2

Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control Fuzzy Sets,

Fuzzy Rules and Defuzzifications

Ying Bai and Dali Wang

2.1 Introduction
Fuzzy logic idea is similar to the human beings feeling and inference process.
Unlike classical control strategy, which is a point-to-point control, fuzzy logic
control is a range-to-point or range-to-range control. The output of a fuzzy
controller is derived from fuzzifications of both inputs and outputs using the
associated membership functions. A crisp input will be converted to the different
members of the associated membership functions based on its value. From this
point of view, the output of a fuzzy logic controller is based on its memberships of
the different membership functions, which can be considered as a range of inputs.
Fuzzy ideas and fuzzy logic are so often utilized in our routine life that nobody
even pays attention to them. For instance, to answer some questions in certain
surveys, most time one could answer with 'Not Very Satisfied' or 'Quite Satisfied',
which are also fuzzy or ambiguous answers. Exactly to what degree is one satisfied
or dissatisfied with some service or product for those surveys? These vague
answers can only be created and implemented by human beings, but not machines.
Is it possible for a computer to answer those survey questions directly as a human
beings did? It is absolutely impossible. Computers can only understand either '0' or
'1', and 'HIGH' or 'LOW'. Those data are called crisp or classic data and can be
processed by all machines.
Is it possible to allow computers to handle those ambiguous data with the help
of a human being? If so, how can computers and machines handle those vague
data? The answer to the first question is yes. But to answer the second question, we
need some fuzzy logic techniques and knowledge of fuzzy inference system.
The idea of fuzzy logic was invented by Professor L. A. Zadeh of the
University of California at Berkeley in 1965 [1]. This invention was not well
recognized until Dr. E. H. Mamdani, who is a professor at London University,
applied the fuzzy logic in a practical application to control an automatic steam
engine in 1974 [2], which is almost ten years after the fuzzy theory was invented.
Then, in 1976, Blue Circle Cement and SIRA in Denmark developed an industrial
application to control cement kilns [3]. That system began to operation in 1982.
More and more fuzzy implementations have been reported since the 1980s,
including those applications in industrial manufacturing, automatic control,
18 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

automobile production, banks, hospitals, libraries and academic education. Fuzzy

logic techniques have been widely applied in all aspects in todays society.
To implement fuzzy logic technique to a real application requires the following
three steps:

1. Fuzzification convert classical data or crisp data into fuzzy data or

Membership Functions (MFs)
2. Fuzzy Inference Process combine membership functions with the
control rules to derive the fuzzy output
3. Defuzzification use different methods to calculate each associated
output and put them into a table: the lookup table. Pick up the output
from the lookup table based on the current input during an application

As mentioned before, all machines can process crisp or classical data such as
either '0' or '1'. In order to enable machines to handle vague language input such as
'Somehow Satisfied', the crisp input and output must be converted to linguistic
variables with fuzzy components. For instance, to control an air conditioner
system, the input temperature and the output control variables must be converted to
the associated linguistic variables such as 'HIGH', 'MEDIUM', 'LOW' and 'FAST',
'MEDIUM' or 'SLOW'. The former is corresponding to the input temperature and
the latter is associated with the rotation speed of the operating motor. Besides those
conversions, both the input and the output must also be converted from crisp data
to fuzzy data. All of these jobs are performed by the first step fuzzification.
In the second step, to begin the fuzzy inference process, one need combine the
Membership Functions with the control rules to derive the control output, and
arrange those outputs into a table called the lookup table. The control rule is the
core of the fuzzy inference process, and those rules are directly related to a human
beings intuition and feeling. For example, still in the air conditioner control
system, if the temperature is too high, the heater should be turned off, or the heat
driving motor should be slowed down, which is a human beings intuition or
common sense. Different methods such as Center of Gravity (COG) or Mean of
Maximum (MOM) are utilized to calculate the associated control output, and each
control output should be arranged into a table called lookup table.
During an actual application, a control output should be selected from the
lookup table developed from the last step based on the current input. Furthermore,
that control output should be converted from the linguistic variable back to the
crisp variable and output to the control operator. This process is called
defuzzification or step 3.
In most cases the input variables are more than one dimension for real
applications, and one needs to perform fuzzification or develop a Membership
Function for each dimensional variable separately. Perform the same operation if
the system has multiple output variables.
Summarily, a fuzzy process is a process of crisp-fuzzy-crisp for a real system.
The original input and the terminal output must be crisp variables, but the
intermediate process is a fuzzy inference process. The reason why one needs to
change a crisp to a fuzzy variable is that, from the point of view of fuzzy control or
a human beings intuition, no absolutely crisp variable is existed in our real world.
 Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control 19

