Page 36 - FCW, Nov/Dec 2017

Internet of Things
IoT helps Army with Stryker maintenance
In a recent pilot program, the U.S. Army Materiel Command’s Logistics Support Activity used distributed sensors and artificial intelligence to help identify maintenance problems in Stryker com- bat vehicles before they occur.
Sensors were installed on 350 Stryk- er vehicles, and IBM’s Watson cognitive computer analyzed maintenance man- uals and work orders to create a com- prehensive maintenance picture. With that information, the system was able to flag anomalies and predict when components in the vehicles were likely to fail.
The insights helped the Army more easily spot and track problems in the field and limit the number of breakdowns that took vehicles out of operation.
Given the massive volume of infor- mation analyzed, the Army could tar- get individual vehicles for maintenance rather than sending them in groups for scheduled maintenance. It was a kind of “personalized medicine for each ve- hicle,” Sam Gordy, general manager of IBM U.S. Federal, told GCN.
That approach could help other agen- cies that maintain vehicle fleets, such as the U.S. Postal Service, he added. Main- tenance data gleaned from IoT-connect- ed vehicles could save manufacturers and agencies time and money because they would know what parts to keep in inventory for likely repairs.
The sensors used in the Army Stryker test were designed for that maintenance application, but many third-party IoT sensors and devices are
Defense
Vint Cerf’s 6 keys to IoT
At an event earlier this year, internet pioneer Vint Cerf outlined six foundational requirements for implementation of internet- of-things devices.
Reliability: “I don’t think anyone wants to use these devices if they’re not reliable.”
Ease of use: “It should actually make your life easier as op- posed to harder.”
Safety: “Nobody would buy and install a device if they didn’t think it was safe.”
Privacy: “Imagine webcams in the house that are accessible remotely by unauthorized parties.”
Autonomy: “You don’t want your house to stop working if it is disconnected from the internet.”
Interoperability: “If we’re going to build ensembles of these devices and expect to manage them in a sensible way, then we have to have standards that allow for interoperability.”
14 November/December 2017 FCW.COM
— Matt Leonard