iRobot announced a new autonomous military ground robot called the R-Gator, produced through an alliance with John Deere. The robot is a modified version of John Deere's Gator utility vehicle. John Deere already produced a miltary version of the Gator called the M-Gator but iRobot's autonomous version removes the need for a human drive and allows the vehicle to perform dangerous missions such as ammo resupply for troops and reconnaissance in hostile areas. The robot can relay real-time sensor data include audio and video. Will we see an R-Gator in the next DARPA Grand Challenge? How about a similar project for the new Quantum Aggressor fuel cell powered miltary vehicle? For more on the R-Gator, see the MSNBC story or check out the discussion at Slashdot.