Any physical variable may contain some other components. For instance, if
someone says: the temperature here is high. This high temperature contains some
middle and even low temperature components. From this point of view, fuzzy
control uses universal or global components, not just a limited range of
components as the classical variables did.
With the rapid development of fuzzy technologies, different fuzzy control
strategies have been developed based on different classical control methods, such
as PID-fuzzy control [4], sliding-mode fuzzy control [5], neural fuzzy control,
adaptor fuzzy control [6] and phase-plan mapping fuzzy control [7]. More and
more new fuzzy control strategies or combined crisp and fuzzy control techniques
are being developed and will be applied to many areas in our society in the future.
This chapter starts with an introduction to fuzzy logic control and fuzzy
terminology. Following sections provide detailed description of the fuzzy inference
process and the architecture of fuzzy logic control. Section 2 discusses fuzzy sets
and crisp sets. Fuzzifications and the membership function are covered in Section
3. Fuzzy control rules and defuzzification are discussed in Sections 4 and 5,
respectively. Some related combined fuzzy control methods are provided in the
remaining sections of this chapter.

2.2 Fuzzy Sets

The concept of the fuzzy set is only an extension of the concept of a classical or
crisp set. The fuzzy set is actually a fundamentally broader set compared with the
classical or crisp set. The classical set only considers a limited number of degrees
of membership such as 0 or 1, or a range of data with limited degrees of
membership. For instance, if a temperature is defined as a crisp high, its range
must be between 80 qF and higher and it has nothing to do with 70 qF or even 60
qF. But the fuzzy set will take care of a much broader range for this high
temperature. In other words, the fuzzy set will consider a much larger temperature
range such as from 0 qF to higher degrees as a high temperature. The exact degree
to which the 0 qF can contribute to that high temperature depends on the
membership function. This means that the fuzzy set uses a universe of discourse as
its base and it considers an infinite number of degrees of membership in a set. In
this way, the classical or crisp set can be considered as a subset of the fuzzy set.

2.2.1 Classical Sets and Operations

A classical set is a collection of objects in a given range with a sharp boundary. An

object can either belong to the set or not belong to the set. For example, we assume
to create a faculty set or a faculty collection F with ten-faculty members x1, x2
x10, in a college:

F = { x1, x2, x3, x4, x5, x6, x7, x8, x9, x10 } (2.1)
20 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

In general, the entire object of discussion F is called a universe of discourse, and

each member xi is called an element. Assuming that elements x1 ~ x4 belong to the
department of computer science, which can be considered as another set A. The
elements x1 ~ x3 are under age 40, which can be considered as a set B. Therefore
the following relations exist:

XF
A = {x1, x2, x3, x4} F (2.2)
B = {x1, x2, x3} A

It can be seen that all elements in set B belong to set A, or the set A contains set
B. In this case, set B can be considered as a subset of set A and can be expressed as
B A.
The relationship among different sets we discussed above can be described in
Figure 2.1. The basic classical set operations include complement, intersection and
union, which are represented as

Complement of A (AC) AC(x) = 1 A (2.3)

Intersection of A and B (A B) A B = A(x) B(x) (2.4)
Union of A and B (A B) A B = A(x) B(x) (2.5)

Faculty members in the college

x5, x6, x7, x8, x9, x10

F A (computer science)

B (under age 40)

x1, x2, x3 x4

Figure 2.1. The classical set of faculty members in a college

The representations of those classical set operations are shown in Figure 2.2.
It is clear that an element either belongs to a set or does not belong to that set in
the classical set and its operation. There is a sharp boundary between different
elements for different sets and these cannot be mixed with each other. However,
for the fuzzy set, it has different laws.

2.2.2 Mapping of Classical Sets to Functions

The classical set we discussed in the last section can be represented or mapped into
some functions. This means that we can relate set-theoretic forms to function-
theoretic representations, and map elements on one universe of discourse to
elements or sets in another universe. For the classical or crisp sets, this mapping is
 Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control 21

very easy and straightforward. Assume that X and Y are two different universes of
discourse. If an element x belongs to X and it corresponds to an element y
belonging to Y, the mapping between them can be expressed as

1, (x A)
PA(x) = (2.6)
0, (x A)

where PA represents 'membership' in a set A for the element x in the universe. This
membership idea is exactly a mapping from the element x in the universe X to one
of two elements in universe Y, or to elements 0 or 1.

