So far this is the most advanced armed bot I've seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMkV8E2re9U

You're right as far as perception, but it is immobile. Mobile robots are to immobile robots as animals are to plants.

Any wagers on where the first shot fired from an armed unmanned ground vehicle? N.Korea DMZ, Iraq, ... Iran?

Oh, Iraq I'd imagine, since those bots are actually seeing action. I'm not sure the South Korean bot is deployed yet.

The reason that South Korean bot is so impressive (and scary as hell) is that the damn thing is autonomous, not tele-operated. There's something about the idea of a machine making the call to kill a human that's kind of horrifying.

I guess looking at it from the perspective that the code in the machine is just the automated thoughts of a human makes it seem more like deferred human intention than machine-uprising. Still.

Has the Predator drone dropped any bombs autonomously yet? I guess that might count as the first shot, although I'm pretty sure there is a manual confirmation there before it does anything.

All UAV kills have had a human in the loop.

Land mines have been killing people autonomously for years :).

You're right about the SK bot. Certain sites are just that sensitive: kill anything coming here.

Breaching the first two fences with warning signs outside a nuclear facility is probably another place to shoot first.

I suppose Tasers are a good alternative. iRobot is working with Taser to get their systems on our robots.

iRobot is one of the top 3 companies I would love to work for - I'm sure you guys will stay as one of the major players in the coming years when autonomous robotics comes around. Have you ever considered starting your own company though, or do you plan to make youre career at iRobot?