Joe, yes it's Owen. Sorry, here's the name and author of the book:
Robo sapiens: Evolution of a New Species (Hardcover)
by Peter Menzel
It's not, a textbook, it's a book that talks about all the tons of places where robotics are at and what they are doing. Not too mention, it has tons of cool pics of all the cool bots. :-) (I like that)
Jeez, you know, you have an enormous amount of flexibility with with a comp sci degree. IMO, programs that specialize as undergrads are ok, but I think, it's better you get well rounded.
Why? B/c ALL of science is intereconnected! Period. Don't discuss with me, or I'll ignore you. You really do need to have a broad knowledge. Agreed, you need A degree, but that doesn't mean just b/c you know you want robotics, you do nothing but robotics.
Consider what Chris was talking about above. I was aware of most of that, and thanks for the reminder Chris, but the thing is, like I said, a there are a MILLION angles to something like robotics. For example, in the book, you'll meet a western physicist working in Japan on robotics.
My friend does crypto. And I think once quantum computing happens, that that field will explode in a million new directions.
A common job of a comp sci degree, is softwear eng. Think Dilbert. :-)
Robotics. I say, do the comp sci. Take mech classes, take advanced math classes (by the way most comp sci people at my school double with applied math). Try to get into a school that has robotics (this key). Then go to graduate school for robotics. But all along the while, don't forget to learn other things. Life will truly amaze you with how intereconnected things are, and the more you know broader things, the more amazing it will be.
Check out Wikipedia on Computer Science. They'll spell it out well for you. :-)
Chirs, thanks. I learned about Comp Geom in my Robotics class I took. I was amazed at how much math is involved. My wife and I had a large adavantage in that class, but when it came to building lego robots it didn't much matter. But I know if we had gone on to graduate school in it, it would have really proven worth while. But of course, it's still an option for me. :-)