Penny Wise and Pound Foolish
DARPA has announced that because of the wording in the latest Defense spending bill, the DOD won’t award cash in the next robot race.
We can spend billions on the missile defense system that has given us no indication that it will ever work, but cannot award a $2 million dollar prize to a group that actually accomplishes a stated goal that will lead to robotic vehicles for use in combat.
Understand that this is the latest in a series of races, and if no one accomplishes the task, as has happened, no prize is awarded. The DoD is forbidden to reward competence, but can give billions to people who fail to fulfill their contracts? I guess you need an MBA from Harvard to understand this reasoning.
