DOD won't award cash in next robot race

Tether told a House Armed Services subcommittee earlier this year that cash prizes "attract publicity and inspire excitement" and gives the little guys a chance to compete.

Groups are increasingly holding prize competitions to spur innovation. For example, the nonprofit X Prize Foundation hosted a $10 million contest that led to the first private manned spaceflight in 2004. Earlier this month, the foundation dangled another $10 million to the first company that can process the genomes of 100 people in 10 days. NASA is funding the Centennial Challenges to solve a range of space problems.

Some analysts said the absence of cash prizes likely won't hurt DARPA, which has built a cult following. Many teams have evolved from garage tinkerers to savvy challengers, pairing up with corporate sponsors to help offset costs and hiring public relations machines.

"I don't think it's going to be a death knell," said Peter Singer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of the upcoming book "Wired for War" about robotics and warfare.

Famed robotics professor William "Red" Whittaker of Carnegie Mellon University, whose teams placed second and third last year, said the whole thing is overblown.

"No one is dreaming of big bank accounts or struck by lottery fever," he said. "People are out there to innovate."

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