Putting Fuzzy Logic to Work:
An Intro to Fuzzy Rules
Introduction
Fuzzy logic, a powerful and very useful
technology, has yet to see its potential fully
exploited. This is ironic given that fuzzy
logic is relatively easy to understand
(especially for non-technical people) and
fills such a critical need in so many
problems. This article presents a manager’s
level understanding of fuzzy logic, how it
works in practice and the type of
applications for which it is best suited. Deep
technical issues and philosophical debates,
on the other hand, are not covered.
Fuzzy Fundamentals
In this article, the focus is on the most
common type of fuzzy rule-based system,
one that accepts numeric inputs and
outputs. The user supplies the numeric
inputs and receives numeric outputs, with
no knowledge of what is going on inside.
The technician who implements the fuzzy
system has two basic tasks:
• encode human knowledge as fuzzy
rules (which resemble English)
• create mathematical definitions for the
system components.
Ordinarily, rules are implemented on
computers as an all-or-nothing affair: either
the condition (the rule's "if" part) triggers
the rule or it doesn't. What is different
PCAI
By Will Dwinnell
about fuzzy logic is that definitions are
allowed to be true in degrees, reflecting the
vague quality of many definitions used in
heuristics, allowing rules to fire "partially" if
they are only partially relevant.
A Simple Example
Consider the problem of enhancing the
contrast of an image. An image with low-
contrast has many pixels with similar
brightness. Without significant variation in
brightness, low-contrast images have a
“washed-out” or hazy appearance. In a high-
contrast image, there is a much larger
variation in brightness, with many very
bright and very dark pixels. Contrast
enhancement is the process of changing a
low-contrast image into a high-contrast
image and can be achieved by mapping the
brightness values of the original image to a
new set of brightness values in the new
image. Fuzzy logic can perform this
transformation. Thinking in everyday terms,
how does one change the brightness of pixels
in a low-contrast image to increase the
contrast? Light pixels in the input image
should become lighter in the output image
and dark pixels should become darker (pixels
in the middle should stay more or less the
same). We may encode these ideas as fuzzy
rules:
1. if (Input is Dark)
then (Output is ReallyDark)
33
2. if (Input is Medium)
then (Output is Medium)
3. if (Input is Light)
then (Output is ReallyLight)
By giving precise mathematical
definitions to terms such as Dark, Light,
ReallyLight, and so forth, the above rules
define a mathematical function that
increases image contrast. These rules, in
fact appear exactly as listed in a small
fuzzy system built using MATLAB’s
Fuzzy Logic Toolbox. Figure 1 shows
(graphically) the definitions of the terms
Dark, Medium and Light, as used in this
fuzzy system. Notice that brightness
varies from 0.0 (black) to 1.0 (white). As
figure 1 illustrates, the fuzzy definitions
of words such as Light and Dark do not
need to have hard cut-offs, but may fade
from one to the other in between. In
other words, any given brightness level
might be partially Light, partially
Medium and partially Dark at the same
time.
When the brightness of an input
pixel is presented to this fuzzy logic
system, it is “fuzzified”, which means that
each of the terms defined for the input
brightness Dark, Medium and Light is
considered true to some degree. The
fuzzy degree of truth ranges from 0
(absolutely false) to 1 (completely true)
March/April 2002
Figure 1: Fuzzy Input Definitions
The height of each curve indicates the degree to which that concept is considered true. For instance, if the input, Pixel
Brightness, is 0.4 (a slightly dark gray), then “ Dark” (blue trace on the graph) and “ Medium” (green) are each rated at
roughly 0.4 true, while “ Light” (red) is considered to be approximately 0.13 true. The truth of these terms controls how
much each fuzzy rule contributes to the fuzzy system’s overall response.
and determines how strongly the rules ReallyLight are closer to 0.0 and 1.0, figures 3A (before enhancement) and 3B
will fire. Consider, for instance, a dark respectively, than Dark and Light on the (after enhancement) for a demonstration
pixel with a brightness of 0.1, which input scale. In this example, bell-shaped of our fuzzy contrast enhancer on a real
maps to approximately 0.95 truth for curves define the truth of the various image. Obviously, it is possible to adjust
“Dark”, and almost zero truth for terms, however, other shapes such as the exact definitions of the various terms
“Medium” and “Light”. Fuzzy rule 1, triangles and trapezoids are typical used in the fuzzy rules to suit whatever
above, (using “Dark” in its condition) alternatives. result is desired.
will fire approximately 0.95, while the Each time the fuzzy logic system Analysis
other rules (using “Medium” and “Light” executes, each input term (Light, Medium The demonstrated fuzzy system
in their conditions) will make almost no and Dark for pixel brightness) calculates effectively solves a real problem. Real images
contribution to the system output. as being true to some degree. The rules often suffer from poor contrast, leaving
A similar set of terms (ReallyDark, fire (to varying degrees), producing a visual features vague and indistinct. The
Medium and ReallyLight) is numerically collection of fuzzy outputs which are fuzzy rules are easy to audit, maintain or
defined for the output image’s brightness combined by the fuzzy logic software to modify and provide a self-documenting,
(see figure 2). Notice that to drive pixel produce the result- an ordinary number. easily understood format for the solution.
brightness to the light and dark extremes, The user of the fuzzy logic system does Fuzzy-models that are more complex may
the definitions of ReallyDark and not care how all this works internally. See include additional inputs, allowing more

