This is interesting: http://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2015/05/dod-asks-maker-community-robotics-technology/113080/

Potentially critical to national security -- could be happening in garages and other "maker spaces" never to be discovered by the Defense Department. That's what DOD is trying to avoid with a new pilot program aimed at getting small businesses and individuals to work on small robotics contracts. DOD's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency on Monday announced the Robotics Fast Track effort, which aims to reduce the proposal-to-contract turnaround time to less than a month for robotics technology.