Advantages and Disadvantages

According to Datapro, the Japanese fuzzy logic industry is worth billions of dollars, and the total
revenue worldwide is projected at about $650 millionfor 1993. By 1997, that figure is expected
to rise to $6.1 billion. According toother sources, Japan currently is spending $500 million a year
on FuzzySystems R&D. And it’s beginning to catch on in the United States, where itall began.
Advantages of Fuzzy Logic for System Control
• Fewer values, rules, and decisions are required.• More observed variables can be
evaluated.• Linguistic, not numerical, variables are used, making it simi- lar to the
way humans think.• It relates output to input, without having to understand all the
variables, permitting the design of a system that may bemore accurate and stable than one with a
conventional controlsystem.• S i m p l i c i t y a l l o w s t h e s o l u t i o n o f p e r v i o u s l y
u n s o l v e d p r o b - lems.• R a p i d p r o t o t y p i n g i s p o s s i b l e b e c a u s e a
s y s t e m d e s i g n e r doesn’t have to know everything about the system
b e f o r e starting work.• They’re cheaper to make than conventional systems
becausethey’re easier to design.• They have increased robustness.• They simplify
knowledge acquisition and representation.• A few rules encompass great complexity.

 
17Chapter 1: The Fuzzy World
Fuzzy Logic A Practical Approach by F. Martin McNeill and Ellen Thro
Its Drawbacks
• It’s hard to develop a model from a fuzzy system. • Though they’re easier to design
and faster to prototype thanc o n v e n t i o n a l c o n t r o l s y s t e m s , f u z z y s y s t e m s r e q u i r e
m o r e simulation and fine tuning before they’re operational.• P e r h a p s t h e b i g g e s t
d r a w b a c k i s t h e c u l t u r a l b i a s i n t h e United States in favor of mathematically
precise or crisp sys-tems and linear models for control systems.
FUZZY DECISION-MAKING
Fuzzy decision-making is a specialized, language oriented fuzzy system usedto make personal
and business management decisions, such as purchasingcars and appliances. It’s even been used
to help resolve the ambiguities inspouse selection!On a more practical level, fuzzy decision-
makers have been used tooptimize the purchase of cars and VCRs. The Fuji Bank has developed
a fuzzydecision-support system for securities trading