CHAPTER 9

MEMBERSHIP
FUNCTIONS

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CRISP MEMBERSHIP FUCNTIONS
 Crisp membership functions () are either one or zero.

 Consider the example: Numbers greater than 10. The membership

curve for the set A is given by

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 MEMBERSHIP FUNCTION
• Membership function defines the fuzziness in the
fuzzy set irrespective of the elements in the
set, which are discrete or continuous
• Membership functions are generally represented in
the graphical form
• There exist certain limitations for the shape
used to represent graphical form of membership
function
• The rules that describe fuzziness graphically are
also fuzzy
• Membership function can be thought of as a
technique to solve empirical problems on the
basis of experience rather than knowledge
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 FEATURES OF MEMBERSHIP FUNCTION
• Membership function defines all the
information contained in a fuzzy set
• A fuzzy set A~ in the universe of
discourse X can be defined as a set of
ordered pairs:
A~={(x,µA~ x |x Ɛ X}
• Where µA~(x) is called memebreship function
of A~
• The membership function µA~(x) maps X to
the membership space M
• The membership value ranges in the
intervel [0,1]
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FEATURES OF MEMBERSHIP FUNCTIONS

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 FEATURES OF MEMBERSHIP FUNCTION
Three main basic features involved in
characterizing membership function are
following

Core :

The core of the membership function for some

fuzzy set A~ is defined as the region of
universe that is characterized by complete
membership in the set A~. The core has elements
x of the universe such that

µA~(x) = 1
The core of the fuzzy set may be an empty set
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Support :
The support is defined as that region of
universe that is characterized by a non
zero membership in the set A~. The
support comprises the elements x of the
universe such that
µA~(x) > 0
A fuzzy set whose support is a single
element in X with µA~(x) = 1 is
referred to as a fuzzy singleton

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Boundary :
The boundary is defined as that region of
universe that is characterized by a non zero
but not complete membership.
The boundary comprises those elements of x of
the universe such that
0<µA~(x) <1
The boundary elements are those which posses
partial membership in the fuzzy set A~

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 OTHER TYPE OF FUZZY SETS
• A fuzzy set whose membership function has at least one
element x in the universe whose membership value is unity
is called normal fuzzy set
• The element for which membership is equal to 1 is called
prototypical elements
• A fuzzy set wherein no membership function has its value
equal to 1 is called subnormal fuzzy set

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• A convex fuzzy set has a membership function whose
membership value are strictly monotonically increasing or
decreasing or strictly monotonically increasing than
decreasing with increasing values for elements in the
universe
• A fuzzy set possessing characteristics opposite that of
convex fuzzy set is called nonconvex fuzzy set
– That is membership values of membership function are not
strictly monotonically increasing or decreasing or strictly
monotonically increasing than decreasing

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FUZZIFICATION

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 Use crisp inputs from the user.

 Determine membership values for all the relevant classes (i.e., in

right Universe of Discourse).

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EXAMPLE - FUZZIFICATION

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LINGUISTIC VARIABLE

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LINGUISTIC VARIABLE

 Let x be a linguistic variable with the label “speed”.

 Terms of x, which are fuzzy sets, could be “positive low”, “negative
high” from the term set T:

T = {PostiveHigh, PositiveLow, NegativeLow,

NegativeHigh, Zero}

 Each term is a fuzzy variable defined on the base variable which

might be the scale of all relevant velocities.

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MEMBERSHIP FUCNTIONS

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FUZZIFICATION OF HEIGHT

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FUZZIFICATION OF WEIGHT

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 METHODS OF MEMBERSHIP VALUE
ASSIGNMENT
The various methods of assigning membership values are:

 Intuition,
 Inference,
 Rank ordering,
 Angular fuzzy sets,
 Neural networks,
 Genetic algorithm,
 Inductive reasoning.

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 Intuition
• Intuition is based on the human s own
intelligence and understanding to develop the
membership functions.
• The thorough knowledge of the problem has to be
known, the knowledge regarding the linguistic
variable should also be known.

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 Intuition

• Consider the speed of dc motor

• The curve represent the membership function
corresponding to various fuzzy variable
• The range of speed is spitted into low , medium and
high
• curves differentiate the ranges, said by humans.
• The placement of curves is approximate over the
universe of discourse; the number of curves and the
overlapping of curves is an important criteria to be
considered while defining membership functions.

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• As an example, consider the
membership functions for the
fuzzy variable temperature.
• Figure shows various shapes on
the universe of temperature as
measured in units of degrees
Celsius.
• Each curve is a membership
function corresponding to various
fuzzy variables, such as very
cold, cold, normal, hot, and very
hot.
• For example, if the temperatures
are referred to the range of
human comfort we get one set of
curves, and if they are referred
to the range of safe operating
temperatures for a steam turbine
we get another set.
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1. Using your own intuition and definitions of
the universe of discourse, plot fuzzy
membership functions for weight of people.

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1. Using your own intuition and definitions of
the universe of discourse, plot fuzzy
membership functions for weight of people.

