The Army has awarded a $1 million contract for technology to help predict and prevent Bradley Fighting Vehicle breakdowns using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The contract was awarded through Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), the Department of Defense commercial technology contract arm, to Uptake Technologies, a Chicago-based industrial AI company.
Uptake has worked across eight sectors — including rail, energy and oil and gas — and has more than 1.2 billion hours of operation data to help predict failures on the Bradley Fighting Vehicles, which are Army armored transport vehicles often used to transport troops or humanitarian workers in hostile environments.
“Because there are similarities across industries, whether it be a locomotive or another diesel engine, there are similarities that can help AI make better predictions for other machinery,” Matthew Lehner, a spokesperson for Uptake, said.
The Bradley M2A3 vehicles have diesel engines similar to those of other machines Uptake has analyzed, and the data will provide predictors to help pinpoint when and why an engine might fail. Using that data and status indicators produced by the Army vehicles, Uptake technology will alert commanders and maintenance crews to perform repairs before greater complications arise.
“Using AI can help predict failures and use information to prevent unplanned downtime,” according to Lehner.
“The Army’s No. 1 priority is readiness,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Conley, who is responsible for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle platform. “We look forward to using these new tools and technologies to increase the readiness of the Bradley fleet.”
The contract with DIUx comes as the Department of Defense is competing with countries like China and Russia to develop and integrate AI technology.
“There might be an artificial intelligence arms race, but we’re not yet in it,” Dr. Michael Griffin, under secretary of defense for research and engineering, said April 9 at the Future Wars conference. “Our adversaries understand very well the possible future utility of machine learning, I think it’s time we did as well.”
DIUx was created in 2015 to contract commercial solutions to national defense problems and address the challenge of commercial technology improving ahead of the military’s.
The prototype contract awarded to Uptake is the first Department of Defense contract the company has been awarded.
“The contract is an initial effort to work with the U.S. Army, but we hope to have a long-term relationship with them in the future,” Lehner said.
Maddy is a senior at George Washington University studying economics.
