II.

CLASSICAL SETS AND FUZZY SETS

2.1. INTRODUCTION.
The ‘universe of discourse’ is the universe of all available information on a given
problem. Once this universe is defined, we
are able to define certain events on this information space. Sets are described as
mathematical abstractions of these events
and of the universe itself. Fig.2.1a shows an abstraction of a universe of discourse, say, X
and a crisp (classical) set A
somewhere in this universe itself. A classical set is defined by ‘crisp’ boundaries; i.e.
there is no uncertainty in the
prescription or location of the boundaries of the set, as shown in Fig.2.1a. Where the
boundary of the crisp set is an
unambiguous line. A fuzzy set, on the other hand, is prescribed by vague or ambiguous
properties; hence its boundaries are
ambiguously specified, as shown in the fuzzy boundary for set A
~
in Fig 2.1b.
X (Universe of discourse) X (Universe of
discourse)

Fig.2.1a. Crisp set A

Fig.2.1b. Fuzzy set A
~
The Fig.2 also helps in explaining the idea of a membership in a 2-dimensional
perspective. Point a in Fig2.1.a, point
clearlya member of the set A; point b is clearly not a member of the set A. In Fig.2.1b
shows the vague boundary of the
fuzzy set A
~
on the same universe of discourse X: the shaded boundary represents the boundary region
of A
~
In the .
central unshaded region of the fuzzy set ‘a’ is clearly a member of the set and ‘b’ in the
outside (un-shaded) region not a
member of the set. But ‘c’, which happens to be on the shaded boundary, is in not a clear
member of the set. If ‘a’ has a
membership value of 1 and ‘b’ has a membership value of 0, then ‘c’ should have a
membership value between 0 and 1.
Why require fuzzy

Fuzzy set theory provides a major newer paradigm in modeling and reasoning with uncertainty.
Though there were several forerunners in science and philosophy, in particular in the areas of
multivalued logic and vague concepts. Zadeh, a professor at Berkeley was the first to propose a
theory of fuzzy sets and an associated logic, namely fuzzy logic. Essentially, a fuzzy set is a set
whose members of the set may have degrees of membership between 0 and 1, as opposed to
classical sets where each element must have either 0 or 1 as the membership degree—if 0, the
element is completely outside the set; if 1, the element is completely in the set. As classical logic
is based on classical set theory, fuzzy logic is based on fuzzy set theory.
Major industrial application areas
The first wave: Process control
The first industrial application of fuzzy logic was in the area of fuzzy controllers for cement kilns.
Their usage then found popularity in Japan. The Japanese caught the idea, and applied it in an
automatic-drive fuzzy control system for subway trains in Sendai City. The final product was
extremely successful, and was generally praised as superior to other comparable systems based
on classical control. This success encouraged a rapid increase in the Japanese’s interest in fuzzy
controller during the late 1980s. This led to applications in other areas, like elevator control
systems and air conditioning systems. In the early 1990s, the Japanese began to apply fuzzy
controller in consumer products, like camcorders, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and cars.
The Japanese success led to increased interest in Europe and the US in fuzzy controller
techniques.
The second wave: information systems
The second wave of fuzzy logic systems started in Europe in the early 1990s, namely in the area
of information systems, in particular in databases and information retrieval. The first fuzzy logic
based search engine was developed by Yager, Machine Intelligence Institute, US. It was aimed
for application netbased commerce systems, namely, at that time the only in the world, the
French Minitel. It was first demonstrated to the public at the Joint International Conference of
Artificial Intelligence in 1992 in Chambery, France. In 1999, the technique was adopted by the
Danish search engine Jubii. Internet and the Web gave new interest to application of fuzzy logic
technology. In the net based society we have an enormous amount of information and knowledge
electronic accessible for decision makers and human in general. Much of this information is
inherently uncertain—lack of precision, vague concepts, more or less reliable information, etc. On
the other hand, to be useful, users must be able to utilize it, despite the uncertainties.
Today, this technique has found huge applications in the area of decision sciences in business
intelligence and decision making, and is being thought of as one of the biggest change creating
mathematical tool.