F F
AC
A
B A

(a) B A (b) AC

F F

A B A B

(c) A B (d) A B

Figure 2.2. The classical set and its operations

Still using the example in the last section, a set of faculty members in a college
that contains two subsets A and B, we want to define a new set P(x) as

P(x) = { A, B } (2.7)

and mapping these two sets from universe of discourse F to another universe Y
with two elements, 0 or 1.

M(P(x)) = { (1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0), (1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0) } (2.8)

Now we can define operations of two classical sets, says A and B, on the universe
F as follows:

Union: A B = PA(x) PB(x) = max ( PA(x), PB(x) )

22 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

Intersection: A B = PA(x) PB(x) = min ( PA(x), PB(x) )

Complement: AC = F \ A (2.9)

2.2.3 Fuzzy Sets and Operations

As we discussed in the previous section, the classical set has a sharp boundary,
which means that a member either belongs to that set or does not. Also, this
classical set can be mapped to a function with two elements, 0 or 1. For example,
in the previous section, we defined the faculty member in the department of
computer science as set A. A faculty either fully belongs to this set (PA(x) = 1) if
one is a faculty of the computer science department or has nothing to do with set A
(PA(x) = 0) if he is not a faculty in that department. This mapping is straightforward
with sharp boundary without any ambiguity. In other words, this fully belonging
to can be mapped as a member of set A with degree of 1, and not belong to can
be mapped as a member of set A with degree of 0. This mapping is similar to a
black-and-white binary categorization.
Compared with a classical set, a fuzzy set allows members to have a smooth
boundary. In other words, a fuzzy set allows a member to belong to a set to some
partial degree. For instance, still using the temperature as an example, the
temperature can be divided into three categories: LOW (0 ~30 qF), MEDIUM (30
qF ~ 70 qF) and HIGH (70 ~ 120 qF) from the point of view of the classical set,
which is shown in Figure 2.3a.

LOW MEDIUM HIGH LOW MEDIUM HIGH

1 1

qF qF
0 30 70 120 0 30 70 120

(a) Classical set (b) Fuzzy set

Figure 2.3. Representations of classical and fuzzy sets

In the classical set, any temperature can only be categorized into one subset,
either LOW, MEDIUM or HIGH, and the boundary is crystal clear. But in the
fuzzy set such as shown in Figure 2.3b, these boundaries becomes vague or
smooth. One temperature can be categorized into two or maybe even three subsets
simultaneously. For example, the temperature 40 qF can be considered to belong to
LOW to a certain degree, say 0.5 degree, but at the same time it can belong to
MEDIUM to about 0.7 degree. Another interesting thing is the temperature 50 qF,
which can be considered to belong to LOW and HIGH to around 0.2 degree and
belong to MEDIUM to almost 1 degree. The dash-line in Figure 2.3b represents the
classical set boundary.
 Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control 23

It is clear that a fuzzy set contains elements which have varying degrees of
membership in the set, and this is contrasted with the classical or crisp sets because
members of a classical set cannot be members unless their membership is full or
complete in that set. A fuzzy set allows a member to have a partial degree of
membership and this partial degree membership can be mapped into a function or a
universe of membership values. Assume that we have a fuzzy set A, and if an
element x is a member of this fuzzy set A, this mapping can be denoted as

PA(x) [0, 1] (A = (x, PA(x)| x X) (2.10)

A fuzzy subset A with an element x has a membership function of PA(x). When

the universe of discourse X is discrete and finite, this mapping can be expressed as

P A ( x1 ) P A (x2 ) P A ( xi )
A=
x1

x2
 ......
i xi
(2.11)

When the universe X is continuous and infinite, the fuzzy set A can be
represented as
P ( x)
A= A (2.12)
x

MEDIUM HIGH MEDIUM HIGH MEDIUM

1 1 1

qF qF qF
0 3 7 12 0 3 7 12 0 3 7 12
(a) Fuzzy set union (b) Fuzzy set intersection (c) Fuzzy set complement
Figure 2.4. Fuzzy set operations

As we discussed in the previous section for the classical set operations, the
basic fuzzy set operations also include intersection, union and complement, and
those operations are defined as

Union: A B = PA(x) PB(x) = max ( PA(x), PB(x) )

Intersection: A B = PA(x) PB(x) = min ( PA(x), PB(x) )
Complement: AC = F \ A (2.13)

where A and B are two fuzzy sets and x is an element in the universe of discourse,
X. The graphical illustrations of those operations are shown in Figure 2.4.
According to the definition of fuzzy set operations, a fuzzy set union operation
is exactly equivalent to select the maximum member from those members in the
sets, and the intersection operation is selecting the minimum member from the sets.
24 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

