Towards Fuzzy Logic Standardization

Working Group "Fuzzy Logic and Fuzzy Control" of the VDINDE-GMA (German Association
of Mechanical and Electrical Engineers) UA451, Chairperson: Constantin van Altrock
Contact Address: Constantin von Altrock, M.Sc. E. E., h4. 0.R.
INFORM Germany, Phone: +49-2408-9456-80,Fax: i-49-2408-9456-85,E-mail: cva @ inform-ac.com
Inform Sofhyare Corp. U.S.A.,Phone: (708) 268-7550, Fax: (708) 268-7554, E-mail:fizzy@informusa.com

Abstract
In 1991, the German Association of Mechanical and Electri11 Engineers (VDINDE) established the working group UA451,
Pcusing on "Fuzzy Logic and Fuzzy Control", in its MeasureLent and Automation Chapter (GMA). The group is made up of
number of European pioneers in fuzzy logic applications, as
'ell as leading fuuy logic software and hardware suppliers. Its
7mpany members include: Allen-Bradley, Foxboro/Eckardt,
form Software, Intel, Klockner-Moeller, Microchip Technoloies, National Semiconductor, SGS-Thomson, Siemens Semiconuctor, and Texas Instruments. To promote fuzzy logic in indusial applications, the group focuses on two activities: providing
formation platforms for designers to exchange project experiw e s and fuzzy logic standardization. This paper presents some
f the intermediate results of the standardization activities.

. Why Fuzzy Logic Standardization?

In 1990, a broad level of interest in fuzzy technologies was
iggered in Europe by the advent of numerous Japanese products
iat successfully exploit fuzzy logic. One group of interested
arties within the control and engineering community promoted a
belief' type discussion about the pros and cons of the technolgy [2]. A second group, a number of "pioneers", started to use
izzy logic in their applications. The success story of these appliations is responsible for the current situation in Europe, where
izzy logic is now a well-accepted technology in engineering.
or detailed descriptions of the history of the European applicaons see [4]and for technical details on these applications see

51.
A detailed market research study counts 684 successful appliations of fuzzy logic in Europe by May 1994. Most demonstrate
iat a number of substantial benefits were achieved through the
se of fuzzy logic. Having identified the technical potential of
izzy logic in these applications, the technology is ready for
itroduction to a broader variety of developers of control sohons. The pioneering designers of fuzzy logic guarded against
le distraction of a large number of differing glossaries, methods,
nd algorithms utilized and proposed in scientific literature. To
romote a broad spectrum of successful fuzzy logic applications,

0-7803-3645-3/96 $5.0001996 IEEE

however, standardization becomes a prerequisite. The working

group UA451 has identified five areas where an immediate push
for standardization has emerged:
Description formats for fuiczy logic systems
Performance measures for fuzzy logic systems
Development methodology for fuzzy logic systems
0
Fuzzy logic solutions for standard applications
0
Adaptation of fuzzy logic systems
The remainder of this paper will present the individual working areas, detail the goals for standardization in the respective
areas, and disclose the current level of work.

2. Description Formats for Fuzzy Logic Systeims

There currently exists more than 30,000 publications on fuzzy
set theory. Many propose methods, algorithms, and terminology
on how to utilize fuzzy technologies in solutions. The lack of
standardization has resulted in many inconsistencies among these
publications. The same terminology frequently refers to different
methods, and identical algorithms are often referred to by different names [6].
To promote fuzzy logic for mainstream use by practitioners,
fuzzy logic terminology and methodology demands standardization, In cooperation with other groups, the working group MA451
shall propose a standard terminology. Along with this definition,
a "basic fuzzy logic functionality" common to the majority of
applications shall be defined. If software tools and hardware
platforms support this "basic fuzzy logic functionality", porting
of systems becomes easier, :and practitioners can use different
products for their application .with the same training.
The proposed standard, however, will restrict itself to terminology and methods. It will not cover any implementation details
of the methods or algorithms. This shall remain a degree of freedom for hardware and software vendors. Also, the proposed
standard only covers a "basic fuzzy logic functionality". This
keeps the proposed standard open for specific extensions by the
suppliers, and at the same time maintains portability for practitioners that wish to restrict their application to the "basic fuzzy
logic functionality".
As a subsequent step, thie working group shall propose a
fuzzy systems description language. This description lainguage
facilitates the direct transfer of a fuzzy system form one hardware

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platform or software tool to another. To allow inter-platform

portability, the description language shall be an ASCII type format that can be manually read and written. Definitions of this
language shall only cover the basic functionality, yet allow free
extensions. Vendors of fuzzy logic software and hardware can
either base their products directly on this fuzzy systems description language, or just this representation for export and import
while employing a proprietary format internally.
The working group shall deliver the fuzzy systems description
language definition in a form that can be used directly by
parserkcanner-building software tools and make it freely available.

r Fuzzy Logic Sys

To compare the computing performance of different hardware
platforms, various performance measures (benchmarks) are used.
For fuzzy logic systems, measures such as MFLIPS (million
fuzzy logic inferences per second) and others have been proposed in the past. However, it has become apparent that these
performance measures are of limited practical value. A MFLIPS
number for example does not satisfactorily answer the question
of how much computing time a specific fuzzy logic system requires on a certain hardware platform. Since many different definitions exist for what "a fuzzy logic inference" is and what computational steps it comprises, some vendors go as far as only
counting a single multiplication as "a fuzzy logic inference".
Furthermore, in some fuzzy logic systems, fuzzification and defuzzification can require more computation time than the rule
inference [ 11.
To create a more practical performance measure, a set of
"typical fuzzy logic systems" that spans the entire range from
simple to complex and is representative of various application
areas shall be proposed by the working group UA451 as a
benchmark suite. Practitioners seeking a ballpark estimation of
the computing resources required to process their fuzzy logic
solution can identify the fuzzy logic system closest to their application from the benchmark suite. Total computation time and
required code size of "typical fuzzy logic systems" then becomes
a meaningful measure to compare the performance of different
hardware platforms. To ensure that benchmark results lead to fair
comparisons, definition of the test procedure is also necessary
(resolutions, input patterns, etc..).
The working group shall create a set of such "typical fuzzy
logic systems", and make the definitions freely available using
the fuzzy systems description language.

