International Journal of Latest Trends in Engineering and Technology (IJLTET)

Self generated fuzzy membership function using

ANN clustering technique
Shruti S. Jamsandekar
Department of Computer Studies, SIBER, Kolhapur. (MS), India-416004

Ravindra R. Mudholkar
Department of Electronics Shivaji University, Kolhapur, (MS), India-416004

Abstract: In this paper we have proposed a method for self generating the membership functions using semi
unsupervised learning method, We have tried to combine trapezoidal and triangular membership function and generate
it by neural network clustering technique. Clustering of underlying data to obtain the cluster with cluster centers. These
cluster centers are used to formulate membership function centers. The overlapping membership function end vertex
are formulated by approximating boundary values of each cluster obtained. An fuzzy Inference system is created based
on membership function generated for classification problem

Keywords: fuzzy classification, clustering, neural network membership function

I. INTRODUCTION

Fuzzy classification systems can be used to deal with classification problems. Todevelop a fuzzy classification
system, the most important task is to construct membershipfunctions and to find a set of suitable fuzzy rules in the
fuzzy classification system. Thereare two approaches to generate fuzzy membership functions andfuzzy rules.
Expert knowledge and data driven, these approaches correspond to either manual or automatically
through a machine learning process based on training instances respectively .using expert knowledge can be
advantages as it has link with domain knowledge but it can be too subjective with different experts generating
different membership functions and rules for same application.

Alternatively automatic generation of fuzzy membership functions based on data will convert crisp data into
linguistic terms. Most previous attempts in automatic generation of fuzzy membership functions have used
evolutionary and statistical methods [1, 3,4,7,11].In this paper, we present a new method for constructing
membership functions using semi supervised clustering technique, based on cluster centers and approximation of
boundary values of each cluster obtain, we tried to present an data driven approach to generate membership
function by clustering algorithm for creation of if then fuzzy classification system to deal with student semester
examination data.

The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section II related work in related field is reviewed. In section III,
we briefly review of basic concepts of fuzzy setsand the proposed method to construct membership functions based
on clustering is explained. In section IV we compare the experimental results of the proposed method with the
existing methods. The conclusions are discussed in Section V.

II. RELATED WORK

[1] proposed a framework for automatic generation of fuzzy membership functions and fuzzy rules from training
data,.The approach is based on finding the near optimal fuzzy membership functions through an optimization
process using genetic algorithm

In [2] authors have proposed an approach to deal with the classification problem using fuzzy logic,to show how
fuzzy logic introduces new elements in the identification process.
In [3] use the concept of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Set to deal with the problem of degree of uncertainty in the
definition of the fuzzy partitions .and to show the improvement in the performance of linguistic Fuzzy Rule-Based

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Classification Systems afterward the application of a cooperative tuning methodology between the tuning of the
amplitude of the support and the lateral tuning(based on the 2-tuples fuzzy linguistic model) applied to the linguistic
labels modeled with Interval-Valued Fuzzy Sets.

Roberto R.F. Mendes et.al in [4] proposes a co-evolutionary system for discovering fuzzy classification rules. The
system uses two evolutionary algorithms: a genetic programming(GP) algorithm evolving a population of fuzzy rule
sets and a simple evolutionary algorithm evolving a population of membership function definitions. The two
populations co-evolve, so that the final result of the co-evolutionary process is a fuzzy rule set and a set of
membership function definitions which are well adapted to each other.
[5] proposed a new scheme to generate fuzzy membership functions with unsupervised learning using self-
organizing feature map. [6] Proposed a fuzzy error backpropogation algorithm based on standard BP algorithm with
multilayer neural network to learn fuzzy sets and also learn fuzzy rules by reducing hidden neurons from the
network. Shyi-Ming Chen et.al [7] proposed a new method to construct membership function for Iris data
classification problem by generating fuzzy rules from training instances based on the correlation coefficient
threshold value, the boundary shift value and the center shift value. [8] They proposed an idea of using numerical
data for generation and reduction fuzzy rules and adjustment of membership function, generated fuzzy rule base
using Mendel & Wang method and compute the degree of similarity between each rule for candidate rule selection,
used absolute value of the distance between numerical data to compare with base intersection distance of the
membership function.[9] Mehmet kaya et.al proposed a clustering approach to solve the problem of interval
partitioning to construct and optimize fuzzy membership based on Genetic algorithm . [10] Jonathan M et.al
presented a case study in which the introduction of vagueness or uncertainty into the membership functions of a
fuzzy system was investigated in order to model the variation exhibited by experts in a medical decision-making
context. Xi Che[11] presented a method by combining the recursive least-squares algorithm and membership to
overcome the shortcoming of traditional linear regression used in parameter estimation.Bai and Chen [12] presented
a new method for evaluating student’s learning achievement using Fuzzy Membership Functions and Fuzzy Rules.
Ma and Zhou [13] presented a Fuzzy Set approach to the assessment of student centered learning.Khairul A.
Rasmani and QiangShen [14] have presented a fuzzy rule-based approach for aggregation of student academic
performance. The membership values produced by this method were more meaningful compared to the values
produced by statistical standardized-score.Oyelade, O. J et.al [15] proposed a method for analyzing students’ results
based on cluster analysis and uses standard statistical algorithms to arrange their scores data according to the level of
their performance implemented k-means clustering algorithm for analyzing students’result data.

