1
00:00:00,593 --> 00:00:03,176
(upbeat music)

2
00:00:08,980 --> 00:00:11,850
- Air Force civil
engineers have a problem.

3
00:00:11,850 --> 00:00:14,470
We are undermanned, underfunded,

4
00:00:14,470 --> 00:00:18,430
and managing an increasingly
aging structure enterprise.

5
00:00:18,430 --> 00:00:21,040
How then are we supposed to
get ahead of this problem

6
00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,100
while also reducing manpower and costs?

7
00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:26,700
Luckily for us, commercial
industry is offering us

8
00:00:26,700 --> 00:00:30,520
ready-made solutions in the
form of artificial intelligence,

9
00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,363
deep learning and predictive
analysis capabilities.

10
00:00:34,608 --> 00:00:36,970
Among the many different
use cases we could look at

11
00:00:36,970 --> 00:00:39,130
for this, let's turn our
attention to an integral

12
00:00:39,130 --> 00:00:42,900
part of the CE enterprise,
roof inspections.

13
00:00:42,900 --> 00:00:45,930
Unfortunately, roof
inspections aren't cheap,

14
00:00:45,930 --> 00:00:48,560
easy or necessarily safe.

15
00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,600
Joint Base Lewis McChord alone

16
00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,410
has a standing $2 million annual contract

17
00:00:53,410 --> 00:00:57,530
to manually inspect over
4.1 thousand facilities.

18
00:00:57,530 --> 00:00:59,220
What if we could accomplish the exact same

19
00:00:59,220 --> 00:01:02,721
effect as this contract, only
in a fraction of the time

20
00:01:02,721 --> 00:01:05,256
at a fraction of the
cost, and with minimizing

21
00:01:05,256 --> 00:01:08,540
human interaction on
buildings and at risk?

22
00:01:08,540 --> 00:01:09,963
This AI can give us that.

23
00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,060
Companies are already
proving their ability

24
00:01:14,060 --> 00:01:16,060
to take free satellite imagery

25
00:01:17,390 --> 00:01:21,560
and analyze it, categorize
and identify facility damage.

26
00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,330
I recently worked with the Air
Force research laboratories

27
00:01:24,330 --> 00:01:28,050
to vet this company, Crowd
AI, and their algorithm

28
00:01:28,050 --> 00:01:30,410
for immediately DOD applicability.

29
00:01:30,410 --> 00:01:31,243
The answer?

30
00:01:32,100 --> 00:01:35,320
We have exactly what
they need and vice versa.

31
00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:37,480
Every installation comes ready-equipped

32
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,513
with high resolution satellite imagery.

33
00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,350
Unfortunately for us that's all it is.

34
00:01:43,350 --> 00:01:45,110
It tells us what we have.

35
00:01:45,110 --> 00:01:47,600
What we need and what this AI can offer us

36
00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,050
is a tool that will tell us what we have,

37
00:01:50,050 --> 00:01:51,450
what condition it's in,

38
00:01:51,450 --> 00:01:54,170
and forecast future facility damage

39
00:01:54,170 --> 00:01:56,420
in a fraction of a time
it would take a human

40
00:01:57,500 --> 00:01:58,400
and automatically.

41
00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,690
But let's not limit
ourselves to just roofs.

42
00:02:02,690 --> 00:02:06,430
Consider also post attack and
natural disaster scenarios.

43
00:02:06,430 --> 00:02:08,890
Currently, the civil engineer center

44
00:02:08,890 --> 00:02:10,840
is developing a rapid
analysis capabilities

45
00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:12,590
specifically for our runways,

46
00:02:12,590 --> 00:02:14,793
utilizing drones piloted by our airmen.

47
00:02:16,140 --> 00:02:18,660
But what about the rest
of the installation?

48
00:02:18,660 --> 00:02:21,610
What if again, we could
accomplish the exact same effect

49
00:02:21,610 --> 00:02:24,783
installation-wide and
without the use of drones?

50
00:02:25,650 --> 00:02:26,853
AI can offer us that.

51
00:02:30,490 --> 00:02:33,360
The good thing is, the
AI is data agnostic.

52
00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,620
What data agnostic means

53
00:02:36,620 --> 00:02:38,780
is that anything a camera can capture,

54
00:02:38,780 --> 00:02:40,500
the tool can analyze,

55
00:02:40,500 --> 00:02:42,280
whether it's satellite imagery,

56
00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,210
thermal data, lidar,
multispectral, hyperspectral,

57
00:02:46,210 --> 00:02:47,800
it doesn't matter.

