Hey Panda!
The robot library might have a firmware problem. I read my fuses and I can see that they are unprogrammed. (SPI is shut etc.) Normally, this shouldn't be the case. Even though my lock fuses are (0x3f), I can't program my fuses, I might need an HV programmer but can't/don't want to buy it just for the robot.
I belive that the Arduino Robot is overpriced and therefore very few people use it. This is probably the main reason why you/we can't find a lot of troubleshooting information about the robot. The robot is also getting very moderate reviews. I don't think the robot is bad: it had a few lose screws and non-functioning examples (line follow hello?) but that's okay, it still saves you from a lot of trouble, I can even use it for simple genetic algorithms. The problem is that, the robot is just not "arduino style". It is kind of problematic...
The solution I posted above (a slight modification of the UNO ISP tutorial adapted for the arduino robot) worked for me everytime; I belive it will work for you too if you do it the same way. However, if there are any problems, let me know and I will try to help.
If you could try and see if this method works for you as well, it would be a great idea to make this some kind of a sticky post. I remember how frustrated I was when it was only 2 days I've bought the robot and had an upload problem.
Thanks,