Chapter 7

Fuzzy logic
 Introduction, or what is fuzzy thinking?
 Fuzzy sets
 Linguistic variables and hedges
 Operations of fuzzy sets
 Fuzzy rules
 Summary
© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 1
 Introduction, or what is fuzzy thinking?
 Experts rely on common sense when they solve
problems.
 How can we represent expert knowledge that
uses vague and ambiguous terms in a computer?
 Fuzzy logic is not logic that is fuzzy, but logic that
is used to describe fuzziness. Fuzzy logic is the
theory of fuzzy sets, sets that calibrate vagueness.
 Fuzzy logic is based on the idea that all things
admit of degrees. Temperature, height, speed,
distance, beauty – all come on a sliding scale. The
motor is running really hot. Tom is a very tall guy.
© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 2
  Boolean logic uses sharp distinctions. It forces us
to draw lines between members of a class and non-
members. For instance, we may say, Tom is tall
because his height is 181 cm. If we drew a line at
180 cm, we would find that David, who is 179 cm,
is small. Is David really a small man or we have
just drawn an arbitrary line in the sand?
 Fuzzy logic reflects how people think. It attempts
to model our sense of words, our decision making
and our common sense. As a result, it is leading to
new, more human, intelligent systems.

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 3

  Fuzzy, or multi-valued logic was introduced in the
1930s by Jan Lukasiewicz , a Polish philosopher.
While classical logic operates with only two values
1 (true) and 0 (false), Lukasiewicz introduced logic
that extended the range of truth values to all real
numbers in the interval between 0 and 1. He used a
number in this interval to represent the possibility
that a given statement was true or false. For
example, the possibility that a man 181 cm tall is
really tall might be set to a value of 0.86. It is
likely that the man is tall. This work led to an
inexact reasoning technique often called possibility
theory.
© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 4
  Later, in 1937, Max Black published a paper called
“Vagueness: an exercise in logical analysis”. In
this paper, he argued that a continuum implies
degrees. Imagine, he said, a line of countless
“chairs”. At one end is a Chippendale. Next to it is
a near-Chippendale, in fact indistinguishable from
the first item. Succeeding “chairs” are less and less
chair-like, until the line ends with a log. When
does a chair become a log? Max Black stated that
if a continuum is discrete, a number can be
allocated to each element. He accepted vagueness
as a matter of probability.

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  In 1965 Lotfi Zadeh, published his famous paper
“Fuzzy sets”. Zadeh extended the work on
possibility theory into a formal system of
mathematical logic, and introduced a new concept
for applying natural language terms. This new
logic for representing and manipulating fuzzy terms
was called fuzzy logic, and Zadeh became the
Master of fuzzy logic.

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  Why fuzzy?
As Zadeh said, the term is concrete, immediate and
descriptive; we all know what it means. However,
many people in the West were repelled by the word
fuzzy , because it is usually used in a negative sense.
 Why logic?
Fuzziness rests on fuzzy set theory, and fuzzy logic
is just a small part of that theory.

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 Fuzzy logic is a set of mathematical principles
for knowledge representation based on degrees
of membership.

Unlike two-valued Boolean logic, fuzzy logic is

multi-valued. It deals with degrees of
membership and degrees of truth. Fuzzy logic
uses the continuum of logical values between 0
(completely false) and 1 (completely true). Instead
of just black and white, it employs the spectrum of
colours, accepting that things can be partly true and
partly false at the same time.

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 Range of logical values in Boolean and fuzzy logic

0 01 0 1 1 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1

(a) Boolean Logic. (b) Multi-valued Logic.

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 Fuzzy sets
 The concept of set is fundamental to mathematics.

 However, our own language is also the supreme

expression of sets. For example, car indicates the
set of cars. When we say a car , we mean one out of
the set of cars.

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  The classical example in fuzzy sets is tall men.
The elements of the fuzzy set “tall men” are all
men, but their degrees of membership depend on
their height.

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 Crisp and fuzzy sets of “tall men”
Degree of Crisp Sets
Membership
1.0
0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
150 160 170 180 190 200 210
Height, cm
Degree of
Membership Fuzzy Sets
1.0

0.8

0.6
0.4

0.2

0.0
150 160 170 180 190 200 210
Height, cm

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 12

  The x-axis represents the universe of discourse –
the range of all possible values applicable to a
chosen variable. In our case, the variable is the man
height. According to this representation, the
universe of men’s heights consists of all tall men.
 The y-axis represents the membership value of the
fuzzy set. In our case, the fuzzy set of “tall men”
maps height values into corresponding membership
values.

