Well, the other thing that came to mind is that there are instances of souls getting bound to armor Alphonse Elric style. I think one of the first party-content bosses is one of those, actually.
It's not exactly a robot, but it's pretty close and actually in the game. It could be an interesting work-around to consider.
It's not exactly a robot, but it's pretty close and actually in the game. It could be an interesting work-around to consider.