In fuzzy logic design, no formally defined development procedures already exist. The working group UA451 shall define
such a development methodology based on the IS09000 general
system development guidelines. It will define and describe neces-

sary steps for completing a fuzzy logic design. These steps will
be both procedural and technological in nature. Procedural steps
define auditions and reviews; technological steps deal with the
design decisions relevant to each stage of the design. The guidelines will also classify the various fuzzy logic methods and algorithms to help with these design decisions.
Such a formalized development methodology should guide
novice practitioners along the most efficient track to a fuzzy logic
solution. This lowers the risk of failure simply because of problems navigating through the abundance of existing fuzzy set
theory. For experienced practitioners, the proposed development
methodology shall provide a formal frame to follow when creating and documenting real-world fuzzy logic solutions.
For simple fuzzy logic applications, the proposed development methodology shall even include "cookbook-like'' recipes.
This includes, for example, the choice of membership functions,
inference algorithms, and defuzzification routines. In addition,
guidelines for stability analysis and verification of fuzzy logic
systems shall be proposed [3].
The working group shall create this development methodology consistent with the general IS09000 development guidelines.

5. Fuzzy Logic for Stan

While some applications require a custom structured fuzzy
logic system, many applications fall into standard categories such
as temperature control, positioning, or speed control. For such
"standard applications", frames of fuzzy logic systems shall be
proposed which have proven to be generally successful.
These fuzzy logic solutions for "standard applications" shall
be by the working group UA451 so that practitioners can use
them as an initial prototype for their fuzzy logic solution. In an
optimization phase, the prototypes will require adaptation and
refinement for the specific applications. To facilitate optimization, the working group will detail rules in a "cookbook-like"
fashion which explain how to tune the fuzzy logic solutions for
the "standard application".

In general, the design of adaptive control systems is more difficult when compared to the design of the non-adaptive variety.
On the other hand, adaptive system design can expedite an acceptable solution.
A large number of applications have shown that fuzzy logic
technology accommodates the efficient design of adaptive systems. This is primarily because fuzzy logic allows the adaptation
strategies to be defined linguistically rather than by a mathematical model.
In designing adaptive fuzzy logic systems, it is important to
understand which part of the system shall be adapted for what
result. Non-experienced practitioners find themselves overwhelmed with the many degrees of freedom of how adaptation
can be applied with fuzzy logic systems. The working group

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UA451 shall identify and list different approaches to adaptive

fuzzy logic system design. Typical application areas, as well as
pros and cons of the different approaches shall be discussed.
While generic recipes cannot be generated for the use of adaptive
techniques in fuzzy logic system design, the consequences of
making the individual parts of a fuzzy logic system adaptive shall
be discussed in detail.

Establish transparent performance measures to stimulate

further optimization of the fuzzy logic implementations

Literature

7. Current Work and Cooperations

To create the standardization proposal, the working group
UA451 has divided itself into five teams that each cover one of
the five working areas. A first draft of a standardization proposal
shall be generated within a year. This proposal shall be furtheir
published to open the discussion to interested groups.
While the scope of this standardization proposal is ratheir
broad in nature, and thus will require some time to complete, the
working group UA45 1 also supports other standardization activities. In cooperation with the working group DKE-AK-962.2.5,
the UA451 has generated a working draft of an extension to the
International Standard IECll3 1, responding to a new work item
proposal of the Industrial-Process Measurement and Control SubCommittee No. 65B from July 1993.
The scope of this effort is restricted to the integration of fuzzy
logic with the existing IEC1131 standard for PLC programming.
The proposed extension will standardize the functionality and 8
description language for fuzzy logic systems in the application
area of industrial automation. The proposed definitions will form
a subset of the general standardization effort described in this
paper.

B. What does Standardization Contribute to the

Practical Use of Fuzzy Logic?
The overall goal of the work of UA45 1 is to make fuzzy logic
worldwide accepted technology, available and usable by every
xactitioner seeking a solution for hisher problem. In detail, the
working group targets the following goals:
Resolve the confusion over terminology
Resolve the confusion over methodology
Inform practitioners about what they REALLY need to know
from the abundance of fuzzy set theory
Inform practitioners on how to design fuzzy logic systems cookbook-like, if necessary
Provide control system hardware vendors with a thorough
definition of fuzzy logic functionality so they can implement
fuzzy logic functionality on EVERY target system
Provide design software vendors with a thorough definition
of fuzzy logic functionality so they can implement portable
fuzzy logic functionality
Free software tools from target hardware systems by making
fuzzy system designs portable
2

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Adcock, T., DSP -t.Fuzzy Logic: A whole new level of

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Tanaka, K. and Samo, M., Concept of stability margin
for fuzzy systems and design of robust controllers,
Second IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems, ISBN 0-7803-0615-5, p, 29 - 34.
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(1995).
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