How to be a Self Driving Car Engineer?

Are you looking to become a self-driving car engineer? If yes, you are in the correct place! In this article, I will help you learn everything there is to know about the topic “how to be a self driving car engineer”. 

Before I get started, let’s take a look at the field of self-driving cars itself. As you know, self-driving cars being mainstream is becoming a reality as each day passes.

There have been some major leaps in self-driving car technology, however, it’s still not enough yet. As a natural consequence, self-driving car engineers are increasingly becoming high in demand. As the technology keeps growing, the demand for Self-Driving car engineers also increases.

Alright, so let’s get started and answer the question you are here for.

How to Become Self Driving Car Engineer?

To understand how you can become a self-driving car engineer, you need to first know the role of a self-driving car engineer. A self-driving car engineer is basically a software engineer with highly specialized knowledge. 

A self-driving car engineer needs to be very skilled to ensure the highest level of software quality. Moreover, as the field is still developing, the responsibilities of a self-driving car engineer have only been growing day by day.

Skills Required to Become a Self-Driving Car Engineer

To become a self-driving car engineer, you will require these skills:

1. Mathematics: If you are aspiring to become a self-driving car engineer, having advanced mathematical knowledge of calculus and linear algebra is a must.
2. Coding knowledge: As a self-driving car engineer is essentially a software engineer, it goes without saying that programming knowledge is necessary. I recommend that you learn at least basic languages like C++ and Python.
3. Basic Computer Science concepts: Apart from coding knowledge, it’s also a good idea to pick up all the basic concepts used in CS. They will surely come in handy.
4. Robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning: Since a self-driving car is “autonomous” as the name suggests, you will need knowledge of these fields to engineer self-driving cars.

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Self Driving Car Engineer Salary

A self-driving car engineer job is a lucrative opportunity for all engineers because of the high salary offered. As per some census done recently, the average salary per year of a self-driving car engineer is around $230,000. 

The reason for the salary of a self-driving car engineer being so high is that not only the job requires a pretty high level of skill, but also a great number of them. 

The competition in the field is also obviously pretty high because of the high salary. That’s why it’s important for you to focus on acquiring as many skills as you can and working on improving your skill level as much as you can.

Course Recommendation #1: Intro to Self-Driving Cars on Udacity

I know there are many people who aren’t sure how they should begin studying to become a self-driving car engineer as planning out a study route isn’t so easy. 

Many students prefer the help of a course that can guide them through a study plan and provide them with a proper structure. Courses are definitely a great way to save time that you would have to spend researching everything.

If you are such a student, then the Intro to Self-Driving Cars on Udacity is the perfect course for you. Four-month access to the course costs $1356. You can also decide to pay monthly at $399 per month. You and read the entire review here.

Prerequisites

There are certain prerequisites for the course. These include Basic Programming, CS knowledge, Algebra, Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability.

What Will You Learn in This Course?

You will learn:

1. Bayesian Thinking: This will help you understand the way a self-driving car sees the world. 
2. Working with Matrices: You will learn Object Oriented Programming and Linear Algebra. 
3. C++ Basics: This section will teach you how to translate Python codes into C++.
4. Performance Programming in C++: You will learn how to write code that runs well. 
5. Navigating Complex Data Structures: Frequently used data structures and algorithms will be taught in this part.
6. Visualizing Calculus and Controls: Basic calculus and Python-based visualization libraries will be the focus.
7. Machine Learning and Computer Vision: In this section, you will understand how a computer sees an image and use machine learning to teach it to identify them.

Course Recommendation #2: Become a Self-Driving Car Engineer on Udacity

Once you have taken the Intro course, this is the course you should look into. You can also enroll in this course if you’re familiar with the basics. The average time for completion of this course is six months while giving fifteen hours each week.

The prerequisites of this course are mostly covered in the above course. The cost of this course is $2034 for six months. It has a monthly option too that costs $399 per month.

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What will you learn in this course?

1. Introduction: Intro to the working of self-driving cars.
2. Computer Vision: Learn to use cameras to navigate around difficult roads.
3. Deep Learning: Here you will learn how to build deep neural networks and train them with real-world data.
4. Sensor Fusion: You will learn some advanced techniques for tracking objects around the car.
5. Localization: This part will focus on how you can determine the location of the car in real-time.
6. Planning: Planning trajectory for your car based on predictions of how other objects will move will be taught in this section.
7. Control: Here you will find how to make a controller for the car that will control its various aspects.
8. System Integration: You will work with Udacity’s own self-driving car, Carla, and combine everything you have learned in the entire course.

Conclusion

You now know all there is to know about how to be a self driving car engineer. Keep at it, work hard, and you are sure to achieve what you set out to do one day. Good luck!