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A robot vacuum cleaner has fired the opening salvo in the impending war between man and machine by “attacking” its sleeping owner.

A woman from the South Korean city of Changwon left the device to clean the floors and decided to take a nap on the floor.

But the nefarious machine, which either thought her hair was dirt or was striking back at its 52-year-old human overlord, scooted over and sucked up the strands.

Her hair got caught up in the machine and the pain of having her scalp tugged woke her up.

She realised she was trapped and was forced to call emergency services to get free of the mechanised marauder.

South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun reports paramedics were able to free her without injury, but it is not known if she intends to keep the rebellious robot.

Robotic vacuum cleaners have soared in popularity in recent years.

The most popular brand, Roomba, was introduced in 2002 and as of February 2014 has sold more than 10 million units worldwide.

They use sensors to move around obstacles, avoid steep drops such as stairs, and detect dirty spots on the floor. They have been so successful that there is now a floor-scrubbing Scooba and a floor-mopping Braava.

Roombas, which did not make the model involved in the accident, are manufactured by iRobot, which also manufactures robots for the military.