Applications of a novel fuzzy expert system shell

Abstract: Much of the information resident in the knowledge base of a typical expert system is imprecise, incomplete or not totally reliable. The special features of a novel expert system shell based on fuzzy logic and numbers are presented. This rule-based system can deal with exact, inexact (fuzzy) and combined reasoning as well as uncertainty represented by fuzzy numbers. Natural language interface is built in naturally using fuzzy logic representation. Several application areas, namely, classification, risk analysis and information retrieval, are discussed with four appropriate sample expert systems actually built using this shell. Through these expert systems, the additional power and advantages over traditional expert systems are illustrated. It has been demonstrated that the introduction of fuzzy concepts into expert systesms is not feasible but highly desirable.     

A fuzzy expert system shell using both exact and inexact reasoning

This paper presents a comprehensive expert system shell which can deal with both exact and inexact reasoning. A prototype of this proposed shell, code named as SYSTEM Z-IIe, has been implemented successfully. It is a rule-based system which employs fuzzy logic and numbers for its reasoning. Two basic inexact concepts, fuzziness and uncertainty, are both used and distinct from each other clearly in the system. Moreover, these two concepts have been built into two levels for inexact reasoning, i.e. the level of the rules and facts, and the level of the values of the objects of these rules and facts. Other features of Z-IIe include multiple fuzzy propositions in rules and dual fact input mechanisms. It also allows any combinations of fuzzy and normal terms and uncertainties. Fuzzy numeric comparison logic control is also available for the rules and facts. Its natural language interface which uses English with restricted syntax improves the efficiency of knowledge engineering. Z-IIe is also coupled to a Database Management System for supplying facts from existing databases if appropriate. All these features can be combined to build very powerful expert systems and are illustrated by an example.     

A fuzzy, knowledge-based decision support tool for production operations management

Abstract: Production operations managers frequently have to make decisions based on vague, imprecise knowledge. Any software tool developed to aid their decision making needs to take into account the approximate nature of the information available to them and the inexact knowledge to which individual facts are applied. Much of this knowledge is expressed as vague, linguistic articulations. A convenient framework for dealing with such approximate knowledge is fuzzy logic and fuzzy set theory. As a specific example, a system was developed for providing decision support in the Just-in-Time area of production operations management.     

Knowledge acquisition for fuzzy expert systems

Expert systems have been successfully applied to a wide variety of application domains. to achieve better performance, researchers have tried to employ fuzzy logic to the development of expert systems. However, as fuzzy rules and membership functions are difficult to define, most of the existing tools and environments for expert systems do not support fuzzy representation and reasoning. Thus, it is time-consuming to develop fuzzy expert systems. In this article we propose a new approach to elicit expertise and to generate knowledge bases for fuzzy expert systems. A knowledge acquisition system based upon the approach is also presented, which can help knowledge engineers to create, adjust, debug, and execute fuzzy expert systems. Some control techniques are employed in the knowledge acquisition system so that the concepts of fuzzy logic could be directly applied to conventional expert system shells; moreover, a graphic user interface is provided to facilitate the adjustment of membership functions and the display of outputs. the knowledge acquisition system has been integrated with a popular expert system shell, CLIPS, to offer a complete development environment for knowledge engineers. With the help of this environment, the development of fuzzy expert systems becomes much more convenient and efficient. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Two techniques of sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of fuzzy expert systems

Problems characterized by qualitative uncertainty described by expert judgments can be addressed by the fuzzy logic modeling paradigm, structured within a so-called fuzzy expert system (FES) to handle and propagate the qualitative, linguistic assessments by the experts. Once constructed, the FES model should be verified to make sure that it represents correctly the experts’ knowledge. For FES verification, typically there is not enough data to support and compare directly the expert- and FES-inferred solutions. Thus, there is the necessity to develop indirect methods for determining whether the expert system model provides a proper representation of the expert knowledge. A possible way to proceed is to examine the importance of the different input factors in determining the output of the FES model and to verify whether it is in agreement with the expert conceptualization of the model. In this view, two sensitivity and uncertainty analysis techniques applicable to generic FES models are proposed in this paper with the objective of providing appropriate tools of verification in support of the experts in the FES design phase. To analyze the insights gained by using the proposed techniques, a case study concerning a FES developed in the field of human reliability analysis has been considered.     