III. NEW METHOD TO GENERATE MEMBERSHIP FUNCTIONS BASED ON CLUSTERING

A. Overview of Fuzzy logic–

A fuzzy set A in a universe of discourse X is defined as the following set pairs

(1)

Where, µ A (x) :X [0,1] is a mapping called the membership function of fuzzy set A and µ A (x)is called
the degree of belongingness or membership value or degree of membership of x X in the fuzzy set A. wewrite (1) in
the following form:

(2)

For brevity, however, we often equate fuzzy sets with their membership functions i.e. instead of a fuzzy set A
characterized by µ A (x) we will often say fuzzy sets µ A [4, 8].
Example: Suppose X = {6, 2, 0, 4}. A fuzzy set of X may be given by A = {0.2/6, 1/2, 0.8/0, 0.1/4}.

Construction of membership function is based on the system design data and choice of the suitable shape. There are
many shapes of membership functions. However, the application context dictates the choice of the suitable shape.
For the problem domain addressed in this study, system components have maximum and minimum value that
cannot be exceeded. Therefore, any candidate membership function shape should have two extreme bounds with
zero and hundred as range values . Triangular and trapezoidal shapes are the simplest MF shapes that meet this
requirement.

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The membership function of the triangularfuzzy set A can be represented by a triple (b; c; a), where \c" is called the
center of thetriangular fuzzy set A; \b" is called the left vertex of the triangular fuzzy set A; \a" iscalled the right
vertex of the triangular fuzzy set A.

The membership function of the trapezoidal fuzzy set can be represented by a function of a vector, x, and
depends on four scalar parameters a, b, c, and d, as given by

Figure 2. Trapezoidal Membership Function

(4)

B. Proposed work-

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The type of membership functions we use in this paper is the triangularand trapezoidal membership function as
shown in Figure.1 and Figure.2 respectively . The extreme ends membership functions are trapezoidal and inner
membership function are triangular .
The construction of triangular membership functions are based on the cluster the data. Referring to Figure.1c ie the
center of triangular fuzzy set is calculated based on cluster centers

C. The steps carried out to construct membership functions for input variables are as follows-

1. Clustering is done on student examination data and cluster centers are found .
2. Clustering algorithm used is neural network clustering technique based on SOM,for each subject marks to
form 3 cluster based on weight vector obtained . The three cluster center are formed based on mean average
method and forms the centers of 3 inner triangular fuzzy membership function
3. The left and right vertex of each of the triangular fuzzy membership function referring to Figure 1. b and a
are calculated as follows.
3.1 Find maximum and minimum data value of each cluster formed from weight vectors
3.2 Approximated the maximum by 10% increase to form right vertex of the membership function
and minimum by 10% decrease to form the left vertex of the membership function, this is done
for overlapping the membership functions.