58
00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,283
Anything that a lens
can capture, we can use.

59
00:02:55,810 --> 00:02:58,260
By choosing a few key locations,

60
00:02:58,260 --> 00:02:59,740
chosen for their architectural

61
00:02:59,740 --> 00:03:01,800
and climactic characteristics,

62
00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:03,720
we can start to train our AI

63
00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,163
to operate in any environment we do.

64
00:03:07,330 --> 00:03:10,723
With $200,000 before 2020,

65
00:03:11,580 --> 00:03:13,480
we can prototype at four bases

66
00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,860
and be well on our way to refining

67
00:03:15,860 --> 00:03:17,693
an incredibly effective AI.

68
00:03:21,260 --> 00:03:24,640
With AFIMSC and installation support,

69
00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:26,430
a little bit of seed funding

70
00:03:26,430 --> 00:03:29,980
and access to our geospatial data,

71
00:03:29,980 --> 00:03:32,903
we can start training
our AI starting tomorrow.

72
00:03:34,460 --> 00:03:36,110
And we're not looking at thousands

73
00:03:36,110 --> 00:03:38,113
or even millions in potential savings.

74
00:03:39,060 --> 00:03:42,990
If we utilize this tool
correctly in the next few years,

75
00:03:42,990 --> 00:03:45,460
this is a multi-million to billion dollar

76
00:03:45,460 --> 00:03:46,997
savings for the DOD.

77
00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,283
And by the way, this
is not a nice-to-have.

78
00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,550
This is a DOD recognized necessity.

79
00:03:57,550 --> 00:04:00,600
We need to move on this
and we need to move now.

80
00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,220
Thank you very much for your time.

81
00:04:02,220 --> 00:04:03,260
Are there any questions?

82
00:04:03,260 --> 00:04:04,980
- Well done, nice presentation.

83
00:04:04,980 --> 00:04:06,080
- Thank you very much.

84
00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:07,870
- So you talked a lot
about roof inspections

85
00:04:07,870 --> 00:04:08,703
in the beginning.

86
00:04:08,703 --> 00:04:10,020
Is this beyond roof inspections?

87
00:04:10,020 --> 00:04:11,400
- So far beyond, sir.

88
00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,260
- So roads, so other structures?

89
00:04:14,260 --> 00:04:16,616
- Any linear infrastructure, utilities,

90
00:04:16,616 --> 00:04:20,370
even buried utilities and foliage,

91
00:04:20,370 --> 00:04:22,830
in some cases it can see underground.

92
00:04:22,830 --> 00:04:24,830
It exceeds the capability that engineers

93
00:04:24,830 --> 00:04:26,490
have to put eyes on,

94
00:04:26,490 --> 00:04:28,770
just by utilizing different data

95
00:04:28,770 --> 00:04:32,523
and data metrics and bands essentially.

96
00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:36,080
- So in order to use this tool,

97
00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,730
you have to have a place
where your data goes,

98
00:04:38,730 --> 00:04:41,400
so the pictures, the geospatial pictures.

99
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:42,940
And then you have to apply

100
00:04:43,810 --> 00:04:45,750
the machine learning with all the pictures

101
00:04:45,750 --> 00:04:48,080
seeing the different changes within

102
00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,600
that infrastructure, that installation.

103
00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,690
So what platform would you use

104
00:04:54,530 --> 00:04:55,750
to get the data together?

105
00:04:55,750 --> 00:04:57,750
And then you'd apply the AI tool

106
00:04:57,750 --> 00:05:00,910
is what I'm, so have you
identified that platform?

107
00:05:00,910 --> 00:05:01,743
- Yes ma'am.

108
00:05:01,743 --> 00:05:03,830
So there are many different
ways that we can cut it.

109
00:05:03,830 --> 00:05:06,360
There are solutions right now.

110
00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,730
The company that I referred to, Crowd AI,

111
00:05:08,730 --> 00:05:11,430
what we propose to do is to just

112
00:05:11,430 --> 00:05:15,070
AMRDEC or send them large
amounts of our visual data.

113
00:05:15,070 --> 00:05:16,960
And they run it through their algorithm.

114
00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,030
And what it spits out is what we ask.

