>>11886007I'm actually doing this so I'll give you some tips.
1) I agree with other posters about "mind and body", particularly the mind. At this point why not just go for a human companion.
2) Noone in academia will support your cause. To us it makes sense, but academia wants something that appeals to the public. To get funding on a simple human prototype arm I had to discuss in my grant request of developing sarcomeric type prosthetics to help amputees.
3) I recommend EE/ME/CS degrees as building a robot heavily relies on each discipline, however, you will need a biology background or at least your education needs an emphasis on basic Human A&P. The reason most robots are shit is because you have mechanical engineers designing machines based off what makes sense to them and little to no basis on human anatomy and physiology. Prosthetic manufacturers are better at this than your typical silicon valley engineer, but they don't try to build a full functioning robot either.
4) The best way to get funding outside of academia is self funding and finding others (preferably with a lot of money) that also want this.
5) For a graduate degree I recommend a MBA (focus on technical product management internships). If you do a normal STEM degree you'll be a slave to a company even if you make $$$.
