Conference Report WCCI ’94: It’s a fuzzy world out there

David Blanchard

If fuzzy logic fails to catch on beyond the islands of Japan, it certainly will not be for a lack of trying on the part of its proponents. According to Lotfi Zadeh (University of Califor- nia -Berkeley), the acknowledged father of fuzzy logic, worldwide interest in fuzzy logic has accelerated since 1990, and while the US and Europe still lag somewhat behind the Japanese in terms of real-world applications, the Western hemisphere is rapidly catching up.

Zadeh’s comments came during the keynote presentation at the World Congress on Computational Intelligence (WCCI ’94), held 26 June-2 July in Orlando, Florida. ‘Computational intelligence’ refers to an emphasis on numerical data rather than knowledge, and in addition to fuzzy logic includes such technologies as neural networks and genetic algorithms. While traditional A1 (such as expert systems) are symbol ma- nipulation-oriented, computational intelligence systems are number manipulation-oriented.

Fuzzy logic, a technology pioneered by Zadeh back in the mid-1960s but mostly ignored everywhere but in Japan until recently, provides a way to add intelligence to machines. Zadeh has coined the term ‘machine IQ’ to refer to a method of gauging the relative intelligence.of man-made machinery and appliances. The Japanese have been quite successful, for instance, in developing fuzzy logic-based washing machines, air conditioners, TVs, cameras, vacuum cleaners and automo- biles. MIQ can be used as a benchmark to compare the ‘smart- ness’ of, say, photocopiers; a copier that could diagnose its own problems would have a higher MIQ than one that could not.

Fuzzy logic in the West

The overall MIQ has greatly increased since 1990 due to an awakening awareness worldwide to the benefits of fuzzy logic. Germany, for instance, is frequently mentioned as among the most vigorous Western nations in developing fuzzy logic applications, prompted in part by the efforts of industrial giant Siemens. According to M. Gabs (University of Dortmund), the initial German reaction to Japan’s success with fuzzy control was one of skepticism. ‘Parallels to devel-

opment in expert system fields were drawn, where a lot of promises turned out to be unrealistic,’ Krabs observed.

The German push for fuzzy logic came due to the attention the technology received from the press in the late 1980s, as well as ‘a widespread fear among scientists that German in- dustry would be left behind in a promising technology, as it had happened before in the field of microelectronics,’ Krabs noted. The German fuzzy boom began in earnest in 1990.

Fuzzy control applications in Germany centre chiefly on chemical engineering and primary materials; robotics; motor drives and mechatronic systems; and environmental and re- generative power systems. Gabs cited an application devel- oped by Siemens that improved the quality of the production of cellulose. The consumption of wood was reduced by 8% and that of energy by 14%, while the amount of waste was reduced by 75%.

Piero Bonissone of General Electric (Schenectady, NY) ex- plained that interest in fuzzy logic control finally reached the US due to such factors as: the (relative) maturation of the technology and consequently a reduced risk of using fuzzy logic controllers; the availability of commercial development tools; and the availability of technology transfer paths fiom high level software to hardware platforms. GE’s efforts in fuzzy logic control technology transfer, according to Bonis- sone, ‘include projects in smart dishwasher control, resonant converter-based power supply control, steam turbine cycling optimisation, locomotive wheel slip control, and turboshaft aircraft engine control.’

Real-world applications for GAS

In addition to fuzzy logic, the WCCI ’94 conference focused on another emerging technology: genetic algorithms (GAS). GAS are based on the evolutionary concepts of natural selec- tion and survival of the fittest, and are primarily used for search and optimisation tasks. Only recently have they been applied to real-world situations, but already a number of promising solutions have been developed.

Lawrence Davis of Tica Technologies (Cambridge, MA) described several applications that he has helped develop. A GA-based system used by US West (Englewood, CO), a re- gional telecommunications company, is able to design spe- cialised optical networks in two hours - a task that takes hu- man experts six months. According to Davis, ‘The US West system produces designs that are about 10% better than those produced by humans.’ US West estimates that this GA-based system will save the company $100 million by the end of the century.

AIS (Barcelona, Spain) used a G.A-based system to schedule the 1992 Paralympic Games, a competition similar to the Olympics for disabled athletes. While the Olympics have only two classes of athletes - male and female - Paralympic competitors are classified in 100 or more medical classes;

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there are 52 medical classes for track and field events, for example. AIS added a genetic algorithm to a constraint-based expert system. The GA utilised gene repair, meaning the sys- tem was able to ‘repair’ unsatisfactory solutions. ‘The system was able to wander away from its starting point in the sched- ule space, without being penalised for moving through unfea- sible regions,’ Davis explained.