115
00:05:20,030 --> 00:05:23,740
So whether it's excel data, pdf reports

116
00:05:23,740 --> 00:05:26,020
with the analytics in plain English,

117
00:05:26,020 --> 00:05:27,944
or even maps with the,

118
00:05:27,944 --> 00:05:30,500
as you could see earlier with

119
00:05:30,500 --> 00:05:32,640
red, yellow, green, those sorts of metrics

120
00:05:33,890 --> 00:05:36,270
pasted on, but as we move forward,

121
00:05:36,270 --> 00:05:38,810
we would also be looking to
integrate more permanently

122
00:05:38,810 --> 00:05:41,070
with some of our sustainment
management systems

123
00:05:41,070 --> 00:05:45,210
like BUILDER, TRIRIGA,
ROOFER, those sorts of things.

124
00:05:45,210 --> 00:05:49,160
- So could you explain
the qualitative difference

125
00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,330
between a human doing
an inspection on a roof

126
00:05:52,330 --> 00:05:55,040
and the artificial intelligence doing

127
00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:56,410
that same inspection on the roof.

128
00:05:56,410 --> 00:05:59,900
Is one better than the
other, and how much?

129
00:05:59,900 --> 00:06:02,010
- Unbelievably so, sir.

130
00:06:02,010 --> 00:06:05,230
So currently, it takes four to eight hours

131
00:06:05,230 --> 00:06:07,800
for some of our most experienced

132
00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,030
technical sergeants, master
sergeants, to come up

133
00:06:10,030 --> 00:06:13,210
and do roof inspections
for a single facility.

134
00:06:13,210 --> 00:06:16,540
Four to eight hours of
more than one-man teams,

135
00:06:16,540 --> 00:06:17,913
going up on roofs.

136
00:06:19,322 --> 00:06:22,840
Crowd AI analyzed the
entire country of Syria

137
00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:26,130
in under two hours, looking at
things like roof inspections,

138
00:06:26,130 --> 00:06:28,030
like roof conditions, facility conditions,

139
00:06:28,030 --> 00:06:29,940
and that was just as a test.

140
00:06:29,940 --> 00:06:31,912
But the qualitative
data I'm talking about.

141
00:06:31,912 --> 00:06:34,357
- Yes sir.
- Like you know,

142
00:06:34,357 --> 00:06:37,597
what the humans saw at
that roof inspection

143
00:06:37,597 --> 00:06:40,720
maybe they uncovered
some things underneath

144
00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:42,600
the structure even that--
- Of course.

145
00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,800
- May not have been
caught by just an aerial

146
00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,030
picture or view.

147
00:06:47,030 --> 00:06:48,960
- So the more bands that we can utilize,

148
00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:50,640
the better that data will get.

149
00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:52,220
In the beginning, I think that we should

150
00:06:52,220 --> 00:06:54,550
use this as a triage capability.

151
00:06:54,550 --> 00:06:56,350
We will probably never be able to

152
00:06:56,350 --> 00:06:58,920
fully replace the ability the person

153
00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,280
on ground, on site can provide,

154
00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:03,410
but the ability to look
at the entire picture

155
00:07:03,410 --> 00:07:06,910
all at once and get an idea
of our worst case facilities

156
00:07:06,910 --> 00:07:09,330
and then the facilities that
we don't need to worry about,

157
00:07:09,330 --> 00:07:11,400
we can now take to those man teams,

158
00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,210
and focus all of their
effort where we need them,

159
00:07:14,210 --> 00:07:16,203
where we need it and when we need it.

160
00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:20,010
- Help me understand the
problem set a little bit more,

161
00:07:20,010 --> 00:07:22,370
and maybe what happened in Elmendorf

162
00:07:22,370 --> 00:07:23,570
would be a little bit more helpful.

163
00:07:23,570 --> 00:07:26,250
So if I have four technicians that,

164
00:07:26,250 --> 00:07:27,530
that's their responsibility,

165
00:07:27,530 --> 00:07:29,500
and they have to do an entire base.

166
00:07:29,500 --> 00:07:31,880
And you have 4,000 facilities,

167
00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,170
let's just say you have 200
facilities instead of 4,000.

168
00:07:35,170 --> 00:07:36,974
How do you even get through that in a year

169
00:07:36,974 --> 00:07:39,920
and what happens when
you have an earthquake

170
00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:41,090
and now you have to start over?

171
00:07:41,090 --> 00:07:42,460
Or even if you were at 199,

172
00:07:42,460 --> 00:07:44,890
now you have to start over from forward.