2.2.4 Comparison Between Classical and Fuzzy Sets

Recall that in Section 2.2.1 we defined a college faculty set F, a faculty set for the
computer science department, set A, and a set of faculty members who are under
age 40, or set B. Now we can make a clear comparison for the classical and fuzzy
sets using this example.
According to classical or crisp set theory, set B includes only three members
who are under age 40 (x1, x2, x3), so the boundary between the faculty who are
under age 40 and the faculty who are above age 40 is crystal clear (see solid-line in
Figure 2.5). However, for the fuzzy set theory, set B contains not only those three
members, x1, x2, x3, but also some other members to some varying degree. The
actual age distribution of all ten faculty members is displayed in the x-axis in
Figure 2.5.
It can be found from Figure 2.5 that the member x4 and x5 do not belong to the
set B in the view of the crisp set, but they can be considered as partial members in
a partial membership of 0.7 and 0.3 degrees, respectively. Mapping this to a
membership function, it can be expressed as

1 1 1 0.7 0.3
PB(x) =     (2.14)
x1 x 2 x3 x 4 x5

Classical
1
Fuzzy set

x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 x7 x8 x9 x10
32 28 38 42 49 51 58 48 52 61

Figure 2.5. The comparison between classical and fuzzy sets

where the division operator is called a separator, and '+' is the or operator. All other
members whose membership is 0 are omitted from this function.

2.3 Fuzzification and Membership Functions

The fuzzy set is a powerful tool and allows us to represent objects or members in a
vague or ambiguous way. The fuzzy set also provides a way that is similar to a
human beings concepts and thought process. However, just the fuzzy set itself
cannot lead to any useful and practical products until the fuzzy inference process is
applied. To implement fuzzy inference to a real product or to solve an actual
 Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control 25

problem, as we discussed before, three consecutive steps are needed, which are:
Fuzzification, fuzzy inference and defuzzification.
Fuzzification is the first step to apply a fuzzy inference system. Most variables
existing in the real world are crisp or classical variables. One needs to convert
those crisp variables (both input and output) to fuzzy variables, and then apply
fuzzy inference to process those data to obtain the desired output. Finally, in most
cases, those fuzzy outputs need to be converted back to crisp variables to complete
the desired control objectives.
Generally, fuzzification involves two processes: derive the membership
functions for input and output variables and represent them with linguistic
variables. This process is equivalent to converting or mapping classical set to fuzzy
set to varying degrees.
In practice, membership functions can have multiple different types, such as the
triangular waveform, trapezoidal waveform, Gaussian waveform, bell-shaped
waveform, sigmoidal waveform and S-curve waveform. The exact type depends on
the actual applications. For those systems that need significant dynamic variation
in a short period of time, a triangular or trapezoidal waveform should be utilized.
For those system that need very high control accuracy, a Gaussian or S-curve
waveform should be selected.
To illustrate the process of fuzzification, we still use the air conditioner
example developed in the previous section. Assume that we have an air conditioner
control system that is under the control of only a heater. If the temperature is high,
the heater control motor should be turned off, and if the temperature is low, that
heater motor should be turned on, which are common sense.
Regularly, the normal temperature range is from 20 qF to 90 qF. This range can
be further divided into three sub-range or subset, which are

Low temperature: 20 qF ~ 40 qF, 30 qF is center

Medium temperature: 30 qF ~ 80 qF, 55 qF is center
High temperature: 60 qF ~ 90 qF, 75 qF is center

Next those three ranges need to be converted to linguistic variables: LOW,

MEDIUM and HIGH, which correspond to the three temperature ranges listed
above.
The membership function of these temperatures is shown in Figure 2.6. To
make thing simple, a trapezoidal waveform is utilized for this type of membership
function. A crisp low temperature can be considered as a medium temperature to
some degree in this fuzzy membership function representation. For instance, 35 qF
will belong to LOW and MEDIUM to 0.5 degree. Some terminologies used for the
membership function are also shown in Figure 2.6.
The support of a fuzzy set, says LOW, is the set of elements whose degree of
membership in LOW is greater than 0. This support can be expressed in a function
form as

Support(LOW) = { x T | PLOW(x) > 0 } (2.15)

It can be shown that the support of a fuzzy set is a classical set.

