This robotics specialization, offered by the prestigious Northwestern University, allows students to take six exciting courses for free. While the specialization takes six months to complete, nearly 15% of students started a new career after completing it, and half of students received a pay raise or promotion after completing it. As previously stated, Coursera is an educational platform that allows students to participate in both paid and free classes and specializations in order to advance or begin their careers. Coursera is a leading massive open online course platform that frequently collaborates with prestigious universities and institutions.

This specialization's courses cover topics like foundations of robot motion, robot kinematics, robot dynamics, robot motion planning, and robot manipulation. The specialization culminates with a capstone project in which students control the base of a robot and its robotic arm to complete a task. Students will understand robotics mathematics and have written their own robotics software by the end of the free online robotics course with certificate. It is strongly advised that students take the six courses in the specialization in the order listed because they will be building on material learned in previous courses.

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Offered by preeminent US institution
  • Material builds as you move through specialization
• Cons:
  • Required to know some programming language before starting

Cost: Free
Certificate: Yes
Time to Complete: Approximately 6 months
Curriculum: Intermediate
User Experience: Excellent
Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 4.8/5.0

Enroll here: coursera.org/specializations/modernrobotics

This course, like the last one on the list, comes from a prestigious US university that offers one of its commonly taught courses online for free. Stanford University in California requires an average 3.96 GPA as well as an impressive application in addition to your grades. Professor Oussama Khatib, who conducts research in human-centered robotics and human-friendly robot design, teaches this free online robotics course. He is more than qualified to teach this course, and his numerous lectures have been recorded and made available online for easy viewing or listening.

The course's goal is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of robotics, including lessons on modeling, design, robot control, and motion planning. To successfully complete the course, you must first watch the corresponding lecture and then complete the associated readings and problem sets. The course also includes a midterm and final exam, so you should be studying the material as you go through it. Lectures generally follow the format of the book, so reading alongside the course should be simple.

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Lectures are recorded for anytime listening and watching
  • Taught by a highly qualified expert in robotics
• Cons:
  • No certificate of completion

Cost: Free

Certificate: No

Time to Complete: Approximately one semester

Curriculum: Beginner

User Experience: Excellent

Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 4.8/5.0

Enroll here: see.stanford.edu/course/cs223a

Over 32,000 people have taken this LinkedIn Learning class, which is a quick course that takes about an hour and a half to complete. Robotic process automation (RPA) is a branch of robotics that mimics human work, with the goal of changing the way we work. LinkedIn Learning is an online learning platform powered by the internet's most popular professional networking site. LinkedIn Learning, which is normally a subscription-based site, offers a one-month free trial to new members. Furthermore, many current college students are eligible for free membership.

Learners will be able to grasp the foundational, key concepts of robotic process automation and learn where it can be best applied throughout the free online robotics course. In addition, Ian Barkin, the instructor, will show students a variety of global companies that are currently using robotic process automation to demonstrate how it can be used. Students will be able to explain swivel-chair integration, identify when RPA can be most effectively used, and list factors to consider when evaluating RPA software by the end of the course.

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Quick overview of robotic process automation concepts
  • See how RPA is implemented in modern companies
• Cons:
  • Certificate does not come with course

Cost: Free
Certificate: No
Time to Complete: Approximately 1.5 hours
Curriculum: Beginner
User Experience: Excellent
Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 4.7/5.0

Enroll here: linkedin.com/learning/introducing-robotic-process-automation

Future Learn is an online education platform that provides a rotating list of the best online robotics courses throughout the year, so the exciting new content is constantly changing. This introduction to robotics course is offered in collaboration with the University of Reading and takes approximately one month. This course's instructors are Richard Mitchell and William Harwin, both of whom work in robotics departments at the University of Reading. This course is completely free to take, but students can get additional benefits for a $74 fee, which includes a certificate of completion for the course.

