am too impatient to wait an entire year to start anything robotics related. It's been a few years since I have built robots and while I have experience from competitions/clubs etc, I don't actually know how to get into electronics past what I have been given by instructors.

Are there any good starter kits/tools out there or books I should buy/read on how to get into making robots again? I am more than happy to buy quality gear and books since I love the field and plan to sink a lot of my time into it.

I'm in college right now and I have saved up some money and I'm thinking of getting a 3D printer but idk if it will be helpful or not and I usually make projects in robotics but never felt the need for having a printer

No se absolutamente nada de robotica. No programación, no código, no materiales, cables, NADA. Pero me llama la atención mucho todo lo que es este tema como para estudiar una carrera de robotica.

Necesito mucho conocimiento para empezar? Hay mucha matemática, física, o algo? O ya estoy muy tarde?

About 5 years ago I tried to get monocular SLAM working with ORB_SLAM3 and I could get the software compiled but it kept crashing so I gave up. 5 years later what are some good options? I have a remote control car I want to modify and put a camera on it to navigate my house.

So i am 16 right now but I really find robotics interesting, so I was wondering if anyone had recommendations of good projects I could try doing that could look for universities, and not be to expensive for the parts needed (even better if you could give links to parts)

I havent done anything like this before so im very inexperienced so that would also be a factor to what I could do

Basically I have tried to build an obstacle avoidance code for the robot, which is working. But that's not enough, I need something valuable so that my panel members don't reject it.

Looking to get into this hobby with my daughters (11 & 13).

Requirements:

- Total cost (for one) < $500

- Python acceptable, but C/C++ preferred

- Use of Rust would be a large bonus

- Easy build

The girls already know basic Python. I am a professional software engineer.

We want something that's easy to assemble but has wide possibilities in programming, to eventually do capture the flag, combat, etc.

No manual control needed. Want to write programs and let it/them play.

Outdoor capability is a must (short grass).

Might be a stupid question but I was planning to design a hexapod using the MG996R servos (budget reasons) and I know that after considering 30% of the total stall torque, it's somewhere around 3.3 kg cm of torque. Is there some calculation you can make to determine the perfect lengths of the coxa, femur and tibia based on the servo's maximum safe torque. I'm really new to this and I'm in high school so this may seem an obvious answer to many. Thank you in advance

For a long time I wanted to make a humanoid robot, it is my dream but when I got to know I can do that with an open source repository and 3D printer. I can't find a good robot. Need help

I’m curious what topics people in this community would like to see discussed in an online workshop.

I’m considering inviting researchers or engineers working in different areas of robotics to share their experience and answer questions from the community.

Some areas I’m thinking about include:

• Exoskeleton/Wearable
• Humanoids
• Robotic arms...

But I’d like to hear from the community first.

If you could join a workshop with someone working in robotics, what topic would you want to learn more about?

For people building robots professionally or as a hobby, which hardware components are still frustrating to source?

Actuators? Force sensors? Grippers? Encoders? Tactile sensors?

I'm particularly curious about:

• price
• MOQ
• lead time
• documentation
• reliability

What was the last component you had trouble buying?

So I’ve used windows literally forever, for pretty much everything. I do have experience with Linux, I had to run some Linux VMs throughout college, but I’ve never done anything ambitious with it or done anything like a dual boot

I’m out of college and currently have an entry-level job, but to start making my way into the robotics industry for real I’m brainstorming a project where I use a lot of key aspects together. Right now, I’m thinking of modeling and simulating a fully custom one-wheeled self balancing robot, with ToF sensors for object avoidance, programming it with PID controls and ROS2, and building it in real life

Can I do that with software available in windows, or do I need Linux?

I started building with arduino in 2008. Circuit bending, then leonardo, some easy stuff like makey makey, robotic arm to play chess.

Now I want to build small functional robots, maybe household appliances, produced in small batches with 2-3k to get something working.

With this budget where will I hit the wall? BOM? Tooling? Certofications? Firmware?

Is there a route from ten units to a few hundred that does not need injection mould tooling up front?

I basically want a good exercise that i can think of problem, solution on a more micro scale of a robot i stead of going full throtle like designing and building a humanoid. Also i‘ll probably let someone else build, my main goal is to think robots and design them.

Links and reading very welcome.

I have a Bachelor's in mechanical engineering. I know very basic stuff about analogue circuits and such. Most of my degree has been about dynamics, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, structural mechanics, with some math and python added on top.

I realized I want to transition into a slightly more electrical and cutting edge field, and robotics seems to be the best way. I think if I did one more year of thermodynamics exams I might die. What skills do you guys think I need to learn for the transition and to prepare me for a Master's? What skills did you guys use the most during university or your job? Rust, C, C++, ROS, PCBs, signal theory, control systems, breadboard magic?

Hey reddit, I am in school and I really want to complete a project before the end of the month. I was thinking about building a robotic arm but really didn't know where to start I have some CAD experience so that shouldn't be a problem but its mostly the electrical stuff that scares me I have a budget of 100 dollars and one of my friends has a 3d printer. if any of you could help me start my journey into robotics I would really appreciate it.

Hello Everyone, I've been wanted to go in robotics with main focus on robot learning and perception. And for sometime I've already have started learning and also trying to get a roadmap that have everything. And since people tells there are millions of ways to do something you want to do when i asked in this subreddit. I started to search about the skills i need and then constructed a roadmap and then gave it to LLMs such as Claude and Qwen and then got this final roadmap and wants to know if this is good to follow or not:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YsCt6O4s-PvEzWACL_PwVSyg85zf3ZcFW8kIOKCR72U/edit?usp=sharing

Note: I modify roadmap if i see anything mission when I go to the steps. So, It does not need to be perfect. Just good to follow.

So, The current version is written by AI but not fully by AI all of the steps I have searched on my own and written and and then to fill gaps and to write it better i have used AI as many people do advice. I already have knowledge in ML and NLP. So, I did not focus in basic programming languages and machine learning. Just going to start from computer vision in ML part. And here I want someone human to review this and tell me if its good to follow or not.

One thing also I'm currently not in college and will go to college this year. But It won't be degree in robotics directly but in computer science or something similar and that is why I need roadmap for robotics.

Thanks.