Engineering & Technology
How to become a Robotics & Automation Engineer
Also known as Mechatronics Engineer, Industrial Automation Engineer. Everything below comes from the same database our assessment scores against.
The route in
1. Undergraduate
4 years- Qualifications:
- B.Tech Mechatronics, B.Tech Robotics & Automation, B.Tech Mechanical Engineering
- Entrance exams:
- JEE Main, State CET
- Typical cost:
- ₹2.5 lakh to ₹18 lakh
Subjects you must have taken
Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics. Without these the direct route is closed, though a bridging or open-school route often reopens it.
What does a Robotics & Automation Engineer earn in India?
Entry level
₹4 lakh – ₹9 lakh
per year
Mid career
₹12 lakh – ₹30 lakh
per year
Indicative. These bands are an editorial estimate assembled from public reporting, and have not yet been reconciled against a named dataset. Treat them as a shape, not a promise — the same title pays very differently across a service company, a product company and a start-up.
Outlook
Hiring demand
High growth — one of the faster-expanding areas in the country.
Exposure to automation
Low. The core of this work is hard to automate — it depends on judgement, physical presence or accountability that does not transfer to software.
What does a Robotics & Automation Engineer do?
What this actually looks like
A day as a Robotics & Automation Engineer
Written about this role. The references behind it cover engineering & technology as a field rather than robotics & automation engineer specifically.
What you would actually be doing
- Working out which part of a manual process is worth automating and which is not
- Selecting robots, grippers, sensors and conveyors to suit a cycle time
- Programming robot paths and PLC logic, then debugging what the simulation missed
- Commissioning a cell on the shop floor, usually during a plant shutdown
- Handing the line over to production and fixing what they find in the first weeks
Who you work with
- Production and maintenance teams who will live with what you install
- Mechanical designers building fixtures, guarding and tooling
- Robot and automation vendors and their application engineers
- Safety engineers, on guarding, interlocks and risk assessment
What you work with
- Robot teach pendants and offline programming software
- PLC and HMI development environments
- Vision systems, sensors and end effectors
- Simulation software, and a stopwatch on the shop floor
Where and when: Automotive and electronics plants, warehouse automation sites, systems integrators and machine builders — Pune, Chennai, Gurgaon and Bengaluru mostly. Commissioning happens in plant shutdowns, which means nights and holidays.
Working conditions
- Typical hours
- 9 hours
- Remote possible
- No — this is on-site work
- Travel
- medium travel
- Physical demand
- low physical demand
Reality check
Before you choose robotics & automation engineer
A report that only lists what is appealing about a career is an advertisement. This is the other half. Written about this role. The references behind it cover engineering & technology as a field rather than robotics & automation engineer specifically.
What people like about it
- The cell either runs to cycle time or it does not, which is unambiguous
- Automation demand in Indian manufacturing and warehousing is rising fast
- The work spans mechanical, electrical and software in one role
- Commissioning a line that then runs for years is a lasting result
What is genuinely hard
- Commissioning is done during shutdowns — nights, weekends, festivals
- Plant floors are hot, noisy and unforgiving of a design that does not fit
- Automation displaces jobs, and you are in the room when that is discussed
- Vendor dependence for spares and software is a constant constraint
- Who tends to enjoy this work
- Like making physical systems work through code, are comfortable on a shop floor, and are patient with debugging that only happens when the line is stopped.
- What the education journey is really like
- A B.Tech in mechatronics, electrical, electronics, instrumentation or mechanical engineering. Vendor training on specific robot and PLC platforms — Fanuc, ABB, KUKA, Siemens, Rockwell — is what employers actually hire for, and it usually comes from the employer. An M.Tech helps for design and research roles rather than integration work.
Other legitimate ways in
The first route does not always work, and it is not always the best one. These are real alternatives, not consolation prizes.
Systems integrator route
- B.Tech in mechatronics, electrical, electronics or mechanical engineering
- Automation engineer with a systems integrator or machine builder
- Lead commissioning engineer, then project or applications management
The fastest way to touch many platforms and plants, at the cost of heavy travel.
In-house plant automation
- Engineering degree with PLC and robot platform training
- Maintenance or automation role inside a manufacturing plant
- Plant automation lead, or manufacturing engineering management
Fixed location and deeper knowledge of one operation, with fewer platforms.
Who may not enjoy being a Robotics & Automation Engineer?
Nothing here is a judgement about you — it is what the job is like, listed so you can decide whether it is what you want.
- The hours look like this: 9 hours.
- It cannot be done remotely. The work needs you physically there.
The four hardest things about the work itself are listed above, under what is genuinely hard. If those and the points here describe things you would rather not sign up for, that is a real answer and worth having before a stream or a degree is chosen around it.
What skills does a Robotics & Automation Engineer need?
What the job actually asks for, split four ways. The assessment tells you which of these your own scores already speak to.
Technical skills
- Robot programming and path optimisation
- PLC and HMI logic development
- Cycle time analysis and cell layout
- Commissioning and mechanical integration
People skills
- Working with production teams who have to live with your design
- Debugging calmly while a line is stopped
- Handing over properly to maintenance
Digital and AI skills
- Offline programming and simulation software
- Industrial networks, SCADA and machine data
- Vision system configuration
Industry knowledge
- Which robot and PLC platforms are standard in Indian plants
- How systems integrators, machine builders and end users differ as employers
- What actually justifies an automation investment
If Robotics & Automation Engineer appeals, also look at
Chosen by how far the interest pattern and the weighted activities of each one overlap with this. The reason is printed so you can disagree with it.
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Streams this is reachable from
Exams worth knowing about
Where an exam has its own page, it lists every other career it opens — useful if this one turns out not to fit.
Where this qualification also leads
The degrees on this route open other doors too. Worth knowing before you commit to one destination.
Where you can study for this
Institutions in our database with a course that is a recognised route into this work. Fees shown on each page are indicative until checked against the institution's own published structure.
Who tends to be happy here
People who rate these highly tend to stay in this work. If none of them sound like you, that is worth taking seriously.
- Achievement
- Independence
Are you sure Robotics & Automation Engineer is the career you want?
Everything above describes the job. None of it tells you whether it fits you. So it is worth asking plainly, before a stream or a degree gets chosen around it.
- Not sure? Then this is exactly the question the assessment exists to answer. It compares you against Robotics & Automation Engineer and 196 other careers, and shows the arithmetic behind every score, so you can see why rather than being handed a verdict.
- Quite sure? Then double-check anyway. Being certain is not the same as having checked, and the cost of finding out late is counted in years rather than in the 45 minutes this takes. If it confirms what you already think, you carry on with a reason instead of a hope — plus the education route, the entrance exams and a ninety-day plan.
And if it does not line up, nothing closes. Robotics & Automation Engineer stays on your list with the gap named and a route attached, next to the careers your profile already reaches — so the answer is something to act on either way.
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Last verified 2026-08-01. This is a career-guidance instrument. It is not a clinical or diagnostic tool. It does not measure intelligence, IQ, or a person’s worth. Its results are one input among several, and are intended to be interpreted with a trained counsellor.