• The universe of discourse is the weight of people. Let

the weights be in kg – kilogram.
• Let the linguistic variables are:
– Very light – w 0
– Light – 0 < w
– Average – < w 0
– Heavy – 0 < w
– Very heavy – w > 75

• Representing this using triangular membership function,

as shown in Arsha J K,AP,Computer Science
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Using your own intuition, plot the fuzzy
membership function for the age of people.

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Using your own intuition, plot the fuzzy
membership function for the age of people.

• The linguistic variables are defined as, let A denotes age in years.
– (1) Very young (vy) – A < 15
– (2) Young (y) – ≤ A <
– (3) Middle aged (m) – ≤ A <
– (4) Old (o) – ≤ A <
– (5) Very old (vo) – 60 < A

• Arsha J K,AP,Computer Science

This is represented using triangular
and membership, as shown in
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Compare medium wave and short wave receivers
according to their frequency range. Plot the
membership function using intuition. The
linguistic variable are defined based on the
following
Medium wave receivers: frequency lesser than 106 Hz
Short wave receivers : Frequency greater than 106 Hz

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 Solution
Let the frequency range of
receivers be the universe
of discourse. The
linguistic variables are
following
Medium wave receivers:
frequency lesser than 106
Hz
Short wave receivers :
Frequency greater than
106 Hz

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Using your own intuition and your own
definition of the universe of discourse plot
fuzzy membership functions to the following
variables:
(1) Height of liquid in a tank
• (a) Very full
• (b) Full
• (c) Medium
• (d) Small
• (e) Very small
(2) Race of people
• (a) Very white
• (b) White
• (c) Moderate
• (d) Black
• (e) Very black
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• Using your own intuition, develop
fuzzy membership functions for the
fuzzy number 3, using the
following shapes:
• (a) right angle triangle,
• (b) quadrilateral,
• (c) Gaussian function,
• (d) trapezoid, and
• (e) isosceles triangle.

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• Using intuition, assign the membership functions
for (a) population of people, (b) employment
strategy, and (c) usage of library.

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• Using your own intuition, develop fuzzy
membership functions on the real line for
the fuzzy number 4, using the following
function shapes:
• (1) Symmetric triangle
• (2) Trapezoid
• (3) Gaussian function

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• Using your own intuition, develop fuzzy
u ber appro i atel or appro i atel 8
using the following function shapes:
• (1) Symmetric triangle
• (2) Trapezoids
• (3) Gaussian functions.

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Arsha J K,AP,Computer Science
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 INFERENCE

• This method involves the knowledge to

perform deductive reasoning.
• The membership function is formed from
the facts known and knowledge.
• That is, we wish to deduce or infer a
conclusion, given a body of facts and
knowledge

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• Let us use inference method for the
identification of the triangle.
• Let U be universe of triangles and A, B, and C
be the inner angles of the triangles.
• Also A B C 0. Therefore the universe is
given by:

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• For the approximate isosceles triangle we
have the following algorithm for the
membership, again for the situation of
A ≥ B ≥ C ≥ 0 and A + B + C = 180◦

• So, for example, if A = B or B = C, the

membership value in the approximate isosceles
triangle is

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• For a fuzzy right triangle, we have

• For instance, when A = 90◦, the

membership value in the fuzzy right
triangle, μR∼= 1,
• or when A = 180◦, this membership
vanishes, i.e., μR∼ = 0.

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• For the case of an approximate isosceles and
right triangle (there is only one of these in
the crisp domain), we can find this
membership function by taking the logical
intersection (and operator) of the isosceles
and right triangle membership functions, or

II IR

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For example,when A = B = C, the
membership value is μE∼ (A, B,C) = 1;
when A = 180◦,the membership value
vanishes, or μE∼ = 0.

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• Finally, for the set of all other triangles all
triangular shapes other than I∼ ,R∼, and E∼) we simply
invoke the complement of the logical union of the three
previous cases (or, from De Morgan s principles the
intersection of the complements of the triangular
shapes),

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• Using the inference method, find the
membership values of the triangular shapes
for each of the following triangles:
• (a) 60◦, 40◦, 80◦,
• (b) 45◦, 65◦,70◦, and
• (c) 75◦, 55◦, 50◦.

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• Using the Inference approach outlined in this chapter
find the membership values for each of the
triangular shapes (I∼ ,R∼, IR∼,E∼,R∼) for each of
the following
• (1) 80◦, 75◦, 25◦,
• (2) 60◦, 75◦, 45◦,
• (3) 50◦, 75◦, 55◦, and
• (4) 45◦, 45◦, 90◦.

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 RANK ORDERING
• The polling concept is used to assign
membership values by rank ordering
process.
• Preferences are above for pair wise
comparisons and from this the ordering of
the membership is done.

