Introduction to Fuzzy Control

Background Fuzzy control enables non-

control-specialists to design control system.
A fuzzy controller works with verbal rules
rather than mathematical relationships.

knowledge based control

rule based control

expert control

Traditionally computer decision is based on

two -valued boolean logic (true/false, yes/no,
0/1), but not all real world problems lend
themselves to a strict yes/no or true/false
formulation.

Approaches Fuzzy logic

To make computers cope with imprecise

statements
1
 Introduce a gradual transition from true
to false (or yes to no, 0 to 1).
e.g. temperature warm/cold,
warm slightly warm slightly cold
cold,

Applications robots, machinery, electri-

cal systems, consumer products, e.g. video
cameras, washing machine, TV, etc.

Characteristics of fuzzy control

Usually nonlinear, More complex than PID,

More tuning parameters, Smooth opera-
tion, robust.

Easier to cope for a non-control-specialist

(IF-THEN rules are no theoretical difficulty).
 1

fuzzy
scale

nonfuzzy
0

0 10 20 30 40
fuzzy and nonfuzzy interpretation of a room temperature

A fuzzy controller is driven by a collection of

verbal rules, often in IF-THEN format.

A fuzzy controller uses fuzzy logic to simulate

human thinking. Fuzzy logic is a logic based on
truth value in [0,1], rather than just true/false.

A fuzzy controller consists of a user interface,

a rule base and an inference engine.
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 user
controller

condition rule base

ref action output
process

inference
engine

A fuzzy controller
 User interface designed for process oper-
ators. Often it is given as a diagram on a
graphical screen showing overall architec-
ture of the control system. Or it can be
given as a matrix. It is possible to see the
fuzzy set definitions by means of graphs.

Rule base a collection of stored control

rules.

Ri: If x is Ai and y is Bi, Then z is Ci.

where x and y, the inputs, are measured

variables, and z is the controller output or
the control action; Ai, Bi, Ci are linguistic
terms, such as low,medium, or high.

The IF part of the rule is called the premise

or condition,

The THEN part is called the consequence

or action.
3
 An IF-THEN rule is mathematically speak-
ing an implication.

Inference engine a program that draws

the actual conclusions from the actual in-
puts to the controller.

Rule: If an apple is red, then it is ripe

Fact: My apple is red

Consequence: My apple is ripe

Fuzzy sets

Nonfuzzy set

A (nonfuzzy) set is any collection of ob-

jects which can be treated as a whole. An
item from a given universe is either a mem-
ber of the set or not.

set/collection/class (item/element/member).

(a) The set of nonnegative integers less

than 4. finite set (0,1,2,3).

(b) The set of live dinosaurs. empty set.

(c) The set of measurements greater than

3. an infinite set, but there is no dif-
ficulty in determining where a given mea-
surement is a member.

A set can be specified by stating when an

item is in the set.
4
 Fuzzy set

Many sets do not have a precise criterion

for membership.

(a) people at 20, 30, or 40 years?

(b) high temperature, strong winds, nice

days?

Zadeh proposed a degree of membership,

such that the transition from member to
nonmember of a set is gradual rather than
abrupt. The grade of membership for all
its members thus describes a fuzzy set. An
items grade of membership is normally a
real number between 0 and 1.

Universe Elements of a fuzzy set are taken

from a universe of discourse or just uni-
verse.

The universe contains all elements that come

into consideration.
 membership function each element in the
universe of discourse has an associated grade
of membership with regard to the fuzzy
set. The function that ties a number to
each element of the unverse is called the
membership function.

(a) The set of young people could be all

human beings in the world. Or numbers
between 0 and 100.

(b) The set x 10 could have a universe

all positive measurements.
1
membership

0
0 2 4 6 8

Membership function of the set around 4.

Example: Set of fast speed
1

Grade of membership

0 30 60 90 120
speed

For a different car/driver the set might look

like:

1
Grade of membership

0 30 60 90 120
speed

Fuzzy logic control is application dependent,

subjective, inexact.
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 control
Ref + error input output
System
FLC

error
Fuzzification control input
Fuzzy control defuzzification

Fuzzy value

Real value

Standard feedback loop of a fuzzy controller

Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC)

Fuzzification Measured variables are real

world signal, e.g. 63mph, Fuzzy systems
interpret them as fast speed associated with
a degree of membership (fuzzification)

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 63mph 0.8 fast, or 0.3 medium, or 0.0
slow.

Fuzzy control Fuzzy controller acts upon

these values, its derivatives, integrals, etc..

Defuzzification Inference from the fuzzy

controller to the real values of system con-
trol action.

Problems exponential growth of number of

rules.

Exercises:

1. Given an example of a fuzzy set on outdoor

temperature of January in Reading.

2. Draw a diagram of a fuzzy control system.