A machine-gun equipped robot has recently begun securing an area of the Demilitarized Zone in Korea. The robot is the Samsung SGR-1, shown above, equipped with a 5.5mm machine gun.

Those who never watched "M.A.S.H." may not know the DMZ is a 160 mile long, 2.5 mile strip of land that separates North Korea from South Korea. While the idea of a gun-toting robot might seem the stuff of science-fiction, it's obviously not. Don't worry, however: we are not near a "Terminator" scenario yet.

The SGR-1 is stationary. It also cannot fire without human input. When its heat or motion sensors detect a "target," the command center is alerted. The operator there communicates with the "target" using the robot's video and audio communication equipment before deciding whether or not to fire the machine gun.

Huh Kwang-hak, a spokesman for Samsung Techwin, said:

"The robots are not being deployed to replace or free up human soldiers. Rather, they will become part of the defense team with our human soldiers. Human soldiers can easily fall asleep or allow for the depreciation of their concentration over time. But these robots have automatic surveillance, which doesn’t leave room for anything resembling human laziness. They also won’t have any fear (of) enemy attackers on the front lines.”

The robots cost about $200,000 apiece, and a "set" of them has been deployed at the DMZ, although it's unclear what a "set" means in terms of numbers. It takes less than a day to set up each robot, but it takes a minimum of two people (an operator and commander) to handle each set of robots.

The robots were actually deployed onto the DMZ more than a month ago. They will operate on an experimental basis through the end the year. At that time, South Korea will determine how many robots, if any, it wants to maintain on the DMZ.