I don't really get feeling bad about kicking the robot, must just be that it looks so much like an animal. Speaking from military experience I can say being able to kick it out of the way is extremely useful, it may be between me and the closest cover from enemy fire, or it might be about to step on a mine or IED.
Looks very promising, hopefully future versions can come with built in light armor. That would be a dream come true for many grunts out there, letting a robot carry your extra supplies and also provide cover from small arms and shrapnel.
I don't have the stories handy, but there are records of military units getting emotionally attached to their bomb disposal robots. For example, some units have held funerals for the robots that are rendered non-operational, and some soldiers have even gone to the extreme of risking their own life to "rescue" "injured" service robots. It shouldn't need to be said, but this is the exact opposite of what the robots should be doing (reducing risk to their operators).
Kick the damn things all you want. Normalize it so that nobody does something stupid trying to protect a machine.
Looks very promising, hopefully future versions can come with built in light armor. That would be a dream come true for many grunts out there, letting a robot carry your extra supplies and also provide cover from small arms and shrapnel.