I like the general idea. Instead of creating a new attack, just give them the current "Ranged brawls" that are in place for lowbie players if they are a ranged oriented class like Robots. Throwing knives, tasers, etc etc. All the weak ranged things you get at level 1.
I can't tell you how many times I have facepalmed in annoyance as my ninjas waste a hide proc on some weak ranged attack, or my robots run into melee only to get mass-one-shotted by an AV Area of effect attack.
It's just plain pointless for that AI to exist in my opinion.
This may have been suggested before but as I play alot of Masterminds I thought I'd make a suggestion.
Ranged pets should get a ranged version of Brawl.
Instead of running in to do a melee attack and get a large hit in the face I think that they should get a ranged attack that does half as much damage as the Brawl they currently have but that can be used at range. Animations could be a quicker version of their starting attack.
Either that or remove the Brawl attack from them completely... as it should help their need to get a large attack to the face to be able to continue with their shooting/blasting from range.
Melee pets should keep their higher damage melee version as they should do slightly more damage due to risk vs reward and as they should be in melee range anyway having a ranged Brawl would be uneccesary.