26 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

P Core INPUT - Temperature

1.0
LOW MEDIUM HIGH

30 40 qF
0
20 60 80 90
Boundary
Support
(a) Membership function of the input

P
Core OUTPUT Motor Speed
1.0
SLOW MEDIUM FAST

30 50 80 R/M
0
10 60 70 100
Support Boundary

(b) Membership function of the output

Figure 2.6. Membership function of input and output

The core of a fuzzy set is the set of elements whose degree of membership in
that set is equal to 1, which is equivalent to a crisp set. The boundary of a fuzzy set
indicates the range in which all elements whose degree of membership in that set is
between 0 and 1 (0 and 1 are excluded).
After the membership functions are defined for both input and output, the next
step is to define the fuzzy control rule.

2.4 Fuzzy Control Rules

Fuzzy control rule can be considered as the knowledge of an expert in any related
field of application. The fuzzy rule is represented by a sequence of the form IF-
THEN, leading to algorithms describing what action or output should be taken in
terms of the currently observed information, which includes both input and
feedback if a closed-loop control system is applied. The law to design or build a set
of fuzzy rules is based on a human beings knowledge or experience, which is
dependent on each different actual application.
A fuzzy IF-THEN rule associates a condition described using linguistic
variables and fuzzy sets to an output or a conclusion. The IF part is mainly used to
capture knowledge by using the elastic conditions, and the THEN part can be
utilized to give the conclusion or output in linguistic variable form. This IF-THEN
rule is widely used by the fuzzy inference system to compute the degree to which
the input data matches the condition of a rule. Figure 2.7 illustrates a way to
 Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control 27

calculate the degree between a fuzzy input T (temperature) and a fuzzy condition
LOW. Here we still use the air conditioner system as an example.

P
T
1.0
Fuzzy Condition
LOW

0.4

0 qF
20 30 40

Figure 2.7. Matching a fuzzy input with a fuzzy condition

This calculation can also be represented by the function

M(T, LOW) = Support min(PT(x), PLOW(x)) (2.16)

Two types of fuzzy control rules are widely utilized for most real applications.
One is fuzzy mapping rules and the other is called fuzzy implication rules.

2.4.1 Fuzzy Mapping Rules

Fuzzy mapping rules provide a functional mapping between the input and the
output using linguistic variables. The foundation of a fuzzy mapping rule is a fuzzy
graph, which describes the relationship between the fuzzy input and the fuzzy
output. Sometimes, in real applications, it is very hard to derive a certain
relationship between the input and the output, or the relationship between those
inputs and outputs are very complicated even when that relationship is developed.
Fuzzy mapping rules are a good solution for those situations.
Fuzzy mapping rules work in a similar way to human intuition or insight, and
each fuzzy mapping rule only approximates a limited number of elements of the
function, so the entire function should be approximated by a set of fuzzy mapping
rules. Still using our air conditioner system as an example, a fuzzy mapping rule
can be derived as

IF the temperature is LOW, THEN the heater motor should be rotated FAST.

For other input temperatures, different rules should be developed.

For most actual applications, the input variables are commonly more than one
dimension. For example, in our air conditioner system, the inputs include both
current temperature and the change rate of the temperature. The fuzzy control rules
should also be extended to allow multiple inputs to be considered to derive the
output. Table 2.1 is an example of fuzzy control rules applied in our air conditioner
system.
28 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

Table 2.1. An example of fuzzy rules

.
T
T LOW MEDIUM HIGH

LOW FAST MEDIUM MEDIUM

MEDIUM FAST SLOW SLOW
HIGH MEDIUM SLOW SLOW

The rows and columns represent two inputs, the temperature input and the
change rate of the temperature input, and those inputs are related to IF parts in IF-
THEN rules. The conclusion or control output can be considered as a third
dimensional variable that is located at the cross point of each row (temperature)
and each column (change rate of the temperature), and that conclusion is associated
with the THEN part in IF-THEN rules. For example, when the current temperature
is LOW, and the current change rate of the temperature is also LOW, the heater
motors speed should be FAST to increase the temperature as soon as possible.
This can be represented by the IF-THEN rule as

IF the temperature is LOW, and the change rate of the temperature is LOW,
THEN the conclusion or output (heater motor speed) should be FAST

All other rules follow a similar strategy, which is very similar to a human
beings intuition.
In this air conditioner example, a total of nine rules are developed. For those
applications that need high control accuracy, the input and output should be
divided into more small segments, and more fuzzy rules should be applied.