Fuzzy concepts in expert systems

The authors present a comprehensive expert-system building tool, called System Z-II, that can deal with exact, fuzzy (or inexact), and combined reasoning, allowing fuzzy and normal terms to be freely mixed in the rules and facts of an expert system. This fully implemented tool has been used to build several expert systems in the fields of student curriculum advisement, medical diagnosis, psychoanalysis, and risk analysis. System Z-II is a rule-based system that uses fuzzy logic and fuzzy numbers for its inexact reasoning. It uses two basic inexact concepts, fuzziness and uncertainty, which are distinct from each other in the system     

USING META-PROGRAMMING,CONSTRAINT LOGIC PROGRAMMING AND APPROXIMATE REASONING FOR EXPERT SYSTEMS DESIGN

Abstract

This paper presents an enhancement of the CARESS system—A Constraint Approximative Reasoning System Support—introduced in (Popescu and Roventa, 1994). CARESS is an experimental system with primarily two objectives:

(1)knowledge representation and manipulation techniques and to implement them in PROLOG III, and

(2) to develop a knowledge programming environment for building expert systems. We discuss here the use of meta-programming, constraint logic programming and approximate reasoning for the design of expert systems

It has already been proven that meta-programming and logic programming are powerful techniques for expert system design. Fuzzy logic can be used to model one kind of uncertainty. Constraint logic programming is useful for dealing with the constraints given by operations using fuzzy sets.     

Automatic refinement of knowledge bases with fuzzy rules

The knowledge-acquisition bottleneck obstructs the development of expert systems. Refinement of existing knowledge bases is a subproblem of the knowledge-acquisition problem. The paper presents a HEuristic REfinement System (HERES), which refines rules with mixed fuzzy and nonfuzzy concepts represented in a variant of the rule representation language Z-II automatically. HERES employs heuristics and analytical methods to guide its generation of plausible refinements. The functionality and effectiveness of HERES are verified through various case studies. It has been verified that HERES can successfully refine knowledge bases. The refinement methods can handle imprecise and uncertain examples and generate approximate rules. In this aspect, they are better than other famous learning algorithms such as ID3^15–18, AQ11, and INDUCE^{14, 19, 20} because HERES' methods are currently unique in processing inexact examples and creating approximate rules.     

面向不确定性知识表示的描述逻辑SROIQ(D)不确定性扩展

为增强描述逻辑对不确定性知识的表示能力,提出了一种对描述逻辑SROIQ(D)进行不确定性扩展的方法。该方法基于不确定性理论和描述逻辑SROIQ(D),针对知识表示中大量存在的模糊性、粗糙性和随机性知识,首先给出了模糊粗糙概念条件概率的计算方法,并以此为基础对SROIQ(D)进行了不确定性扩展;然后基于模糊粗糙逻辑和概率逻辑分别给出了扩展后的语法、语义和推理任务,使不确定性SROIQ(D)描述逻辑具备同时处理3类不确定性知识的能力。     

The enhancement of the cell-based GIS analyses with fuzzy processing capabilities

