Arquus: Evaluation Tactique Vérité. A success for the exploitation of HUMS in support of terrestrial MRO
On May 15, 2020, ARQUUS presented to a group of Defense authorities a report on the use of HUMS (Health and Usage Monitoring Systems) in an Army fleet. This report concludes a tactical evaluation of almost six months carried out on a fleet of 20 VAB (Véhicule de l’Avant Blindé) armoured personnel carriers at Mourmelon camp.
The first conclusions of this experiment underline the interest of data collection solutions and open the door to predictive maintenance of land equipment. This experiment thus creates new perspectives for the transformation of the terrestrial MCO (Maintenance in Operational Condition).
In December 2018, based on the SIMMT (Structure Intégrée du Maintien en Condition Opérationnelle des Matériels Terrestres, Integrated Structure for the Maintenance in Operational Condition of Land Equipment), the French Army entrusted ARQUUS with the conduct of an experiment in predictive maintenance tools on land equipment: the Evaluation Tactique Vérité (VEhicules Roulants Instrumentés et Tactiquement Employés, instrumented and tactically employed rolling vehicles), EVTA Vérité in short.
The objective of EVTA Vérité was to analyze the relevance of technologies related to predictive maintenance and their suitability for the management and use of a fleet of military vehicles. It also aimed to measure the impact of these technologies on the maintenance organization, as well as to define additional developments to be planned.
As part of this tactical evaluation, 20 VAB were equipped by the 8° régiment du matériel (8 ° RMAT) with various HUMS sensors and delivered on 5 June 2019 at CENTIAL (Centre d’Entraînement Interarmes et du soutien Logistique, combined training and logistics support center) in Mourmelon. The instrumentation and data collection protocol was previously validated on the Satory test tracks in May 2019.
During the collection phase at CENTIAL, between June and December 2019, the VABs in the experimental park were given a variety of missions, conducted under very different conditions and on very different terrains. This experiment, carried out in partnership with LGM, made it possible to travel several thousand kilometers in numerous configurations, allowing to build up and study a complete database on the spectrum of monitored functions.
SIMMT’s positive feedback on the use of the first data collected highlights the interest of the degradation models obtaimed from this study. Analysis of data collected by the sensors allows the construction of complete models for forecasting maintenance needs, adapted to the environment and mission profile. Predictive maintenance makes it possible to anticipate technical failures several days in advance, refining the planning and work of maintenance personnel and logisticians of the armed forces. The generalization of HUMS-based approaches within land forces should therefore make it possible to increase the equipment DTO (Disponibilité Technique Opérationnelle, operational technical availability). In the future this new approach should also offer the commander in the field all tools neded to properly assess the equipment’s potential and maintenance needs.
The use of HUMS is one of the innovative solutions currently being developed by ARQUUS to improve procedures rto maintain Army equipment in operational condition. These solutions include the use of 3D printing and virtual and augmented reality.
ARQUUS has a robust and resilient support know-how, built over the years, providing long-term support for Army vehicles. ARQUUS currently supports more than 20,000 vehicles belonging to the French armed forces. In order to provide support as close as possible to the forces, ARQUUS relies on an international logistics network and a network of several thousand partner and service points, in France and abroad. To coordinate all those support activities, ARQUUS recently invested in its Garchizy logistics platform, which is the single center for spare parts and components for all current and future vehicles in the ARQUUS range, both in France and abroad. These provisions ensure the quickest access to spare parts and components to maintenance personnel, and improve availability for the commander in the field.
Unofficial translation by EDR On-Line
Photos courtesy Arquus