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 13

 A fuzzy set is a set with fuzzy boundaries.
 Let X be the universe of discourse and its elements
be denoted as x. In the classical set theory, crisp
set A of X is defined as function fA(x) called the
characteristic function of A
1, if x  A
fA(x): X {0, 1}, where f A ( x)  
0, if x  A
This set maps universe X to a set of two elements.
For any element x of universe X, characteristic
function fA(x) is equal to 1 if x is an element of set
A, and is equal to 0 if x is not an element of A.
© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 14
  In the fuzzy theory, fuzzy set A of universe X is
defined by function mA(x) called the membership
function of set A

mA(x): X  [0, 1], where mA(x) = 1 if x is totally in A;

mA (x) = 0 if x is not in A;
0 < mA (x) < 1 if x is partly in A.
This set allows a continuum of possible choices.
For any element x of universe X, membership
function mA(x) equals the degree to which x is an
element of set A. This degree, a value between 0
and 1, represents the degree of membership, also
called membership value, of element x in set A.
© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 15
 How to represent a fuzzy set in a computer?
 First, we determine the membership functions. In
our “tall men” example, we can obtain fuzzy sets of
tall, short and average men.
 The universe of discourse – the men’s heights –
consists of three sets: short, average and tall men.
As you will see, a man who is 184 cm tall is a
member of the average men set with a degree of
membership of 0.1, and at the same time, he is also
a member of the tall men set with a degree of 0.4.

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 16

 Crisp and fuzzy sets of short, average and tall men
Degreeof CrispSets
Membership
1.0
0.8 Short Average Tall

0.6
0.4
0.2

0.0
150 160 170 180 190 200 210
Height, cm
Degreeof Fuzzy Sets
Membership
1.0

0.8
0.6 Short Average Tall

0.4
0.2

0.0
150 160 170 180 190 200 210

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 Representation of crisp and fuzzy subsets
m (x )
X Fuzzy SubsetA
1

0
Crisp Subset A Fuzziness x

Typical functions that can be used to represent a fuzzy

set are sigmoid, gaussian and pi. However, these
functions increase the time of computation. Therefore,
in practice, most applications use linear fit functions.
© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 18
 Linguistic variables and hedges
 At the root of fuzzy set theory lies the idea of
linguistic variables.
 A linguistic variable is a fuzzy variable. For
example, the statement “John is tall” implies that
the linguistic variable John takes the linguistic
value tall.

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 In fuzzy expert systems, linguistic variables are used
in fuzzy rules. For example:
IF wind is strong
THEN sailing is good

IF project_duration is long
THEN completion_risk is high

IF speed is slow
THEN stopping_distance is short

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 20

  The range of possible values of a linguistic variable
represents the universe of discourse of that variable.
For example, the universe of discourse of the
linguistic variable speed might have the range
between 0 and 220 km/h and may include such
fuzzy subsets as very slow, slow, medium, fast, and
very fast.
 A linguistic variable carries with it the concept
of fuzzy set qualifiers, called hedges.
 Hedges are terms that modify the shape of fuzzy
sets. They include adverbs such as very,
somewhat, quite, more or less and slightly.

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 21

 Fuzzy sets with the hedge very
Degreeof
Membership
1.0
Short Short
Tall
0.8
0.6 Average

0.4
Very Short Very
VeryTall
Tall
Tall
0.2

0.0
150 160 170 180 190 200 210
Height, cm

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 Representation of hedges in fuzzy logic
Hedge Mathematical Graphical Representation
Expression

A little [ mA( x)] 1.3

Slightly [ mA(x)] 1.7

Very [ mA (x)] 2

Extremely [ mA(x) ] 3

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 Representation of hedges in fuzzy logic (continued)
Mathematical
Hedge Graphical Representation
Expression

Very very [mA (x)]4

More or less mA (x)

Somewhat mA (x)

2 [mA (x )]2
if 0 m A  0.5
Indeed
1  2 [1 m A (x)]2
if 0.5 < mA  1

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 Operations of fuzzy sets
The classical set theory developed in the late 19th
century by Georg Cantor describes how crisp sets can
interact. These interactions are called operations.