2.4.2 Fuzzy Implication Rules

A fuzzy implication rule describes a generalized logic implication relationship

between inputs and outputs. The foundation of a fuzzy implication rule is the
narrow sense of fuzzy logic [8]. Fuzzy implication rules are related to classical
two-valued logic and multiple valued logic.
Still using the air conditioner system as an example, the implication is

IF the temperature is LOW, THEN the heater motor should be FAST.

Based on this implication and a fact: the temperature is HIGH. The result that
the heater motor should slow down or the SLOW can be inferred.

2.5 Defuzzification and the Lookup Table

The conclusion or control output derived from the combination of input, output
membership functions and fuzzy rules is still a vague or fuzzy element, and this
process in called fuzzy inference. To make that conclusion or fuzzy output
 Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control 29

available to real applications, a defuzzification process is needed. The

defuzzification process is meant to convert the fuzzy output back to the crisp or
classical output to the control objective. Remember, the fuzzy conclusion or output
is still a linguistic variable, and this linguistic variable needs to be converted to the
crisp variable via the defuzzification process. Three defuzzification techniques are
commonly used, which are: Mean of Maximum method, Center of Gravity method
and the Height method.

2.5.1 Mean of Maximum (MOM) Method

The Mean of Maximum (MOM) defuzzification method computes the average of

those fuzzy conclusions or outputs that have the highest degrees. For example, the
fuzzy conclusion is: the heater motor x is rotated FAST. By using the MOM
method, this defuzzification can be expressed as

'
x
'
MOM(FAST) = x T
T = {x |PFAST(x)=Support PFAST(x)} (2.17)
T

where T is the set of output x that has the highest degrees in the set FAST.
A graphic representation of the MOM method is shown in Figure 2.8a.
A shortcoming of the MOM method is that it does not consider the entire shape
of the output membership function, and it only takes care of the points that have
the highest degrees in that function. For those membership functions that have
different shapes but the same highest degrees, this method will produce the same
result.

P P

x x

x x

(a) MOM method example (b) COG method example

Figure 2.8. Graphic representation of defuzzification techniques

2.5.2 Center of Gravity (COG) Method

The Center of Gravity method (COG) is the most popular defuzzification technique
and is widely utilized in actual applications. This method is similar to the formula
30 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

for calculating the center of gravity in physics. The weighted average of the
membership function or the center of the gravity of the area bounded by the
membership function curve is computed to be the most crisp value of the fuzzy
quantity. For example, for the conclusion: the heater motor x is rotated FAST. The
COG output can be represented as

P x
FAST ( x) u x
COG(FAST) = (2.18)
P x
FAST ( x)

If x is a continuous variable, this defuzzification result is

P FAST ( x) xdx
COG(FAST) = (2. 19)
P FAST ( x)dx

A graphic representation of the COG method is shown in Figure 2.8b.

2.5.3 The Height Method (HM)

This defuzzification method is valid only for the case where the output
membership function is an aggregated union result of symmetrical functions [9].
This method can be divided into two steps. First, the consequent membership
function Fi can be converted into a crisp consequent x = fi where fi is the center of
gravity of Fi. Then the COG method is applied to the rules with crisp consequents,
which can be expressed as

w f
i 1
i i
x= M
(2.20)
w
i 1
i

where wi is the degree to which the ith rule matches the input data. The advantage
of this method is its simplicity. Therefore many neuro-fuzzy models use this
defuzzification method to reduce the complex of calculations.

2.5.4 The Lookup Table

The terminal product of defuzzification is the lookup table. Defuzzification needs

to be performed for each subset of a membership function, both inputs and outputs.
For instance, in the air conditioner system, one needs to perform defuzzification for
each subset of temperature input such as LOW, MEDIUM and HIGH based on the
associated fuzzy rules. The defuzzification result for each subset needs to be stored
 Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control 31

in the associated location in the lookup table according to the current temperature
and temperature change rate. In the following we use the air conditioner system as
an example to illustrate the defuzzification process and the creation of the lookup
table.
To make this illustration simple, we make two assumptions: I. assume that the
membership function of the change rate of the temperature can be described as in
Figure 2.9; II. only four rules are applied to this air conditioner system, which are

1) IF the temperature is LOW, and the change rate of the temperature is

LOW, THEN the heater motor speed should be FAST
2) IF the temperature is MEDIUM, and the change rate of the temperature is
MEDIUM, THEN the heater motor speed should be SLOW
3) IF the temperature is LOW, and the change rate of the temperature is
MEDIUM, THEN the heater motor speed should be FAST
4) IF the temperature is MEDIUM, and the change rate of the temperature is
LOW, THEN the heater motor speed should be MEDIUM

