Transition from software to hardware ~ Career Advice

[u/Prentire97]

Hi everyone,

I’m a self-taught software developer with 10 years of experience who is looking for advice on how to move closer to working with hardware (I hope I am in the right place).

For my work, I’ve mostly been using Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Rust, and SQL to build B2B SaaS apps. I also worked a bit with C++/C# for some side projects. I am originally from Germany but moved to the US a few years ago and plan on staying here long term.

I recently picked up a Raspberry Pi and started building my own mini-robot. I got really interested in the idea of transitioning my career to a field where I can combine coding with hands-on engineering. Some fields that have always been of particular interest to me are computer chips, robotics and anything related to aerospace.

I am uncertain how to proceed and whether I should keep going down the route I took for software development of self-teaching myself, which I presume is possible but seems harder than coding. The alternative I’ve considered is doing a remote bachelor's degree from an accredited university in Germany while working in the US, so I don’t need to take any substantial student loans since a degree costs roughly $2k there. The options I am considering are: - Electrical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Computer Engineering

In parallel, I could teach the necessary C, C++, and Python skills myself, as I have done with the other coding languages.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has made a similar switch or has experience in these engineering fields. Looking forward to your advice!

[u/NodeModd]

When you say hardware do you mean embedded or are you talking actually building hardware (im assuming yes since you say computer chips??) if its the latter a degree is basically mandatory companies I highly doubt are going to high “self taught” EEs so a degree is the best route however if its embedded software and you have a solid resume its possible.

[u/Prentire97 → u/NodeModd]

Thanks a lot for your fast response! I haven’t narrowed my decision yet on a particular subfield within the space. I believe that by studying various subjects and experimenting with them, I will better understand which part I enjoy the most. However, I always enjoy understanding what I am working on down to its core, so even if I would decide to ultimately write the embedded software, a deep understanding of how the chips work and technically being capable of assembling them sounds desirable to me. Right now I believe it would make most sense to pivot to something that combines software engineering and the hardware part in those fields somehow.

[u/flamingtoastjpn → u/Prentire97]

If you want to understand how computer chips work, ideally youd want to get a degree in computer engineering and take as many VLSI classes as possible, plus classes in computer architecture and operating systems

I don’t think you will be able to get any calls back for hardware jobs without a degree. Embedded systems might be possible with your current background

[u/gimpwiz → u/Prentire97]

So here's my advice. Grab the publicly available datasheet for the chipset your ras pi uses. Read through it and basically get to the point that you understand it.

So you want to learn about spi, i2c, uart, timers, interrupts, ADCs (and DACs), GPIOs, direct memory access and memory mapped registers, and so forth. You want to get all those things actually alive and working, not just understood in theory. Get functional drivers working for the protocols and talk to peripheral devices. Expect this to take maybe a year or so of study and experimentation at an hour or two a day.

[u/sighar → u/Prentire97]

Hardware is way more work to understand, it’s not like SWE and if you really want to understand; you’d have to follow all the EE courses CEs take, that stuff can be very lengthy and challenging

[u/Glittering-Source0]

All of those fields have a high level of entry. You need an in person 4 year bachelors. Especially since it sounds like you don’t have a bachelors already. That’s bare minimum.

Another option could be a trade school or associates degree type thing and then do into more of a technician role than an engineer role

[u/Teflonwest301]

I made a similar switch, the field that pivoted me well was Embedded Controls. I used a Raspberry Pi to implement mechanical controls on a haptic wheel with C code. Combined CS, EE, and ME very well in an intuitive way. Strangely enough, it landed me a job in the semiconductor industry, working on firmware.

I took the course through a course at a University in the USA, so it cannot be done remotely however. But if you have $2k to spend on education, there should be tutorials on doing similar things.

Largest bottle neck in hardware as always, are physical supplies. It needs to be an investment. The main reason why hardware is difficult to pivot is because universities have labs with equipment, but once you are out, you are on your own or get equipment through a company. Software is easy to pivot because anyone at anytime can change to it. All you need is a laptop.

[u/Prentire97 → u/Teflonwest301]

Thanks a lot for sharing your story, that’s very encouraging! May I ask what kind of course it was exactly that you took and how long that was? I am also open to taking an in-person course and investing into my education, I just wouldn’t want to take a $100k+ student loan at the moment. You have a good point about the accessibility of hardware and its components making an in-person learning experience easier.

Are you ultimately happy that you made the transition?

[u/Teflonwest301 → u/Prentire97]

The course I took was called “Embedded Controls” combining Embedded Systems with Control Theory. Basically think building a self-balancing robot on two wheels. The course was 4 months in-person.

Now that I think about it, building a self balancing robot on two wheels with an arduino or raspberry pi is an excellent project to transition from software to hardware. Should be kits and tutorials online, degree isn’t required. Use ChatGPT to explain the physics and differential equations behind the math of balancing (they are not too complicated) Parts are pretty much: - Microcontroller - Motors and wheels - Frame (kit should include this) - Battery pack - other stuff (h-bridge, whatever the tutorial wants) - jumper wires and breadboard

Cost should be less than $200, prob closer to $100. Even less if you order from AliExpress (but China quality)

Even more impressive if you stick a camera on it and implement some computer vision with Yolov8 and navigation on the robot.

I think hardware was an excellent decision for me, and I have mostly been shielded from the poor job market in other tech sectors.

[u/llFLAWLESSll]

I have a few resources that might be useful for you. 1. General Electronics: Google „6.002 MIT OCW“, get the the book and enjoy a comprehensive first look into electronics. 2. Computer Architecture: Again google „6.004 Computational structures MIT OCW“ and enjoy a course were you start with digital gates from transistors and work your way up to a fully functioning CPU core in simulation. 3. Operating Systems: Google „Operating systems 3 easy pieces“ it is a freely available online book. For something more hands on you can google „CS140E Stanford GitHub“, which is the repo of all the labs used at Stanford where they implement a simple kernel for a raspberry pi.

All of the resources above are completely free and imo top notch(the Electronics book is not unless… It is imo worth every penny).

[u/Prentire97 → u/llFLAWLESSll]

Thank you very much! I added them to my shopping list.

[u/psychodad69]

If by hardware you mean writing verilog to create digital logic, I would recommend getting a $200 FPGA dev board first. You can run through some tutorials then build some simple stuff of your own. It might not be enough to know if you will really enjoy it. However, it will be enough to know you really don't like it.

[u/jv1702]

What is the name of this Uni in Germany that u were looking at for online bachelors degrees?

[u/Prentire97 → u/jv1702]

I did my Bachelor of Science in Economics at the FernUniversität in Hagen, so I thought they might have something Engineering related as well. However, they seem to only have a Computer Science degree though. I am currently exploring all the options both in Germany and the US to see what would be best. Based on the replies here and my further research I am starting to also consider US universities.

[u/desklamp__]

My suggestion would be to do a MS in ECE