I’ve never participated in HS robotics clubs, and does WPI RBS require prior knowledge of robots? I have none, but I’m interested in doing robotics in college (based on what I’ve learned about the subject). Also, is the robotics course taught from scratch? Thank you.
Prior robotics background is not required. The recommended preparation for the first “INTRODUCTION TO ROBOTICS” course list two courses in calculus based physics. You will find a number of students with prior experience in Robotics project activity.
See https://www.wpi.edu/academics/calendar-courses/course-descriptions/17991/robotics-engineering#RBE-1001 and also https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/robotics-engineering
Also give some thought to what your second and third choices for a major could be. At WPI you are NOT married to a major on admission. Even psychology majors get into Robotics.
Prior experience is not required, but as someone came in with robotics experience, the class was pretty rough for me still (but I do enjoy it). The workload is pretty large, and students joke about how RBE majors have so much work and never leave the lab. Most kids in the class have experience in FRC, so it is much easier for them to design the mechanisms we needed for the project. It was a really fun class, even though the first couple weeks could be very overwhelming. Class is 1 hr a day and it feels very short when prof is teaching a complex set of questions, so there are many people who go to the lab and get help from TAs. You might have to spend time learning the material on your own as well. For the hands-on experience, just spend more time in the lab and with your team, you will learn things (mechs, coding, etc) quickly if you have a great team. It is crazy how much stuff that this class could teach you.