Gun-toting robots.

• Position: Miss

* If a bomb disposal team can attach a gripper to a robot and use it to dismantle roadside bombs, can a soldier attach a machine gun to a similar device and use it to remotely fire a weapon?

Sure. Is the military ready to take this step? Apparently not.

The special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action systems (SWORDS) robot, developed by the Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center was featured on a Discovery Channel documentary and three units were eventually deployed to Iraq in 2007. But they were immediately placed behind sandbags and users were ordered to keep them in fixed positions.

"Involuntary movements" was one of the reasons cited.

A kid sneaking up and wielding a baseball bat could easily defeat the robot. Or by tossing a blanket over it, critics pointed out. Others wondered why insurgents couldn't drive up in a truck, toss it in the back and haul it away as war booty.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The idea to send a robot into an urban...