In the case of the PackBot, technicians recovered the controller, an important piece of hardware that could be paired with another bot.

WSJ: In the Afghan War, a Little Robot Can Be a Soldier's Best Friend

Like thousands of robots deployed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, PackBot fulfilled a mission that flesh-and-bones soldiers, risking life and limb, used to do.

WSJ: In the Afghan War, a Little Robot Can Be a Soldier's Best Friend

PackBot offers unprecedented mobility and durability-it can be thrown into a building through a window, climb stairs, drop 20 feet and still function properly.

ENGADGET: Interview: Helen Greiner, Chairman and Cofounder of iRobot, Corp.

And when soldiers asked Frost if PackBot could work with the computers integrated into their clothing, he downloaded the necessary code over a satellite.

MSN: New robots well trained for war

The AIRarm prototype is essentially a Packbot whose metal arm's been replaced with an inflatable version able to lift four times its own half-pound weight.

ENGADGET: iRobot's AIRarm prototype bot has an inflatable arm for manipulating objects, was built at DARPA's behest

It looks like at least some of the PackBot currently serving could soon be relieved of duty, however, with the company introducing a new-and-improved model, the PackBot 510.

ENGADGET: iRobot intros next-gen bomb-defusing PackBot

Sometimes, the PackBot was just the right size.

MSN: New robots well trained for war

We're talking, of course, about the company's line of PackBot robots, who thanklessly perform reconnaissance in hostile areas and disarm explosives so humans don't have to -- sadly, not always making it out in one piece.

ENGADGET: iRobot intros next-gen bomb-defusing PackBot