Udacity Robotics Nanodegree review 2024: Is it worth learning Robotics from Udacity

Hello all, I am Akshay, and I am here to do the research for you. I’ve been through all the platforms to find the reviews of this Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree to help you decide whether this course is worth it or not.

Reviews of Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree Graduates

Bharat Deshkulkarni

Research Assistant at University of Southern California

★★★★★

As we move in the direction of Industry 4.0, being able to automate conventional processes is a skill I know I will be able to build after completing this comprehensive course which helped me with the software fundamentals to work on robotics using C++, ROS, and Gazebo, how to build autonomous robotics projects in a Gazebo simulation environment , probabilistic robotics, including Localization, Mapping, SLAM, Navigation, and Path Planning.

-via Linkedin

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Bishoy Saber Saied

Functional Safety and Embedded Systems Engineer

★★★★

A nice journey of 4 months, week-end studies, where my knowledge and practical experience grew in the following topics:
– ROS (Robotics Operating Systems)
– SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping): (EKF, AMCL, Grid-based FastSLAM, GraphSLAM, ..)
– Path Planning and Navigation (classic, sample-based and probabilistic path planning)

The final project was a ” Home Service Robot”:
Using ROS, C++, catkin packages, applying all the main principles learned on my own designed robot to be a able to do SLAM and path planning within my environment in Gazebo.

–via LinkedIn

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Improvement Reviews

Overview

Every tech enthusiast and explorer once imagines a world overwhelmed by Automated technologies, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics.

This image also comes from Sci-fi movies in which robots are shown to take the place of humans and perform each and every task with full efficiency.

Robotics is a technology that has the power to automate almost each and every production.

It is one of the most trending future technologies which can change our life.

In this Udacity Robotics Nanodegree Review, we will discuss that is it worth learning Robotics from Udacity?

Robotics is a kind of intersection of technology, engineering, and science which produces mechanical machines so-called Robots that have the ability to replicate human tasks and activities.

As a Robotics Software Engineer, you will have to work on different technologies such as Gazebo, Localization, ROS essentials, Mapping, and Navigations, etc.

To qualify for the role of Robotics Software Engineer and related positions, you should have a strong foundation of Mathematics and programming skills.

These skills are not easy to master even for professionals but with the right dedication and consistency, you can easily achieve them with the help of the Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree.

This Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree is a complete package of the skills and technology you require to learn for the position of Robotics Software Engineer.

Introduction to Robotics, Gazebo, Mapping, and SLAM along with some other concepts will be taught to you in a precise manner.

This program not only teaches or makes you learn the concepts, instead you will be working on a realistic project after the completion of the courses.

This Udacity Robotics Nanodegree review will help you a lot in understanding the program curriculum.

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About the Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree

Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree is a collection of courses, lessons, and realistic projects designed to enhance your skills to gain abundant knowledge and build a successful career in the field of Robotics and Automation.

Every large and Mass production industry or company requires highly robust and efficient robots designed to complete the task as fast as they can, this also leads to various profits to the company such as saving manpower, expenditures, and time.

Udacity is a trusted name and giant in online educational platforms aimed to help students and professionals to enhance and develop their skills.

In this Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree, you will learn and practice various problems and exercises with helpful mentor support who will guide you in understanding some important concepts of Robotics, simulating environment with Gazebo, managing ROS packages and essentials, path planning and navigation, and many more.

Prior knowledge and understanding of Linux command lines along with intermediate knowledge of Probability, Calculus, and Linear Algebra is required to enhance your learning throughout the program.

Also, Advance knowledge of the C++ programming language along with some STL’s and Object-Oriented Programming is required. 

Udacity is a well-known platform in the field of online education and learning, they are popular for the top-rated instructors of their courses and programs, they provide valuable and useful content to any of the students and professionals trying to learn new skills.

So let’s know more about it in this Udacity Robotics Nanodegree review.

Also Read: Udacity Self-Driving Car Review

Job Scenario

As we discussed earlier, most of the Mass production or Multinational level companies require robots to perform some of their daily tasks and routines.

Using robots and automation is always profitable for the company in the long term and that’s the reason why the demand for good Robotics Software engineers is increasing day by day and has a nice scope in the future. 

The average salary earned by the Robotics Engineer or Robotics Software Engineer is nearly $96,268 per annum in the U.S market, however, it also depends on various other factors such as certifications, education, skills, or experience.

