LLUMC Center for Prehospital Care - DARPA
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LLU emergency medical services in the news

Loma Linda University Medical Center assists in DARPA project

Jeff Grange, MD, emergency physician at LLUMC, and Jeff Bender, project manager, conduct a test of the teleconferencing equipment two days before the DARPA Grand Challenge race.
Photo above: Jeff Grange, MD, emergency physician at LLUMC, and Jeff Bender, project manager, conduct a test of the teleconferencing equipment two days before the DARPA Grand Challenge race.

On March 13, after a week's barrage of testing at the California Speedway in Fontana, the latest in robotic vehicle technology took to the desert just outside of Barstow competing for a million dollar prize. The race was almost over before it began, as all 15 unmanned entries broke down or withdrew after the fist seven miles of the 150-mile course.

Jeff Grange, MD, emergency physician at Loma Linda University Medical Center, oversaw the safety of the race from a helicopter catching aerial footage of the unmanned vehicles. Though the only injuries were sustained by the robots, a few broken axles and stuck brakes among the worst.

The race ended after the final four competitors were disabled, said Col. Jose Negron, race program manager. Competitors suffered a variety of problems that included stuck brakes, broken axles, rollovers and malfunctioning satellite navigation equipment.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency planned to award $1 million to the first team whose microcircuit-and-sensor-studded vehicle could cover the roughly 150-mile course in less than 10 hours. DARPA was sponsoring the Grand Challenge event to foster development of autonomous vehicles that could be used in combat. Defense officials foresee using the driverless, remote control-free robots to ferry supplies in war zones.