P INPUT Temperature change rate

1.0
MEDIUM
LOW HIGH

'qF/Hour
0
0 0.5 1 2 3 5

Figure 2.9. The membership function of the change rate of temperature

Based on the assumption made for the membership function and fuzzy rules,
we can illustrate this defuzzification process using a graph. Four fuzzy rules can be
interpreted as functional diagrams, as shown in Figure 2.10.
As an example, consider the current input temperature is 35 qF and the change
rate of the temperature is 1 qF per hour.
From Figure 2.10, it can be found that the points of intersection between the
temperature values of 35 qF and the graph in the first column (temperature input T)
have the membership functions of 0.6, 0.8, 0.5 and 0.8. Likewise, the second
column (temperature change rate 'T) shows that a temperature change rate of 1 qF
per hour has the membership functions of 1.0, 0.4, 0.4 and 1.0. The fuzzy output
for the four rules is the intersection of the paired values obtained from the graph, or
the AND result between the temperature input and the temperature change rate
input. According to Equation (2.13), this operation result should be: min (0.6, 1.0),
min (0.8, 0.4), min (0.5, 0.4) and min (0.8, 1.0), which produces to 0.6, 0.4, 0.4 and
0.8, respectively.
32 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

S
T LOW 'T
LOW FAST
1.0
0.6 0.6

20 30 40 0 1 2.5 600 800 1000

T MEDIUM 'T
MEDIUM
S
SLOW
0.8 0.8
0.4 0.4

30 55 80 0 1 2 3.5 100 300 500

T S
LOW 'T MEDIUM FAST
0.5 0.5
0.4
0.4
20 30 40 0 1 2 3.5 600 800 1000
'T S
T
MEDIUM LOW 1.0 MEDIUM
0.8
0.8

30 55 80 0 1 2.5 300 500 700

Figure 2.10. An illustration of fuzzy output calculation

The membership functions representing the control adjustment are weighted

according to the input change and the different control contributions as shown in
Figure 2.11.
Now, for a pair of temperature and temperature change rate, four sets of fuzzy
outputs exist. To determine the crisp value of action to be taken from these
contributions, one can either choose the maximum value using the MOM method
or use the Center of Gravity method (COG). In this example, the COG method is
used and the action is given by the center of the summed area, which is contributed
by the different fuzzy outputs. Furthermore, the COG method gives a more reliable
lookup table compared with the MOM operation.
Thus, for a temperature of 35 qF and a change rate of temperature is 1 qF per
hour, the fuzzy output element y for this input pair is

0.6 u 800  0.4 u 300  0.4 u 800  0.8 u 500

y= 600 R/M (2.21)
0.6  0.4  0.4  0.8
 Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control 33

P
Contributed by Contributed by
Rule 2 Rule 4 Contributed by
1.0 Rule 1
MEDIUM
0.8
FAST
0.6 Contributed by
SLOW Rule 3
0.4

0.2
R/M
100 300 500 600 700 800 1000

Figure 2.11. Determination of fuzzy output by the center of gravity method

This defuzzified fuzzy output is a crisp or classical value, and should be entered
into a certain location in a table called the lookup table. Since this fuzzy output
element is associated with a temperature input pair with a temperature of 35 qF
(belonging to LOW in the temperature membership function) and a change rate of
temperature of 1 qF/h (also belonging to LOW in the membership function of
change rate of temperature), this output value should be located in the cross point
.
between the LOW temperature T (row) and the LOW change rate T (column) as
shown in Table 2.2.
Table 2.2 shows an example of a lookup table.

Table 2.2. An example of a lookup table

.
T
T LOW MEDIUM HIGH

LOW 600 ? ?
MEDIUM ? ? ?
HIGH ? ? ?

To fill this table, one needs to use the defuzzification technique to calculate all
other fuzzy output values and locate them in the associated positions in the lookup
table as we did in this example. Generally, the dimensions of the fuzzy rules should
be identical with the dimensions of the lookup table as shown in this example. To
obtain more accurate control accuracy or fine fuzzy output element values, one can
divide the inputs, say the temperature input and change rate of the temperature,
into multiple smaller subsets to get finer membership functions. For instance, in
this example, one can define a VERY LOW subset that covers 20 ~ 30 qF for the
temperature input, a LOW subset that contains a range of 30 ~ 40 qF, and so on.
Performing the same process to the change rate of temperature and the heater
motor output, one can get a much finer lookup table.
34 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

For higher control accuracy applications, an interpolation process can be added

after the lookup table to obtain finer output [10].
When implementing a fuzzy logic technique to a real system, the lookup table
can be stored in a computers memory, and the fuzzy output can be obtained based
on the current inputs. In practice, there are two ways to calculate the lookup table
using fuzzy inference process in the real control applications: off-line and on-line
methods.