Robotics and Automation is still high-level technology and is not used by every company. So you may not get a good salary in different parts of the world.

An entry-level Robotics Software Engineer can earn around 4 to 5 Lakhs per annum in an Indian Market.

In this Udacity Robotics Nanodegree Review, we will cover each of the program’s features, advantages, and disadvantages so that you get to know the outcomes and the expectations from this Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree program. 

Check this out -> My Experience: Udacity Review 2022| Are Nanodegrees Worth $1400?

Costs and Duration of the Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree

The overall duration of the Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree is 4 months and after enrollment, you have to give at least 13 to 15 hours per week to the program.

Learning Robotics requires a strong foundation of Mathematical and C++ programming skills, along with the basic Linux commands.

You can enroll in the program and access the complete 4-month duration of the course for a reasonable price of $1058.

However, if you want to pay monthly for the course, then you can pay $311 per month and continue your learning with the Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree.

Prerequisite of the Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree

Now coming to the prerequisite of the program in this Udacity Robotics Nanodegree review, having a prior and intermediate knowledge of Calculus, Linear Algebra, Probability is required for all the Mathematical manipulation and calculations.

You should have hands-on practice on various basic command lines, as this will also be used in the program.

Prior and advanced knowledge of the C++ programming language along with its standard library and Object-Oriented feature is required for coding purposes.

Keep in mind that prior advanced knowledge of the C++ programming language is required so if you have never done any kind of programming stuff then it is highly recommended to complete any C++ programming fundamental course online such as the Udacity C++ Nanodegree to get an idea of how things work in the world of programming.

Also, if you have limited knowledge in programming as well as in Math, then you should complete Udacity Intro to self-driving cars Nanodegree program to easily understand and grasp the difficult concept in the overall program.

Must see -> My Opinion: Udacity Intro To Self Driving Car Nanodegree Review 2022

Syllabus of the Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree

Talking about the syllabus of the Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree program, it is one of the broadest syllabus covering all the important concepts and topics required to enhance your Robotics and Automation skills.

The entire syllabus is divided into 6 courses where each of the courses has its own importance in developing your skills, the courses have various lessons along with challenging projects to practice your learnings and implementation skills.

All the projects are more than enough to evaluate the knowledge and information you gained in the program.

So, for now, let’s go in-depth with the details of every chapter and lesson in this Udacity Robotics Nanodegree review.

Course 1: Gazebo World

So this will be the first course of your Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree program and in this course, you will learn how to simulate your first robotic environment with Gazebo which is the most common simulation engine used by most Roboticists around the world.

Course 1 of the program consists of only one lesson. So, let’s dive into the details of the lesson.

Lesson one is Introduction to Gazebo. In this lesson, you will learn about the Gazebo simulator and build a new environment and deploy assets with the help of it.

The project of the course is Build My World. In this project, you will use the tools that you’ve learned in Gazebo to build your first environment.

You will use and demonstrate your key skills such as launching a Gazebo environment or designing in Gazebo.

Course 2: ROS Essentials

In this course, you will learn and discover how ROS provides a flexible and unified software environment for developing robots in a modular and reusable manner.

You will also learn how to manage existing ROS packages within a project, and how to write ROS Nodes of your own in the C++ programming language.

Course 2 of the program is divided into three lessons to elaborately explain the concepts in a precise manner.

So, let’s check the details of the lesson available in this course.

Lesson one is Introduction to ROS. So this will be the first lesson of the course and in this lesson, you will obtain an architectural overview of the Robot operating system framework.

Lesson two is Packages and Catkin Workspaces. In this lesson, you will learn the ROS workspace structure and essential command-line utilities.

You will also learn how to manage software packages within a project.

Lesson three is to Write ROS Nodes. In this lesson, you will write ROS nodes in C++ programming languages.

The project of this course is Go Chase It!. In this project, you will demonstrate your proficiency with ROS, Gazebo, and C++ by building a ball-chasing robot.

You will be designing a robot inside Gazebo, house it in the world you have built in the Build My World project, and code a C++ node in ROS to chase yellow balls.

Course 3: Localization

In this course, you will learn how Gaussian filters can be used to estimate noisy sensor readings, and how to estimate a robot’s position relative to a known map of the environment with Monte Carlo Localization (MCL).

This course 3 of the program is divided into five lessons, which again makes it easy for you to understand the concepts stepwise and in detail. So, let’s have a look at the lessons of the course.

Lesson one of this course is Introduction to Localization. In this lesson, you will learn what it means to localize and the challenges behind it.