173
00:07:44,890 --> 00:07:47,610
So help us understand how important it is,

174
00:07:47,610 --> 00:07:50,120
and what would those folks be doing

175
00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:51,730
more efficiently with
the use of their time

176
00:07:51,730 --> 00:07:53,600
that could help the Air Force overall?

177
00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,550
- Yes, so it's always been a struggle,

178
00:07:55,550 --> 00:07:56,850
exactly as you talked about.

179
00:07:56,850 --> 00:07:59,000
The Joint Base Lewis McChord
contract, for instance,

180
00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,100
we're spending $2 million and it doesn't

181
00:08:01,100 --> 00:08:03,711
even get us all 4.1 thousand facilities.

182
00:08:03,711 --> 00:08:05,760
We run through all of those facilities

183
00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:07,580
on a three year time span.

184
00:08:07,580 --> 00:08:11,620
So essentially, we can cut
that down to instant analysis,

185
00:08:11,620 --> 00:08:13,750
but what we would want to do is,

186
00:08:13,750 --> 00:08:17,750
at minimum twice a year be
taking snapshots of our bases

187
00:08:17,750 --> 00:08:19,850
that we can run through these reports.

188
00:08:19,850 --> 00:08:22,090
Once in the summer and once in the winter.

189
00:08:22,090 --> 00:08:25,440
With that, we can see how
our buildings are changing,

190
00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,320
how they're aging, how
they're deteriorating.

191
00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,825
And every season, or however often

192
00:08:30,825 --> 00:08:33,350
we want to take those metrics,

193
00:08:33,350 --> 00:08:34,880
we can shift our manpower

194
00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:36,820
into the areas that they need to be.

195
00:08:36,820 --> 00:08:39,230
You can integrate more
than just engineering data

196
00:08:39,230 --> 00:08:40,600
as well into the algorithm.

197
00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,740
You can take things like
commander's priority.

198
00:08:43,740 --> 00:08:45,403
It's a very flexible tool.

199
00:08:46,330 --> 00:08:47,850
- So you would have to take more than one

200
00:08:47,850 --> 00:08:51,160
geospatial pictures to get that analysis.

201
00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:52,940
Like you could take an initial snapshot

202
00:08:52,940 --> 00:08:54,620
to see and find the problems,

203
00:08:54,620 --> 00:08:57,850
but in order to see that
change coherently over time,

204
00:08:57,850 --> 00:09:00,120
you'd have to have multiple pictures,

205
00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,090
and then the one to two times a year.

206
00:09:02,090 --> 00:09:03,980
So you'd have to have probably,

207
00:09:03,980 --> 00:09:06,680
there's lots of commercial
companies that do that,

208
00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:08,870
but not always over that same position.

209
00:09:08,870 --> 00:09:11,250
So you'd have to establish
that relationship.

210
00:09:11,250 --> 00:09:14,030
How do you look at doing that?

211
00:09:14,030 --> 00:09:16,660
- So the good thing is, we
already have contracts in place

212
00:09:16,660 --> 00:09:19,490
for our infrastructure for our bases.

213
00:09:19,490 --> 00:09:22,554
Usually it's annually to
get refreshed imagery.

214
00:09:22,554 --> 00:09:25,260
But even better is, we already have

215
00:09:25,260 --> 00:09:26,960
extremely high resolution cameras

216
00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,370
on so many of our aircraft.

217
00:09:29,370 --> 00:09:32,640
If it becomes a deal where we ask

218
00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:35,770
training pilots to fly
over every once in awhile

219
00:09:35,770 --> 00:09:37,685
and just have those systems turned on,

220
00:09:37,685 --> 00:09:40,138
all that data can feed right into

221
00:09:40,138 --> 00:09:42,860
aiding us in our infrastructure support.

222
00:09:42,860 --> 00:09:45,310
There are so many ways that
we can passively collect data,

223
00:09:45,310 --> 00:09:47,950
and it doesn't even need
to be from satellites.

224
00:09:47,950 --> 00:09:49,710
We can put cameras on box trucks,

225
00:09:49,710 --> 00:09:52,620
start to get whole building
envelope assessment.

226
00:09:52,620 --> 00:09:55,163
The possibilities are endless.

227
00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,750
- Okay, exciting stuff, exciting stuff.

228
00:09:58,750 --> 00:10:00,806
Thank you very much, well done.

229
00:10:00,806 --> 00:10:03,389
(upbeat music)