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 Cantor’s sets
Not A
B

A AA

Complement Containment

A B AA B

Intersection Union
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  Complement
Crisp Sets: Who does not belong to the set?
Fuzzy Sets: How much elements do not belong to
the set?
The complement of a set is an opposite of this set.
For example, if we have the set of tall men, its
complement is the set of NOT tall men. When we
remove the tall men set from the universe of
discourse, we obtain the complement. If A is the
fuzzy set, its complement A can be found as
follows:
mA(x) = 1  mA(x)

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  Containment
Crisp Sets: Which sets belong to which other sets?
Fuzzy Sets: Which sets belong to other sets?
Similar to a Chinese box, a set can contain other
sets. The smaller set is called the subset. For
example, the set of tall men contains all tall men;
very tall men is a subset of tall men. However, the
tall men set is just a subset of the set of men. In
crisp sets, all elements of a subset entirely belong to
a larger set. In fuzzy sets, however, each element
can belong less to the subset than to the larger set.
Elements of the fuzzy subset have smaller
memberships in it than in the larger set.
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  Intersection
Crisp Sets: Which element belongs to both sets?
Fuzzy Sets: How much of the element is in both sets?
In classical set theory, an intersection between two
sets contains the elements shared by these sets. For
example, the intersection of the set of tall men and
the set of fat men is the area where these sets
overlap. In fuzzy sets, an element may partly
belong to both sets with different memberships. A
fuzzy intersection is the lower membership in both
sets of each element. The fuzzy intersection of two
fuzzy sets A and B on universe of discourse X:
mAB(x) = min [mA (x), mB (x)] = mA (x)  mB(x),
where xX
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  Union
Crisp Sets: Which element belongs to either set?
Fuzzy Sets: How much of the element is in either set?
The union of two crisp sets consists of every element
that falls into either set. For example, the union of
tall men and fat men contains all men who are tall
OR fat. In fuzzy sets, the union is the reverse of the
intersection. That is, the union is the largest
membership value of the element in either set. The
fuzzy operation for forming the union of two fuzzy
sets A and B on universe X can be given as:
mAB(x) = max [mA (x), mB(x)] = mA (x)  mB(x),
where xX
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 Operations of fuzzy sets
m ( x) m ( x)
B
1 1 A
A
0 0
x x
B
1 1 A
Not A
0 0
Complement x Containment x

m ( x) m ( x)
1 1
AB AB
0 0
x x
1 AB 1
AB
0 0
x x
Intersection Union

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 31

 Fuzzy rules
In 1973, Lotfi Zadeh published his second most
influential paper. This paper outlined a new
approach to analysis of complex systems, in which
Zadeh suggested capturing human knowledge in
fuzzy rules.

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 32

 What is a fuzzy rule?
A fuzzy rule can be defined as a conditional
statement in the form:

IF x is A
THEN y is B

where x and y are linguistic variables; and A and B

are linguistic values determined by fuzzy sets on the
universe of discourses X and Y, respectively.

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 What is the difference between classical and
fuzzy rules?
A classical IF-THEN rule uses binary logic, for
example,
Rule: 1 Rule: 2
IF speed is > 100 IF speed is < 40
THEN stopping_distance is long THEN stopping_distance is short

The variable speed can have any numerical value

between 0 and 220 km/h, but the linguistic variable
stopping_distance can take either value long or short.
In other words, classical rules are expressed in the
black-and-white language of Boolean logic.
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 We can also represent the stopping distance rules in a
fuzzy form:
Rule: 1 Rule: 2
IF speed is fast IF speed is slow
THEN stopping_distance is long THEN stopping_distance is short

In fuzzy rules, the linguistic variable speed also has

the range (the universe of discourse) between 0 and
220 km/h, but this range includes fuzzy sets, such as
slow, medium and fast. The universe of discourse of
the linguistic variable stopping_distance can be
between 0 and 300 m and may include such fuzzy
sets as short, medium and long.

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  Fuzzy rules relate fuzzy sets.
 In a fuzzy system, all rules fire to some extent,
or in other words they fire partially. If the
antecedent is true to some degree of
membership, then the consequent is also true to
that same degree.

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 Fuzzy sets of tall and heavy men
Degree of Degree of
Membership Membership
1.0 1.0
Tall men Heavy men
0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0 0.0
160 180 190 200 70 80 100 120
Height, cm Weight, kg

These fuzzy sets provide the basis for a weight estimation

model. The model is based on a relationship between a
man’s height and his weight:
IF height is tall
THEN weight is heavy
© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 37
 The value of the output or a truth membership grade of
the rule consequent can be estimated directly from a
corresponding truth membership grade in the
antecedent. This form of fuzzy inference uses a
method called monotonic selection.
Degree of Degree of
Membership Membership
1.0 1.0
Tall men
0.8 0.8 Heavy men
0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0 0.0
160 180 190 200 70 80 100 120
Height, cm Weight, kg

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 A fuzzy rule can have multiple antecedents, for
example:

IF project_duration is long
AND project_staffing is large
AND project_funding is inadequate
THEN risk is high

IF service is excellent
OR food is delicious
THEN tip is generous

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 39

 The consequent of a fuzzy rule can also include
multiple parts, for instance:

IF temperature is hot
THEN hot_water is reduced;
cold_water is increased

© Negnevitsky, Pearson Education, 2005 40