u/Extra-Alps-3127

Hi, I’m a second-year EE student (at a mid-tier-engineering school), and I am aiming for robotics internships next summer at companies like Boston Dynamics or Tesla.

I’m trying to decide where to focus my effort over the next year:

• Firmware / embedded systems (STM32, C, ROS2, controls, edge AI, ML)
• Hardware / PCB design

Current experience:

• Some computer vision work (MediaPipe)
• Currently building an impedance-controlled actuator (STM32 + motor + encoder + current sensing)

My question is:
For robotics internships, which direction tends to be more valuable? And what kinds of projects actually stand out when applying?

I tend to get shiny-object syndrome and find a new thing to learn without going deep into one, and I want to focus on one topic and learn something that has the highest ROI.

Hi, I’m a second-year EE student (at a mid-tier-engineering school), and I am aiming for robotics internships next summer at companies like Boston Dynamics or Tesla.

I’m trying to decide where to focus my effort over the next year:

• Firmware / embedded systems (STM32, C, ROS2, controls, edge AI, ML)
• Hardware / PCB design

Current experience:

• Some computer vision work (MediaPipe)
• Currently building an impedance-controlled actuator (STM32 + motor + encoder + current sensing)

My question is:
For robotics internships, which direction tends to be more valuable? And what kinds of projects actually stand out when applying?

I tend to get shiny-object syndrome and find a new thing to learn without going deep into one, and I want to focus on one topic and learn something that has the highest ROI.