In order to store and process natural phenomena in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) it is necessary to model the real world to form computational representation. Since classical set theory is used in conventional GIS softwares to model uncertain real world, the natural variability in the environmental phenomena cannot be modeled appropriately. Because, pervasive imprecision of the real world is unavoidably reduced to artificially precise spatial entities when the conventional crisp logic is used for modeling.An alternative approach is the fuzzy set theory, which provides a formal framework to represent and reason with uncertain information. In addition, linguistic variable concept in a fuzzy logic system is useful for communicating concepts and knowledge with human beings. FuzzyCell is a system designed and implemented to enhance commercial GIS software, namely ArcMap^® with fuzzy set theory. FuzzyCell allows users to (a) incorporate human knowledge and experience in the form of linguistically defined variables into GIS-based spatial analyses, (b) handle imprecision in the decision-making processes, and (c) approximate complex ill-defined problems in decision-making processes and classification. It provides eight membership functions, inference methods, methods for rule aggregation, operators for set operations and methods for defuzzification.The operation of FuzzyCell is presented through case studies, which demonstrate its application for classification and decision-making processes. This paper shows how fuzzy logic approach may contribute to a better representation and reasoning with imprecise concepts, which are inherent characteristics of geographic data stored and processed in GIS.     

Knowledge representation in fuzzy logic

The author presents a summary of the basic concepts and techniques underlying the application of fuzzy logic to knowledge representation. He then describes a number of examples relating to its use as a computational system for dealing with uncertainty and imprecision in the context of knowledge, meaning, and inference. It is noted that one of the basic aims of fuzzy logic is to provide a computational framework for knowledge representation and inference in an environment of uncertainty and imprecision. In such environments, fuzzy logic is effective when the solutions need not be precise and/or it is acceptable for a conclusion to have a dispositional rather than categorical validity. The importance of fuzzy logic derives from the fact that there are many real-world applications which fit these conditions, especially in the realm of knowledge-based systems for decision-making and control     

Extensions to the fuzzy pointed set with applications to imageprocessing

In all man-machine systems with image processing functions, an important unsolved problem arises in the treatment of uncertain and incomplete image information. Several frameworks have been suggested for handling uncertain image information including; expert systems, fuzzification, likelihood estimation, and neural networks. In this paper we review those methods. We also present a new method for handling uncertainties by unifying the representations of gray-values and uncertainty into one framework in a way that parallels fuzzy logic. This new framework is based on the application of the extended fuzzy pointed set and an associated algebra to handle uncertain information. We further show how this framework can be used in image processing and artificial intelligence     

An integrated case-based reasoning approach for intelligent help desk fault management

As modern business functions become more complex and knowledge-intensive, with increasing demands for quality services, there is an emerging trend for organisations to develop and deploy intelligent knowledge-based systems for mission-critical operations. Some of the challenges in successfully implementing this breed of systems depend on how well the intelligent system is integrated with conventional existing information systems and workflow, and the quality of the intelligent system itself. Developing quality expert systems lies in the effective modelling of cognitive processes of human experts and representation of various forms of related knowledge in a domain. An integrated intelligent system called the Intelligent Help Desk Facilitator (IHDF), has been developed for computer and network fault management. The system, which comprises various modules including an expert system, is successfully deployed in a problem response help desk environment of a local bank. This paper describes a cognitive-driven approach to the development of the expert system based on a hybrid knowledge representation and reasoning strategy. The approach incorporates a hybrid case-based reasoning (CBR) framework of techniques which include case memory organisation structures (discrimination networks and shared-featured networks), case indexing and retrieval schemes (fuzzy character-matching, nearest-neighbour similarity matching and knowledge-guided indexing); and an interactive and incremental style of reasoning. The paper discusses the design and implementation of the expert system component of IHDF and illustrates the appropriateness of the hybrid architecture for problem resolution and diagnostic types of applications.     

A self-organizing fuzzy logic controller for dynamic systems usinga fuzzy auto-regressive moving average (FARMA) model

The paper proposes a complete design method for an online self-organizing fuzzy logic controller without using any plant model. By mimicking the human learning process, the control algorithm finds control rules of a system for which little knowledge has been known. In a conventional fuzzy logic control, knowledge on the system supplied by an expert is required in developing control rules, however, the proposed new fuzzy logic controller needs no expert in making control rules, Instead, rules are generated using the history of input-output pairs, and new inference and defuzzification methods are developed. The generated rules are stored in the fuzzy rule space and updated online by a self-organizing procedure. The validity of the proposed fuzzy logic control method has been demonstrated numerically in controlling an inverted pendulum     

