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The Best Free Tools & Platforms to Practise Robotics Skills in 2025/26
Robotics is one of the fastest-growing industries in the UK and worldwide. From autonomous vehicles and warehouse automation to humanoid robots and robotic surgery, this field blends mechanical engineering, software development, and artificial intelligence. For anyone hoping to enter the sector — whether as a robotics engineer, control systems developer, computer vision specialist, or roboticist in research — practical skills matter far more than theory alone. Employers want proof you can design, simulate, and test robotic systems. The challenge is that real robots are expensive. Buying robotic arms, drones, or mobile platforms isn’t realistic for most learners. Fortunately, a wide range of free tools and platforms exist to let you practise robotics without costly hardware. These include open-source simulators, frameworks, middleware, and reinforcement learning environments. This article explores the best free tools and platforms available in 2025 to help you practise robotics skills, build portfolio projects, and prepare for careers in this exciting field.
Top 10 Skills in Robotics According to LinkedIn & Indeed Job Postings
Robotics is undergoing a transformation—from factory automation to smart cobots in healthcare, logistics, and housing construction. In the UK, increased investment in robotics is creating substantial demand for professionals who can blend mechanical, electrical, software, and AI expertise with practical integration skills. So, what are employers looking for in 2025? By reviewing UK job advertising trends on LinkedIn and Indeed, this article identifies the Top 10 robotics skills in demand—and shows how to highlight them on your CV, in interviews, and through impactful projects.
The Future of Robotics Jobs: Careers That Don’t Exist Yet
Robotics has shifted from science fiction to reality. Machines that once only appeared in novels or films are now operating on factory floors, delivering parcels, assisting surgeons, and even exploring Mars. Robotics is no longer a niche discipline—it is a cornerstone of the fourth industrial revolution. Globally, the robotics market is forecast to grow into the hundreds of billions within the next decade. In the UK, the sector is increasingly important to economic growth, productivity, and national strategy. From the Bristol Robotics Laboratory to the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics, the country is home to pioneering research. Start-ups in London and Cambridge are working on drones, service robots, and medical robotics, while multinational companies base their advanced engineering centres in the UK. Government investment is supporting the development of autonomous systems, with robotics identified as a priority in the UK’s Industrial Strategy. With applications in aerospace, agriculture, defence, logistics, healthcare, and space, robotics has the potential to transform how people live and work. And yet, we are still only in the early stages. As robotics converges with artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, edge computing, advanced materials, and biotechnology, entirely new careers will appear. Many of the most impactful robotics jobs of the future don’t exist yet. This article explores why robotics will create new jobs, the roles most likely to appear, how current positions will evolve, why the UK is well positioned, and what professionals can do to prepare now.