Perfectly fine with the robots being established as comic relief since it was established that way by day 1. I've only had a problem with it lately when Momo became a major character and we had to discuss things like robot's rights. They became more than comic relief and I wouldn't feel the same now if Pintsize shot a deadly laser at Marten...it wouldn't be seen as slapstick, somewhat non-canon humor but a very deadly act that almost murdered him.
Personally, I feel the same way. I don't really like the robots-as-major-characters storylines, because QC has, up until this point, been largely realistic. While there are always exceptions (Pizza Girl (but we don't even know if she's real), The VespAvenger, etc.), this is sort of a whole new dimension. I don't really have much interest in the Momo/Pintsize/Winslow-based storylines and only come back every few days to see what's up in the comic. That's just my personal preference, though. Other people seem to really like these storylines, and the author himself seems to enjoy them, so I just kind of ignore them and read more thoroughly when it focuses on arcs I like more.
I am sort of hoping that Samantha/Sam doesn't become a major character, though. I liked QC as a primarily-adult world, and she feels a little shoehorned in to make stuff happen. Most of the characters now are somewhat passive and pretty reasonable people, and she really isn't. I tend not to like kid characters, because they often make every situation about themselves, and people's reactions and stresses have to revolve around whatever half-baked idea they have in their heads. That's not a criticism of writing, necessarily; that's frequently how kids are in the real world, too (again, not their fault, but I do find it frustrating).
I do like QC - some storylines I like a lot better than others. This is one of the arcs I have very little interest in. Not a criticism of the author - his fans seem to like them just fine, as does he. But I tend to be a little more vocal about the things I don't like, because they're easier to pinpoint.