2.5.5 Off-line and On-line Defuzzification

As mentioned , the defuzzification process is to derive the desired crisp output

value using a defuzzification technique that combines the membership functions
with the fuzzy rules. The defuzzification process can be further divided into two
categories: off-line defuzzification and on-line defuzzification.
So-called off-line defuzzification means that all input and output membership
functions, fuzzy rules and the lookup table should be developed based on the
estimations of the real application prior to the implementation of the fuzzy logic
technique to the actual application. This means that all input and output
membership functions are developed based on the actual experience or the input
and output parameter ranges of a specified application, and the lookup table is
calculated in terms of those definitions of input and output membership functions.
The advantage of this method is that most fuzzy inference related calculations are
performed prior to the real implementation and therefore the fuzzy process is less
time consuming. The disadvantage of this technique is that the fuzzy output is only
based on the estimation of input and output parameters, so the control accuracy is
not as high as that of on-line method.
The on-line method has real-time controllability. Both input and output
membership functions are developed during the real-time processing of an actual
application. Also the lookup table elements are calculated in real-time based on the
current actual inputs and outputs. In this method, only fuzzy rules are developed
prior to the real applications. The advantage of this method is that higher control
accuracy can be obtained for a process and the fuzzy output can be computed in
real-time. The disadvantage of this method is that a longer processing time is
needed and it is a somewhat time-consuming process. However, with the
development of new computer technologies, today much faster CPUs are available,
and processing time is no longer a big deal for this method.

2.6 Architectures of Fuzzy Logic Controls

Combining the discussions we made in the previous sections, a structure or
architecture of fuzzy logic control system is given here.
As shown in Figure 2.12, which is a typical fuzzy closed-loop control system, the
inputs are error and error rate, which are combined by block M to input to the
fuzzy inference system. The lookup table is derived based on the membership
function of inputs, the output and the fuzzy control rules. A control gain factor G is
used to tune the output of the lookup table to obtain different output values. The
 Fundamentals of Fuzzy Logic Control 35

interpolation block S is used to smooth the output element of the lookup table. A
feedback signal is obtained from the output of the system.

G = Control Gain S = Interpolation

Input
r=0 Error Lookup
M G S P
Table
+
- Error
Rate
Control Fuzzy
Rules Subset P = Plant

Sensor

Figure 2.12. Block diagram of a fuzzy control system

Control Fuzzy
Rules Subset
Limits For
Fine Fuzzy Lookup S = Interpolation
Table
Input (coarse)
r=0 Error M Lookup
G S P
+-
Table
Error
(fine)
Rate P = Plant
Control Fuzzy
Rules Subset

Sensor

Figure 2.13. Block diagram of an accurate fuzzy control system

For a system that needs higher control accuracy, a multiple lookup tables fuzzy
control system is needed, which is shown in Figure 2.13.
Two lookup tables are developed in this control system, a coarse and a fine
table. During the application, the switch between the coarse and the fine table is
under the control of the input error limit. This limit value can be defined by the
user based on the real application. Two-set membership functions and control rules
are utilized in this system to satisfy the requirement of higher control accuracy.
When the system needs quick responses or quick actions, the coarse table is used.
When the system needs high control accuracy or small control errors, the fine
lookup table is selected. The sacrifice for this method is that more memory is
needed to store both coarse and fine tables, and a little longer time is needed to
make decision in selecting table in terms of the input error limit value.
36 Advanced Fuzzy Logic Technologies in Industrial Applications

2.7 Summary
A review of the fundamentals of fuzzy sets, fuzzy rules and fuzzy inference
systems is provided in this chapter. Beginning with crisp or classical sets and their
operations, we derived fuzzy sets and their operations. Classical set membership
functions and fuzzy membership functions are discussed in detail following set
theory. Fuzzy rules are described using an air conditioner control example. The
different defuzzification techniques and their processes are discussed with the same
example step by step. Finally, some other fuzzy techniques are discussed such as
off-line and on-line fuzzy control systems as well as a fuzzy closed-loop control
system including multiple lookup tables.
Because of space limitations, the author cannot cover all different fuzzy
systems and their applications such as sliding mode fuzzy, adaptor fuzzy and
neural fuzzy control systems in one chapter. With the development of new fuzzy
techniques, fuzzy control will play a more and more important role in our society.

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