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• Suppose 1000 people respond to a questionnaire about their
pair wise preferences among five colors, X = {red, orange,
yellow, green, blue}.
• Define a fuzzy set as A∼ on the universe of colors best
color. Table 6.1 is a summary of the opinion survey.
• In this table, for example, out of 1000 people 517
preferred the color red to the color orange, 841 preferred
the color orange to the color yellow, etc.

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• Suppose 1,000 people responds to a questionnaire about the pair wise
preference among five cars, x− {Palio, Siena, Astra, Easter, Baleno}.
• Define a fuzzy set as A ∼ on the universe of cars, est ars .

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• The following data were determined by the pairwise
comparison of work preferences of 100 people. When it
was compared with Software (S), 69 of persons polled
preferred Hardware (H), 45 of them preferred
Educational (E), 55 of them preferred Business (B) and 25
preferred Textile (T). When it was compared with
hardware (H), the preferences was 58-S, 45-E, 60-B, 30-T.
When it was compared with educational, 39-S, 56-H, 34-
B, 25-T. When it was compared business, the preferences
was 52-S, 49-H, 38-E, 20-T. When it was compared with
textile, the preferences was 69-S, 65-H, 44-E, 40-B. Using
rank ordering, plot the membership function for the
o s t p r e f e r r e d w o r k .
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SUMMARY
The contents discussed in this chapter include:

 Membership functions – Definition and properties.

 Linguistic variables.

 Fuzzification process.

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FUZZINESS vs PROBABILITY

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 CHAPTER 10

DEFUZZIFICATION

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DEFUZZIFICATION
 Defuzzification is a mapping process from a space of fuzzy control
actions defined over an output universe of discourse into a space
of crisp (nonfuzzy) control actions.

 Defuzzification is a process of converting output fuzzy variable into

a unique number.

 Defuzzification process has the capability to reduce a fuzzy set into

a crisp single-valued quantity or into a crisp set; to convert a fuzzy
matrix into a crisp matrix; or to convert a fuzzy number into a crisp
number.

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LAMBDA CUT FOR FUZZY SETS

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LAMBDA CUT FOR FUZZY RELATIONS

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• Apart from the lambda cut sets and relations
which convert fuzzy sets or relations into crisp sets
or relations, there are other various defuzzification
methods employed to convert the fuzzy quantities
into crisp quantities.
• The output of an entire fuzzy process can be union
of two or more fuzzy membership functions.
• To explain this in detail, consider a fuzzy output,
which is formed by two parts, one part being
triangular shape and other part being trapezoidal.
• The union of these two forms the outer envelop of
the two shapes.
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Arsha J K,AP,Computer Science
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METHODS OF DEFUZZIFICATION
Defuzzification is the process of conversion of a fuzzy quantity into a
precise quantity. Defuzzification methods include:

 Max-membership principle,
 Centroid method,
 Weighted average method,
 Mean-max membership,
 Center of sums,
 Center of largest area,
 First of maxima, last of maxima.

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FUZZY DECISION

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MAX MEMBERSHIP METHOD

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MAX MEMBERSHIP METHOD
 Fuzzy set with the largest membership value is selected.
 Fuzzy decision: Fn = {P, F. G, VG, E}
 Fn = {0.6, 0.4, 0.2, 0.2, 0}
 Final decision (FD) = Poor Student
 If two decisions have same membership max, use the average of
the two.

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CENTROID METHOD
This method is also known as center-of-mass, center-of-area, or
center-of-gravity method. It is the most commonly used defuzzification
method. The defuzzified output x* is defined as

where the symbol  denotes an

algebraic integration.

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WEIGHTED AVERAGE METHOD
• This method cannot be used for asymmetric
membership functions
• Can only be used for symmetric output membership
functions
• Weighing each membership function in the obtained
output by its largest membership value forms this
method

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Arsha J K,AP,Computer Science
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WEIGHTED AVERAGE METHOD

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MEAN MAX MEMBERSHIP METHOD

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Arsha J K,AP,Computer Science
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CENTER OF SUMS
This method employs the algebraic sum of the individual fuzzy subsets
instead of their unions. The calculations here are very fast but the
main drawback is that the intersecting areas are added twice. The
defuzzified value x* is given by

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CENTER OF LARGEST AREA
This method can be adopted when the output consists of at least two
convex fuzzy subsets which are not overlapping. The output in this
case is biased towards a side of one membership function. When
output fuzzy set has at least two convex regions then the center-of-
gravity of the convex fuzzy subregion having the largest area is used to
obtain the defuzzified value x*. This value is given by

where is the convex subregion that has the largest area making up

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FIRST OF MAXIMA (LAST OF MAXIMA)
The steps used for obtaining crisp values are as follows:

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SUMMARY
 Defuzzification process is essential because some engineering
applications need exact values for performing the operation.

 Example: If speed of a motor has to be varied, we cannot instruct

to raise it “slightly”, “high”, etc., using linguistic variables; rather, it
should be specified as raise it by 200 rpm or so, i.e., a specific
amount of raise should be mentioned.

 The method of defuzzification should be assessed on the basis of

the output in the context of data available.

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