Savvy’s Anomaly Detection Uses AI To Analyze Engines
System will help discover problems that can then be addressed by human experts
By Matt Thurber
Savvy Aviation has introduced an anomaly detection tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to augment human-led diagnoses of piston engine problems. The GADFly tool is designed to help identify unusual engine behavior based on analysis of engine data to help owners with data-driven and on-condition maintenance and to advance safety, reliability, and compliance.
According to Savvy Aviation founder and CEO Mike Busch, the company receives about 15,000 flights uploaded to its platform every week, “so obviously we can’t look at all of them. In the past, our analysts only looked at flights that our clients asked us to review. Now with GADfly, we can look at every flight that the AI suggests we look at, and alert clients to issues they didn’t know they had.”
This means that GADFly is “amplifying human expertise,” according to Savvy, “not replacing it. It helps Savvy’s analysts spot flight data patterns or anomalies that may otherwise go unnoticed, without compromising the personal, thoughtful analysis clients expect from the Savvy team.”
The Cirrus SR22 is the first aircraft to undergo the GADFly process, and Savvy plans to add other aircraft models. While Savvy doesn’t serve the turbine-powered aircraft market, “GADfly could be trained to work with turbine aircraft,” according to the company. “Savvy has never offered data analysis services for turbine aircraft and thus [we] have no flights in our database to train the GADfly model at this time. We have been investigating the possibility of providing data analysis services for turbine aircraft. If we begin providing this service, we will start accumulating flight data that ultimately could be used to train the GADfly model.”
“This is not a ‘set it and forget it’ AI,” said Joe Godfrey, director of analysis at Savvy Aviation. “GADFly gives us a heads-up, but our experienced A&Ps are still in the loop. It’s a powerful tool in our diagnostic toolkit to help keep our clients flying safely.”
Savvy Aviation recently launched Savvy for Shops, a service to help maintenance companies, with a free online forum and free online training to teach mechanics about reliability-centered maintenance and minimally invasive maintenance techniques. A fee-based service will also be available, allowing mechanics to ask for advice, seek help with troubleshooting, and obtain second opinions, similar to the Savvy QA service for aircraft owners.