Lesson two of the course is Kalman Filters. In this lesson, you will learn the Kalman Filters and their importance in estimating noisy data.

Lesson three is Lab: Kalman Filters. In this lesson, you will implement an extended Kalman Filters package with ROS to estimate the position of a robot.

Lesson four is Monte Carlo Localization. In this lesson, you will learn the MCL algorithm to localize robots.

Lesson five is to Build MCL in C++. In this lesson, you will do some practical stuff. You will be coding the MCL algorithm in C++.

The project of this course is Where Am I? sounds weird.

Well, in this realistic project, you will have to interface your own mobile robot with the Adaptive Monte Carlo Localization Algorithm in ROS to estimate your robot’s position as it travels through a predefined set of waypoints.

You will also be tuning different parameters to increase the localization efficiency of the robot.

While working on this project you will demonstrate and use your key skills such as Implementation of Adaptive Monte Carlo Localization in ROS where the understanding of tuning parameters is required.

Course 4: Mapping and SLAM

In this course, you will learn how to create a SLAM i.e. Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, its implementation with the ROS packages, and C++.

You’ll achieve this by combining mapping algorithms with what you learned in the previous localization course.

Course 4 of the program is divided into four lessons that help you to understand some different concepts explicitly.

Let’s uncover the details and the topics which will be covered in these lessons.

Lesson one is Introduction to Mapping and SLAM. So this will be the first lesson of your course 4 and in this lesson, you will learn the mapping and SLAM concepts as well as its algorithms.

Lesson two is Occupancy Grid Mapping. In this lesson, you will map an environment by coding the occupancy grid mapping algorithm with C++.

Lesson three is Grid-based FastSLAM. In this lesson, you will simultaneously map an environment and localize a robot relative to the map with the Grid-based FastSLAM Algorithm.

You will also interface a turtle bot with a Grid-based FastSLAM package with ROS to map an environment.

Lesson four is GraphSLAM. This will be the final lesson of your course 4 and in this lesson, you will simultaneously map an environment and localize a robot relative to the map with the GraphSLAM algorithm.

After the completion of all the lessons of this course, again it’s time for you to work on a realistic project.

The project for this course is Map My World.

In this project, you will have to interface your robot with an RTAB Map ROS package to localize it and build 2D and 3D maps of your environments.

You must put all the pieces together properly to launch the robot and then teletop it to map its environment.

While working on this project, you will demonstrate your key skills such as SLAM implementation with ROS/Gazebo and ROS debugging tools such as rqt and roswtf.

In this course, you will learn different path planning and navigation algorithms.

Course 5: Path Planning and Navigation

After learning, you will combine SLAM and Navigation into a home service robot that has the ability to automatically transport objects in your home.

Course 5 of the program is divided into four lessons due to which you can elaborately learn the concepts part-wise and implement them wisely.

So, let’s go into detail about the lessons of this course.

Lesson one is Intro to Path Planning and Navigation. In this lesson, you will learn about Path Planning and Navigation along with the topics it covers.

Lesson two is Classic Path Planning. In this lesson, you will learn a number of classic path planning approaches that can be applied to low-dimensional robotic systems.

Lesson three is a lab: Path Planning. In this lesson, you will code the BFS and A* algorithms in C++.

Lesson four is Sample-Based and Probabilistic Path Planning. This is the final lesson of your course 5 and in this lesson, you will learn about sample-based and probabilistic path planning.

The project of this course is Home service Robot. It’s an interesting project in which you will use a SLAM package to autonomously map an environment.

After that, you will interface your robot with path planning and navigation ROS packages to move objects within an environment.

While working on this project you will have to demonstrate your key skills such as Advanced ROS and Gazebo integration, ROS Navigation stack 7, and path planning.

Course 6: Optional KUKA Path Planning

So this will be the final course of your Nanodegree program and in this course, you will apply what you have learned about ROS and path planning to search for a path and navigate a KUKA robot through a 2D maze.

This course is divided into two lessons, in the first lesson you will learn the basic requirement of the project and in the second lesson, you will learn about the details, project specifications and how to get started.

Pros and Cons of the Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree:

So after discussing all the prerequisites, costs, durations, syllabus of the program, let’s discuss the Pros and Cons of it in this Udacity Robotics Nanodegree review.