This course's four weeks of lessons will cover topics such as introduction to robotics, robot anatomy, cybernetics and control, and robot behaviors. Learners will be able to identify different types of robot functions and where they might be used by the end of the course, appreciate how robotics can be applied to many different uses, and know the appropriate commands that will allow a robot to complete a task effectively. The free online robotics course for beginners is specifically designed for anyone interested in robotics; no fancy degree or prior knowledge is required to begin!

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Learn robotic commands and applications
  • Earn shareable certificate with a fee
• Cons:
  • Certificate does not come for free upon completion

Cost: Free

Certificate: Yes (With $74 fee)

Time to Complete: Approximately 4 weeks

Curriculum: Beginner

User Experience: Excellent

Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 4.6/5.0

Enroll here: futurelearn.com/courses/begin-robotics

This Udemy course is primarily intended for students interested in 3D design who want to learn more about mechanisms and robotics. This course is for you if you want to work more on the design or conceptual side of robotics. Udemy is an educational online platform that offers thousands of courses to students for free or for a fee, depending on the instructor and institution. On Udemy, you can find many completely free courses, including this five-hour online robotics course created by John Devitry.

This class has some prerequisites that are described on the course webpage, so it is not intended for novice users. Instead, this course is intended to prepare students for a university-level mechanical engineering course. This course serves as the foundation for robotics design and is essentially the intersection of mechanical engineering and robotics. Throughout the course of the class, students will examine various types of mechanisms used to construct machines and robots.

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Dives deeply into design concepts
• Cons:
  • Certificate does not come with course
  • Requires design prerequisites
  • Aimed mainly at design students, those interested in conceptual robotics

Cost: Free

Certificate: No

Time to Complete: Approximately 5 hours

Curriculum: Intermediate to advanced

User Experience: Excellent

Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 4.6/5.0

Enroll here: udemy.com/course/mechanisms/

Do you want to work as a professional robotics developer in a competitive industry? ROS, or Robot Operating System, is currently being used in a wide range of university settings and tech start-ups, and mastering it could be your key to moving into the robotics industry on the development side. This course is a SkillShare Premium course, which means you'll need a Premium membership to access it. SkillShare, on the other hand, provides a 14-day free trial of Premium for new members, which is the ideal amount of time to dive into this short course, which only takes one hour to complete.

ROS is the operating system that powers a wide range of robots, such as aerial vehicles, manipulators, and wheeled mobile robots. This course is an excellent place to begin if you are new to the world of professional robotics programming. The course also includes a class project in which you will be able to program your own ROS Nodes as if they were running on a real robot. By the end of the free online robotics course, you will have a firm understanding of how to use ROS and how to enter the world of robotics programming.

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Gives introduction to robotic programming and development
  • Offers good grasp on ROS
• Cons:
  • Does not go over more basic robotics concepts

Cost: Free
Certificate: No
Time to Complete: Approximately 1 hour
Curriculum: Beginner
User Experience: Excellent
Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 4.6/5.0

Enroll here: skillshare.com/classes/Learn-Robot-Operating-System-Basics/860662615

The QUT Robot Academy aims to connect students to short robotics lessons as well as masterclasses without the need for students to pay for prestigious university education. Their videos and courses are university-level, assisting students in preparing for and understanding future technology. The site is supported by Australia's Queensland University of Technology and the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision. Over 200 lessons are available for free viewing on the website, with some lessons even including sample quizzes to test your knowledge.

Professor Peter Corke of Queensland University of Technology teaches the Introduction to Robotics Masterclass, which takes just under an hour. Corke serves on the editorial boards of several major robotics journals and is well-qualified to teach students the fundamentals of robotics. Students will have learned how robots have been represented in fiction, how robots have worked historically, how robots work today, how robots are human-like, why we need robots, and robots that will likely be working in the distant future by the end of the masterclass.

