About the programme

The Robotics and Autonomous Systems specialisation track will prepare you for challenging software- and hardware-oriented research. The courses will make you ready for development tasks in industry, society and academia. Graduates’ employment prospects are good in Finland, in Europe and globally. You can tailor the direction of your studies toward a hardware or software emphasis by elective studies in both major and minor subjects.

You will get a strong knowledge base for designing and implementing autonomous and intelligent systems. For example, the programme focuses on utilising algorithms in embedded systems, such as drones and small unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), whose computing capacity is limited. In addition, the programme considers various hardware and software architectures, hardware accelerators, reconfigurable circuits, and device-specific programming, with preference to integrate intelligence and sensors into actuators. Individual and group assignment projects are an integral part of several courses. Projects and courses utilise different robotic platforms from aerial robotics to collaborative robots.

The track educates professionals in various positions in research, development, and design in robotic systems and technologies such as autonomous robots and smart industrial IoT systems. You will learn to become prepared for a range of challenging tasks from basic robotic operations like perception, mapping, and navigation to the design flow of autonomous and robotic systems.

Programme Structure

The programme consists of the following sections:

• Joint advanced studies of the ICT degree program, 20 ECTS
• Core module in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 20 ECTS
• Advanced studies in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 10 ECTS
• Master’s thesis, 30 ECTS
• Thematic module or minor subject, 20-25 ECTS
• Elective studies, 15-20 ECTS

In the master’s thesis in Technology, you will prove your ability to perform scientific work, skilfulness in research methods, knowledge of the research field, and skill of scientific writing. To complete the master’s thesis, you will need to apply your technological skills and abilities. You will identify an engineering problem, study its relevance to the field, propose and design a solution, test and analyse it, and evaluating its merit.

Career Prospects

The employment percentage of those holding an MSc (Tech.) degree is high in Finland. Depending on your personal study plan, the Robotics and Autonomous Systems specialisation track can provide competence for a wide variety of jobs in the fields of embedded systems, communications technology, and ubiquitous computing solutions, including edge accounting. Employers come from a wide variety of industrial sectors including both large companies and new, innovation-driven, high-tech growth firms. The possible positions are:

• embedded systems/solutions engineer/developer,
• embedded systems R&D test engineer,
• wireless embedded software engineer,
• robotic systems software engineer,
• Internet-of-things solutions architect,
• hardware engineer,
• automotive systems engineer.

Career in Research

Master’s degree (Technology) also gives you eligibility for scientific postgraduate degree studies – doctoral and licentiate degrees. Degrees can be completed within the University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS) and Doctoral Programmes.