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The 10 engineers from Rayovac-Remington, the Madison-based division of Spectrum Brands Inc., were competing in the Wearable Power Prize, a Pentagon-sponsored contest to invent a better power system.
Rayovac's lithium-ion battery met all the contest's requirements for power output and lightweight construction, but was disqualified during testing because of a voltage spike whose origin Rayovac protested.
``Their meter showed voltage spikes below the required minimum so we were disqualified, even though the source of spikes was never identified as coming from their meter or our device,'' Rayovac spokesman Bill Bushong told The Associated Press.
The winner of the million-dollar prize was a team from DuPont in Wilmington, Del., said Cmdr. Darryn James, a spokesman for the Defense Department.
The second prize of $500,000 went to Adaptive Materials Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich., while a team identified as Jenny 600S of Middleburg, Va., won the $250,000 third prize.
The contest was prompted by Pentagon concerns for soldiers' efficiency.
Troops who use electronic devices such as night-vision goggles and GPS units have to carry batteries that can add 20 pounds to their loads.
So the military created the contest as an incentive for companies, universities and private citizens to create a better power system — one that delivers three times the power at half the weight, and is small enough that soldiers can wear it on their vests.
Almost 170 teams entered the competition announced in November. That number was whittled down to the 48 teams who began competing in Twentynine Palms, Calif., last month, and further testing narrowed the field to 20 finalists, then six.
``I think it's great for the American war fighter that six teams made it through. Just because one team won doesn't mean the other technologies won't be put into development,'' James said. ``And it's also good for American taxpayers because we didn't have to spend a lot of money to create this technology that's going to help the war fighter in the long run.''
Beyond the military applications of the entries, the newer technologies could eventually trickle into the public sector, according to John Hopkins, the program manager for the competition. He suggested the know-how generated in the desert could lead to longer-lasting laptop batteries or to products for outdoors enthusiasts or emergency professionals.
Bushong said Rayovac's team was coping with its disappointment by taking comfort in that very idea.
``We showed that we have great technology, and we have that product now,'' he said by telephone from California. ``The disqualification was highly disappointing but the good news is we can continue that development with a variety of new applications.''