A system under development at New Mexico State Univer- sity derives facial images of perpetrators from crime scene witnesses thanks to a GA; it uses the witnesses to evaluate the images generated by the GA. ‘The human’s ability to make fine perceptual discriminations, an ability that is difficult or impossible to reproduce in computer code, is not simulated at all in the system,’ Davis noted. ‘Instead, the human is inserted in the genetic algorithm where a computerised evaluation would normally be found.’ The university’s Faceprints sys- tem has been more effective in producing accurate images of perpetrators than other witness image elicitation techniques.

Vendor round-up

The exhibition floor featured about 20 vendors of develop- ment tools, in addition to the usual plethora of publishers. While some of the major neural network vendors (e.g., Adap- tive Solutions, HNC, Neuralware) did not participate, the fuzzy logic industry was well represented, holding out prom- ise that there is indeed a sizable market-place for fuzzy prod- ucts. Following are brief looks at some of the new develop- ment tools showcased at WCCl’94:

Aptronix (San Jose, CA) featured its Fuzzy Inference Development Environment (FIDE) 2.0, a complete en- vironment for the development of fuzzy logic-based embedded controllers. FIDE was developed to work with Motorola’s line of microcontrollers. Amerinex A1 (Amherst, MA) exhibited its KBVision System, a development package combining traditional image processing functions with knowledge-based in- terpretation and control techniques such as fuzzy logic. It allows users to develop adaptive code to automate visual processes, and supports the delivery of runtime systems. lnform Software (Evanston, IL) and Intel’s Embedded Micro Computer Division (Chandler, AZ) shared a booth, with Intel debuting hzzyBUILDER Kits com- bining Inform’s fuzzyTECH products with Intel’s tools for 16-bit embedded control. Inform’s fuzzyTECH NeuroFuzzy Module enables automatic generation and optimisation of fuzzy logic systems from data sets. Intelligent Machines (Sunnyvale, CA) showed its O’INCA Design Framework, a development tool forde- sign and implementation of fuzzy logic, neural net-

works and fuzzyheural systems. It combines an intui- tive graphical user interface, design validation, simula- tionldebugging, C code generation and design docu- mentation into a unified environment. Management Intelligenter Technologien (Aachen, Ger- many) demonstrated its DataEngine, a Windows-based software tool for intelligent data analysis. DataEngine integrates classical approaches to data analysis with in- telligent fuzzy and neural techniques. Man Machine Interfaces (Melville, NY) exhibited its EOS 2.0, the latest version of an object-oriented genetic algorithm application framework. EOS allows pro- grammers to build applications in a number of different programming languages (such as C, C++ and Pascal) that provide genetic algorithm-based optimisation and search. Mentalogic Systems (Markham, Ontario, Canada) showed its Quickfuzz, a complete system for fuzzy con- trol applications which incorporates an expert system for design and validation, evaluation tools and develop- ment systems for microcontroller chips. Nestor (Providence, RI) exhibited its NilOOO chip, a neural network chip co-developed with Intel. The NilOOO performs over 10 billion operations per second and is capable of recognising 33 000 patterns per sec- ond. Both learning and classification are performed on- chip, and input patterns of up to 256 dimensions can be classified in up to 64 classes by use of 1024 stored proc- essing elements. Togai InfiaLogic (Houston, TX) debuted its PC-126 Communications and Control Module (CCM), which provides network-level implementation of fuzzy logic control algorithms and is capable of acquiring data from serial communication devices via standard or custom protocols. Ublige Software and Robotics (Huntsville, AL) demon- strated its line of insect-based robotic components. In- sects, for instance, is a visual programming environ- ment for neural network control and learning of insect robot hardware.

WCCI ’94 had 1700 attendees, a distinct improvement on the 1200 who attended the joint IEEE Neural NetworldFuzzy Logic show the previous year in San Francisco. Despite the increase in attendance, due in part to the addition of an Evolu- tionary Computation track, the IEEE will not hold another World Congress on Computational Intelligence until 1997, in San Diego, CA. In fact, the IEEE will be abandoning North Americaaltogether next year, and will hold its neural network and evolutionary computing shows in Perth, Western Austra- lia, and its fuzzy logic show in Yokohama, Japan. Other US- based conferences will have to pick up the slack.

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The author David Blanchard

David Blanchard is the author of htelligen? Systems: Appli- cations di Analysis, a resource guide, market analysis and Director of the advanced computing arena, published by Lionheart Publishing Inc. He is also the Editor of Intelligent Systems Report, an Atlanta, GA-based monthly newsletter.

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