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Offered by one of the most knowledgeable resources on robotics
  • Gives a wide, conceptual perspective on robotics
• Cons:
  • Very short course
  • No certificate of completion

Cost: Free
Certificate: No
Time to Complete: Approximately 1 hour
Curriculum: Beginner
User Experience: Excellent
Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Website: robotacademy.net.au/masterclass/introduction-to-robotics

Do you want to have the foundation for a new career in robotics? This specialization, or group of the best online robotics courses, offered by Coursera enabled 60% of students who completed it to begin an entirely new career. Coursera is a learning website that aims to help students advance in their professional careers or begin a completely new career path. Coursera almost always provides shareable certificates for their courses, allowing students to share them on social media, LinkedIn profiles, or with potential employers. Coursera is free to join and offers both free and paid specializations to students.

This is a beginner level robotics specialization that takes about 7 months to complete. The free online robotics course with certificate allows you to set your own deadlines, allowing you to work at your own pace while staying on track. The specialization delves into many fascinating aspects of robots, such as how robots perceive their surroundings, how robots move, and how robots avoid obstacles. You will have learned how to program a robot to perform complex movements by the end of the robotics online course for beginners.

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Learn how robots move, complete tasks, etc
  • Earn shareable certificate
• Cons:
  • Longer course, takes more than half a year to complete

Certificate: Yes
Time to Complete: Approximately 7 months
Curriculum: Beginner User
Experience: Excellent
Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 4.3/5.0
Website: coursera.org/specializations/robotics

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is the most prestigious technological university in the United States. The average GPA at MIT is 4.17, implying that you must be near the top of your class to be considered. Fortunately for those with lower GPAs, MIT Open Courseware allows students who do not attend the university to take some of their courses for free. This Introduction to Robotics course was originally taught in the Fall of 2005, but the syllabus, lectures, and course materials are now freely available to students.

The best online robotics course provides students with an overview of key robotics concepts they will need to know as they progress, such as mechanisms, dynamics, and intelligent controls. Other topics covered in the course include motion planning, 3D simulation, embedded software, human-machine interface, and more. The course also includes two hands-on robotics projects in which students will be able to build two robots, one of which will be designed to perform navigation and manipulation for disaster response purposes. This is a comprehensive course that will leave students feeling challenged and impressed with their robotics knowledge.

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Offered by one of the USA’s most prestigious universities
  • Offers the opportunity for two hands-on robotics projects
• Cons:
  • No certificate of completion

Cost: Free
Certificate: No
Time to Complete: Approximately one semester
Curriculum: Beginner
User Experience: Excellent
Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 4.3/5.0

Website: ocw.mit.edu/courses/2-12-introduction-to-robotics-fall-2005/

The best online robotics courses on the edX website, provided by Columbia University, allows students to understand the fundamental techniques for representing robots that perform real-world tasks for humans. The course is free, but you can upgrade to a shareable certificate for $249, which you can display alongside your resume or on your LinkedIn profile. This is a higher-level computer science course designed for advanced learners in the technology field who may be unfamiliar with robotics. edX is an online education platform that provides a variety of paid and free courses from prestigious institutions.

You will learn how to represent 2D and 3D spatial relationships, how to manipulate robot arms kinetically, how to program and move mobile robots, how to plan complete robot systems, and how to develop applications for robots to use in this free online robotics course with certificate. Matei Ciocarlie, a professor in Columbia's Department of Mechanical Engineering, teaches the course. You will have covered all of the fundamentals of robotics, including the mind and body of the robot, by the end of the ten-week course.

• Pros:
  • Start anytime and go at your own pace
  • Learn the fundamentals of the “body” and “mind” of robots
  • Earn shareable certificate with a fee
• Cons:
  • Certificate does not come for free upon completion

Cost: Free
Certificate: Yes (With $249 fee)
Time to Complete: Approximately 10 weeks
Curriculum: Advanced
User Experience: Excellent
Quality of Instruction: Excellent

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Website: edx.org/course/robotics-2