4. The two extreme end trapezoidal membership functions are constructed as follows
4.1 First extreme membership function according to figure 2 a, b with zero value and c
and d is calculated
c= Min( Minimum of each clusters) – (0.1 * Min( Minimum of each clusters) )
d = Min( Minimum of each clusters) + (0.15 * Min( Minimum of each clusters) )
4.2 second extreme membership function according to figure 2 c, d with 100 value and a and b is
calculated
a = max(maximum of each cluster) – (0.1 * Max( maximum of each clusters) )
b= max(maximum of each cluster) + (0.05 * Max( maximum of each clusters) )

D. The steps carried out to construct membership functions for output variables are as follows-
1. The output variable also comprises of 5 membership functions same as input variable the range for
triangular membership function is calculated as follows
2. Average of centers of first cluster, second cluster and third cluster for all input variables to form the
centers of three triangular membership function respectively
3. To find left and right vertex of 3 triangular membership for output variable
3.1 Left vertex of each of the 3 triangular membership function is Average of minimum
Offirst cluster, second cluster and third cluster for input variable(calculated in step 3.1 of input
variable) respectively
3.2 To find Right vertex of each of the 3 triangular membership function is Average of maximum
of first cluster, second cluster and third cluster for input variable (calculated in step 3.1 of input
variable) respectively.

4. The two extreme end trapezoidal membership functions are selected based as follows

4.1 First extreme membership function according to figure 2 a, b with zero value and c
and d is c= 20 and d= 35 (as per passing criteria since the domain data is student examination marks )

4.2Second extreme membership function according to figure 2 c, d with 100 value and a and b is
calculated
a = max(maximum of each cluster) – (0.1 * Max( maximum of each clusters) )
b= max(maximum of each cluster) + (0.05 * Max( maximum of each clusters) )

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IV. ILLUSTRATION OF PROPOSED METHOD AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The experiment is carried using matlab fuzzy tool and neural network clustering tool.

Comparision of the experimental results of the proposed method with the existing methods

A. To illustrate the method proposed -

1. Accept the student examination data. Student data set for two subject marks in semester exam is shown in
Appendix A
2. Clustering the student data using neural network clustering algorithm

2.1 The cluster center for subject 1 data are center of three triangular membership functions of input
variable 1

55.26 39.50 71.66

2.2 The cluster center for subject 2data are center of three triangular membership functions of input
variable 2

60.95 48.47 28.66

3. The left and right vertex of the 3 triangular membership function

3.1 The maximum and minimum for subject 1

Max Min
46 29
63 48
81 65

The maximum and minimum for subject 2

Max Min
36 20
53 43
81 56

3.2 Approximate values calculated for overlapping of membership

Left and right vertex of the 3 triangular membership function for input 1

50.6 26.1

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69.3 43.2
89.1 58.5

Left and right vertex of the 3 triangular membership function for input 2

The following is the membership function generated of input1, input2 variablesfor subject1 and subject 2
respectively using steps of section III

39.6 18
58.3 38.7
89.1 50.4
very low low medium high very high
very low low medium high very high 1
1

0.8
0.8
Degree of membership
Degree of membership

0.6
0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
sub1marks sub2marks

(a) (b)

The following is the membership function generated for output variables of fuzzy inference system for
classification using steps of section III

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poor belowavg avg aboveavg good

1

0.8

Degree of membership
0.6

0.4

0.2

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
class

(c)
3.3 The rule base list for Inference created

Input 1 Input 2 Output Weight Connection

variable variabe variable (AND/OR )
value vale value
1 1 1 1 1
1 2 2 1 1
1 3 2 1 1
1 4 3 1 1
1 5 3 1 1
2 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 1 1
2 2 3 1 1
2 4 3 1 1
2 5 4 1 1
3 1 2 1 1
3 2 3 1 1
3 3 3 1 1
3 4 4 1 1
4 1 2 1 1
4 2 2 1 1
\4 3 3 1 1
4 4 4 1 1
4 5 5 1 1
5 1 2 1 1
5 2 2 1 1
5 3 3 1 1
5 3 3 1 1
5 4 4 1 1
5 5 5 1 1
Table 1: Rule List
B. Experimental Results –
Snapshot of results obtained by proposed Fuzzy Classification based on Membership function generated
by ANN Clustering (FCMANNC) and Fuzzy classification based on membership function constructed
using expert domain knowledge. The detail result in shown in Appendix B

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(a)

V CONCLUSION

The paper describes a new method of fuzzy classification with membership function generated using semi
supervised clustering approach . The method was experimented on student examination data ,when the results in
Appendix B are observed the subject values in lower range of 20-30 and higher range of 70-80 in Appendix A, a
variations in outcome is seen between the class values that are created based on the fuzzy membership function
based on domain expert knowledge and proposed self generated membership functions method for classification.
For all middle range values the class values obtained are similar for both the compared methods.