基于对象模型的自组织专家系统

在研制的一个基于对象模型的自组织专家系统中 ,通过对机器人的行走装置进行模型化 ,建立了对象的模糊知识库 ,并根据控制的目标 ,设计了推理机。系统无需精确的数学模型 ,能根据输入、输出变量 ,自动修改控制规则 ,达到优化控制的目的。     

区分3种否定的模糊命题逻辑系统及其应用

在模糊知识表示与推理中,否定信息扮演了一个重要角色.从概念层面上区分了模糊知识中存在的3 种否定关系,即矛盾否定关系、对立否定关系和中介否定关系.为了建立能够完全描述这些不同否定关系的逻辑基础,提出一种区分矛盾否定、对立否定和中介否定的模糊命题逻辑形式系统FLCOM.讨论了FLCOM 特有的性质与意义,给出了FLCOM 的一种语义解释,并证明了可靠性定理.为了表明FLCOM 处理实际问题的适用性,进一步研究了FLCOM在一个模糊决策实例中的应用.具体地,基于FLCOM讨论了决策规则中的模糊命题及其不同否定的区分与形式表示,给出一种确定模糊命题及其不同否定的真值及其真值范围阈值的方法,并采用模糊产生式规则讨论了实例中的模糊推理与决策.从而表明,运用FLCOM 处理具有模糊性并且存在不同否定的实际问题是有效的.     

Extended event–condition–action rules and fuzzy Petri nets based exception handling for workflow management

Exception handling plays a key role in dynamic workflow management that enables streamlined business processes. Handling application-specific exceptions is a knowledge-intensive process involving different decision-making strategies and a variety of knowledge, especially much fuzzy knowledge. Current efforts in workflow exception management are not adequate to support the knowledge-based exception handling. This paper proposes a hybrid exception handling approach based on two extended knowledge models, i.e., generalized fuzzy event–condition–action (GFECA) rule and typed fuzzy Petri net extended by process knowledge (TFPN-PK). The approach realizes integrated representation and reasoning of fuzzy and non-fuzzy knowledge as well as specific application domain knowledge and workflow process knowledge. In addition, it supports two handling strategies, i.e., direct decision and analysis-based decision, during exception management. The approach fills in the gaps in existing related researches, i.e., only providing the capability of direct exception handling and neglecting fuzzy knowledge. Based on TFPN-PK, a weighted fuzzy reasoning algorithm is designed to address the reasoning problem of uncertain goal propositions and known goal concepts by combining forward reasoning with backward reasoning and therefore to facilitate cause analysis and handling of workflow exceptions. A prototype system is developed to implement the proposed approach.     

基于数据库的电力设备故障诊断模糊专家系统的设计与实现

采用SQL Anywhere 5.0设计知识库。PowerBuilder6.5编程实现了电力设备故障诊断模糊专家系统,其知识的表示采用了模糊产生式表示式,引进了模糊匹配与加权模糊逻辑进行模糊推理,实现了一种较为理想的非精确推理。     

An introduction to fuzzy answer set programming

In this paper we show how the concepts of answer set programming and fuzzy logic can be successfully combined into the single framework of fuzzy answer set programming (FASP). The framework offers the best of both worlds: from the answer set semantics, it inherits the truly declarative non-monotonic reasoning capabilities while, on the other hand, the notions from fuzzy logic in the framework allow it to step away from the sharp principles used in classical logic, e.g., that something is either completely true or completely false. As fuzzy logic gives the user great flexibility regarding the choice for the interpretation of the notions of negation, conjunction, disjunction and implication, the FASP framework is highly configurable and can, e.g., be tailored to any specific area of application. Finally, the presented framework turns out to be a proper extension of classical answer set programming, as we show, in contrast to other proposals in the literature, that there are only minor restrictions one has to demand on the fuzzy operations used, in order to be able to retrieve the classical semantics using FASP.