By my definition of goal, if the robot's goal were to minimize its perception of blue, it would shoot the laser exactly once - at its own visual apparatus - then remain immobile until turned off.

Ironically, quite a lot of human beings goals would be more easily met in such a way, and yet we still go around shooting our lasers at blue things, metaphorically speaking.

Or, more to the point, systems need not efficiently work towards their goals' fulfillment.

In any case, your comments just highlight yet again the fact that goals are in the eye of the beholder. The robot is what it is and does what it does, no matter what stories our brains make up to explain it.

(We could then go on to say that our brains have a goal of ascribing goals to things that appear to be operating of their own accord, but this is just doing more of the same thing.)