REFERENCES

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325, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2001
[5] Chih-Chung Yang, N.K. Bose ,”Generating fuzzy membership function with self-organizing feature map”, Elsevier, Pattern Recognition
Letters 27 356–365 (2006)
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Backpropagation”,IEEEInt.Conf on Neural Network ICNN 93,san Francisco 1022-1027 Apr 1993
[7] Shyi-Ming Chen Fu-Ming Tsai,” A New Method to Construct Membership Functions and Generate Fuzzy Rules from Training
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[9] Mehmet Kaya, RedaAlhajj “Utilizing Genetic Algorithms to Optimize Membership Functions for Fuzzy Weighted Association Rules
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Transactions On Fuzzy Systems, Vol. 15, No. 1, February 2007
[11] Xi Che,“Recursive Least-Squares Method With Membership Functions”, Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Machine
Learning and Cybernetics, Shanghai, 26-29 August 2004
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[15] Oyelade, O. J, Oladipupo, O. O, Obagbuwa, I. C,” Application of k-Means Clustering algorithm forprediction of Students’ Academic
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APPENDIX A

Seat no Subject 1 Subject 2

1 58 60
2 58 52
3 51 49
4 53 50
5 46 51
6 49 47
7 54 56
8 55 59
9 59 52
10 61 67
11 54 57
12 57 58
13 70 71
14 56 60
15 58 53
16 29 20
17 48 32
18 58 60
19 51 36
20 34 24
21 73 81
22 49 56
23 76 62
24 53 59
25 46 52
26 45 45
27 59 60
28 45 48
29 60 52
30 55 56
31 57 49
32 81 71
33 72 64
34 61 56
35 30 31
36 63 57

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37 65 47
38 54 44
39 70 57
40 50 43
41 58 57
42 61 60
43 50 50
44 50 44
45 41 44
46 54 59
47 73 60
48 58 45
49 65 51
50 51 29
51 56 50

APPENDIX B

Fuzzy class
Seat Fuzzy class using expert
no using FCMC domain
1 69.62347309 69.41016566
2 69.62347309 69.41016566
3 55.18495127 54.1697685
4 61.00549807 61.01374256
5 40.73463047 36.20670391
6 47.38790839 44.875
7 63.05024746 63.32084691
8 64.80762548 65.2206443
9 70.15167421 70.56240231
10 70.38158258 72.85905554
11 63.05024746 63.32084691
12 67.98971257 68.19705015
13 70.23469398 85.08755154
14 66.41664216 66.78798403
15 69.62347309 69.41016566
16 33.6341888 13.83333333
17 44.98225048 41.21428571
18 69.62347309 69.41016566
19 55.18495127 54.1697685
20 33.68989073 20.1010453
21 70.41632333 85.1147541

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22 47.38790839 44.875
23 70.61907508 85.1147541
24 61.00549807 61.01374256
25 40.73463047 36.20670391
26 38.52894557 34.38131313
27 70.15167421 70.56240231
28 38.52894557 34.38131313
29 70.26044891 71.58372067
30 64.80762548 65.2206443
31 67.98971257 68.19705015
32 72.87273016 85.1147541
33 70.35233429 85.1147541
34 70.38158258 72.85905554
35 33.65781565 13.83333333
36 70.66148531 75.40150129
37 70.56933154 78.05734074
38 63.05024746 63.32084691
39 70.23469398 85.08755154
40 50.23745353 50
41 69.62347309 69.41016566
42 70.38158258 72.85905554
43 50.23745353 50
44 50.23745353 50
45 33.62465554 29.21682243
46 63.05024746 63.32084691
47 70.41632333 85.1147541
48 69.62347309 69.41016566
49 70.56933154 78.05734074
50 55.18495127 54.1697685
51 66.41664216 66.78798403

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