| Fuzzy Logic Toolbox | |
The past few years have witnessed a rapid growth in the number and variety of applications of fuzzy logic. The applications range from consumer products such as cameras, camcorders, washing machines, and microwave ovens to industrial process control, medical instrumentation, decision-support systems, and portfolio selection.
To understand the reasons for the growing use of fuzzy logic it is necessary, first, to clarify what is meant by fuzzy logic.
Fuzzy logic has two different meanings. In a narrow sense, fuzzy logic is a logical system, which is an extension of multivalued logic. But in a wider sense, which is in predominant use today, fuzzy logic (FL) is almost synonymous with the theory of fuzzy sets, a theory which relates to classes of objects with unsharp boundaries in which membership is a matter of degree. In this perspective, fuzzy logic in its narrow sense is a branch of FL. What is important to recognize is that, even in its narrow sense, the agenda of fuzzy logic is very different both in spirit and substance from the agendas of traditional multivalued logical systems.
In the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox, fuzzy logic should be interpreted as FL, that is, fuzzy logic in its wide sense. The basic ideas underlying FL are explained very clearly and insightfully in the Introduction. What might be added is that the basic concept underlying FL is that of a linguistic variable, that is, a variable whose values are words rather than numbers. In effect, much of FL may be viewed as a methodology for computing with words rather than numbers. Although words are inherently less precise than numbers, their use is closer to human intuition. Furthermore, computing with words exploits the tolerance for imprecision and thereby lowers the cost of solution.
Another basic concept in FL, which plays a central role in most of its applications, is that of a fuzzy if-then rule or, simply, fuzzy rule. Although rule-based systems have a long history of use in AI, what is missing in such systems is a machinery for dealing with fuzzy consequents and/or fuzzy antecedents. In fuzzy logic, this machinery is provided by what is called the calculus of fuzzy rules. The calculus of fuzzy rules serves as a basis for what might be called the Fuzzy Dependency and Command Language (FDCL). Although FDCL is not used explicitly in the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox, it is effectively one of its principal constituents. In this connection, what is important to recognize is that in most of the applications of fuzzy logic, a fuzzy logic solution is in reality a translation of a human solution into FDCL.
A trend that is growing in visibility relates to the use of fuzzy logic in combination with neurocomputing and genetic algorithms. More generally, fuzzy logic, neurocomputing, and genetic algorithms may be viewed as the principal constituents of what might be called soft computing. Unlike the traditional, hard computing, soft computing is aimed at an accommodation with the pervasive imprecision of the real world. The guiding principle of soft computing is: Exploit the tolerance for imprecision, uncertainty, and partial truth to achieve tractability, robustness, and low solution cost. In coming years, soft computing is likely to play an increasingly important role in the conception and design of systems whose MIQ (Machine IQ) is much higher than that of systems designed by conventional methods.
Among various combinations of methodologies in soft computing, the one that has highest visibility at this juncture is that of fuzzy logic and neurocomputing, leading to so-called neuro-fuzzy systems. Within fuzzy logic, such systems play a particularly important role in the induction of rules from observations. An effective method developed by Dr. Roger Jang for this purpose is called ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System). This method is an important component of the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox.
Fuzzy logic is all about the relative importance of precision: How important is it to be exactly right when a rough answer will do? All books on fuzzy logic begin with a few good quotes on this very topic, and this is no exception. Here is what some clever people have said in the past.
Precision is not truth.
| — Henri Matisse |
Sometimes the more measurable drives out the most important.
| — René Dubos |
Vagueness is no more to be done away with in the world of logic than friction in mechanics.
| — Charles Sanders Peirce |
I believe that nothing is unconditionally true, and hence I am opposed to every statement of positive truth and every man who makes it.
| — H. L. Mencken |
So far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain. And so far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
| — Albert Einstein |
As complexity rises, precise statements lose meaning and meaningful statements lose precision.
| — Lotfi Zadeh |
Some pearls of folk wisdom also echo these thoughts.
Don't lose sight of the forest for the trees.
Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.
The Fuzzy Logic Toolbox for use with MATLAB is a tool for solving problems with fuzzy logic. Fuzzy logic is a fascinating area of research because it does a good job of trading off between significance and precision — something that humans have been managing for a very long time.
Fuzzy logic sometimes appears exotic or intimidating to those unfamiliar with it, but once you become acquainted with it, it seems almost surprising that no one attempted it sooner. In this sense fuzzy logic is both old and new because, although the modern and methodical science of fuzzy logic is still young, the concepts of fuzzy logic reach right down to our bones.
Fuzzy logic is a convenient way to map an input space to an output space. This is the starting point for everything else, and the great emphasis here is on the word "convenient."
What do I mean by mapping input space to output space? Here are a few examples: You tell me how good your service was at a restaurant, and I'll tell you what the tip should be. You tell me how hot you want the water, and I'll adjust the faucet valve to the right setting. You tell me how far away the subject of your photograph is, and I'll focus the lens for you. You tell me how fast the car is going and how hard the motor is working, and I'll shift the gears for you.
A graphical example of an input-output map is shown below.
It's all just a matter of mapping inputs to the appropriate outputs. Between the input and the output we'll put a black box that does the work. What could go in the black box? Any number of things: fuzzy systems, linear systems, expert systems, neural networks, differential equations, interpolated multidimensional lookup tables, or even a spiritual advisor, just to name a few of the possible options. Clearly the list could go on and on.
Of the dozens of ways to make the black box work, it turns out that fuzzy is often the very best way. Why should that be? As Lotfi Zadeh, who is considered to be the father of fuzzy logic, once remarked: "In almost every case you can build the same product without fuzzy logic, but fuzzy is faster and cheaper."
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