Pros:

• Robotics and the Robotics Software Engineer skills required a strong foundation of Mathematics and C++ programming language, along with the basics of the Linux command. This Udacity Robotics Software Nanodegree covers various concepts and topics required to work as a Robotics Software Engineer, such as the Gazebo world, localization, ROS essentials, and many others.
• This is a practical program as it has realistic and challenging projects such as building a Home Service Robot, Map My World, etc.
• Top-class technical mentor support throughout the program. They always motivate you and help you to stay on your track while pursuing the course.
• With Udacity there is always personalized learning at your pace and achieve personal goals with the help of their flexible learning program.
• Studying with Udacity will always give you the advantages of a Personal career coach and services to help you out in interview preparation, building a resume, and online professional profile to boost your career.
• The Course has been rated 4.6 stars out of 5 by most of the learners and graduates enrolled in the program.
• Financial support is available worldwide in this challenging time of Pandemic for you to stay sharp in the Nanodegree program.

Cons:

• As we said earlier, this Nanodegree is not for beginners. A strong foundation of Mathematics and programming is required, along with basic knowledge of Linux command lines. If you have limited knowledge of them, then you should complete any relative Udacity Nanodegree programs such as Udacity C++ Nanodegree or Udacity Intro to self-driving cars Nanodegree program to get a clear picture and a lot more understanding.

Nanodegree Certificate of Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree

You will receive a similar Udacity Robotics Software Nanodegree certification upon graduation and completion of the Nanodegree.

Well, you should know that this certificate is not accredited by any university, but it’s definitely a perfect way to show potential recruiters about your qualification and skills. 

You should definitely add it to your LinkedIn or GitHub profile to highlight yourself as a proficient Robotics Software specialist.

You can easily access your certificate through your Udacity account.

Have a look -> Udacity Artificial Intelligence(AI) Nanodegree Review 2022: Expand Your Knowledge Of AI

Some Advance features you get with Udacity

Udacity is popular for its valuable and updated courses which have helped thousands of students, learners, and professionals to improve their skills and land a better job.

Let’s have a look at some of their services.

 1. Mentorship

They have a world-class mentorship, which is one of the best parts of the Udacity programs. Mentors guide you throughout the entire program. 

They will try to answer your every query and doubts which you might face in the program.

Also, they will be responsible for reviewing your projects and providing feedback.

2. Career Services

They always try their best to get you hired and that’s the reason why they help you in the preparation of Job interviews and building a professional resume and profile.

Your resume and profile will be reviewed by an expert who will recommend you to make changes or improvements in it if required.

3. Community and discussion forums

Udacity has a nice community feature where you will meet other like-minded peers from your batch and communicate with them.

You can share your ideas, ask a question in a group or students, and build a professional classroom-like environment.

4. Projects and High-Quality content

The quality of the content of any online learning platform is what really matters.

It is more important than any other stuff available online. Here in Udacity, you will get high-quality content and project-based learning, the programs are overall project-centric.

You can add your projects and certificates to your LinkedIn profile to attract potential employers.

5. Graduation certificate

Having a certificate from a reputed Massive open online course is always an advantage for you.

After the completion of the Udacity Robotics Software Nanodegree, you will receive a decent graduation certification from them.

Most of the employers and potential recruiters are aware of the value of the content provided by Udacity and other big online educational platforms.

About Instructors

So, let’s know about the instructors of this Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree.

• David Silver – Curriculum lead
• Karim Chamaa – Mechatronics and Robotics Engineer
• Julia Chernushevich – Robotics Specialist
• Sebastian Thrun – Founder and President at Udacity

Is Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree Worth it?

Robotics and similar technologies such as Artificial Intelligence are the most trending and in-demand topics today and in the upcoming future.

A perfectly designed robot can perform the task with full efficiency and 100% accuracy, along with saving the cost of manpower company, there are many reasons like this due to which these technologies are expected to form the base of the future technologies to the advanced one.

The Syllabus and the structure of the course are designed in a precise way to make you understand the basics of Robotics along with the supportive technologies which help you develop robust, efficient, robots with less complexity.

Overall this Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree is up to the mark and is best for anyone who wants to become a successful Robotics Software Engineer or to crack the interview for the role related to it.

This job role is in demand, respectful, and future-proof.

We say Yes to this Udacity Robotics Software Nanodegree program. We hope you get all the required information from this Udacity Robotics Software Engineer Nanodegree Review.

However, it’s all up to you, how talented you are and what you’re gonna do to extract out the best possible outcome from this Nanodegree.

Udacity is offering personalized discount.