PCAI 34 March/April 2002

Figure 2: Fuzzy Output Definitions
Each fuzzy rule may specify any of these fuzzy terms ( ReallyDark is the blue curve, Medium is green and ReallyLight is red)
as its output. The fuzzy logic software takes care of fusing these fuzzy terms to generate the system’s output. In our simple
fuzzy system, there are only 3 rules, and they directly connect Light input to ReallyLight output, Medium input to Medium
output and Dark input to ReallyDark output. Since ReallyLight is lighter than Light and ReallyDark is darker than Dark, pixel
brightness tends to move away from medium brightness toward the extremes.

conditions in each rule. Notice, too, that the
fuzzy logic system is completely
deterministic: when given the same inputs
twice, its output will be exactly the same.
While a statistical regression or neural
network could have solved this problem,
they (in contrast to the fuzzy rule-based
system) require an extensive set of examples
from which to learn the appropriate
mapping of pixel brightness from low-
contrast to high-contrast. Fuzzy rules, on the
other hand, mimic an existing base of
human knowledge. Construction of the
fuzzy rule base does not require an extensive
database of “correct” mappings from input
to output (although these would be helpful
in validating its performance). Instead, it
requires some type of knowledge to translate
into fuzzy rules. While there are algorithms
for deriving the fuzzy rules from data, here
we are only concerned with the more usual
method of building them manually.
An Example with Two Inputs
In my home, one daily challenge is
putting the kids to bed. We have found
that putting children to bed when they
are ready to fall asleep helps. We have also
found that when they are ready to fall
asleep depends on (among other things)
when they woke up this morning (which
indicates roughly how much sleep they
received the previous night) and how long
they napped during the afternoon.
Consulting an expert (my wife), I built a
fuzzy logic system using these two inputs
(WokeUpThisMorning and NapLength)
that predicts when the kids will become
sleepy (BedTime). In contrast to the last
example, in which the fuzzy contrast
enhancer made a decision (that is
“correct” only in terms of the policy we
created), this system makes a prediction
(subject to some inaccuracies when
compared to the actual experience).
The input, WokeUpThisMorning is
the number of hours since midnight. In
other words, if the child woke at 8:30am,
WokeUpThisMorning is 8.5. The other
input variable, NapLength, indicates the
length of the afternoon nap in hours. The
time to be predicted, BedTime, indicates
hours after noon (8.75 would mean
8:45pm). As in the previous example, we

PCAI 35 March/April 2002

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Figure 3A: A Low-Contrast Image their bottom line.
This image is typical of low-contrast images: pixel brightness does not vary
enough, giving a hazy, washed-out look.

Figure 3B: The Same Image After Contrast Enhancement

The Fuzzy Contrast Enhancer increases contrast by spreading out the brightness
of pixels in the image. Light pixels become lighter and dark pixels become
darker. Rough textures have been accentuated.

define three fuzzy terms along each and “Late”

variable. Note that three terms were used NapLength: “Short”, “Normal”
because it suited this problem. There is and “Long”
no reason that all variables must have the BedTime: “Early”, “Normal”
same number of concepts defined and and “Late”
some problems may have better solutions Now that there is more than one input,
with a different number of terms. First we we must decide how to combine the various
define the following terms: inputs to define the rules of the system. In
WokeUpThisMorning: “Early”, “Normal” this case, there are two inputs, having three

PCAI 36 March/April 2002

Figure 4: Bed Time Prediction
This figure illustrates the output of the Fuzzy Bed Time Predictor. Height of the colored surface indicates the predicted time,
in hours since noon (7.5 indicates 7:30pm, 8 means 8pm, and so forth). Likewise, the input WokeUpTime measures time in
hours since midnight (8 is 8am, 8.5 is 8:30am, and so on). NapLength is the length (in hours) of the child’s afternoon nap.
The color coding in this figure follows the height, with black indicating the earliest bed times, through red and orange, up
to yellow, which represents the latest bed times.

fuzzy terms each, yielding a maximum of
nine possible combinations with one term
from each variable. Nine rules are not
difficult to manage, but consider how
unwieldy four input variables with seven
terms each would be, with potentially 2,401
distinct rules! There is no requirement to
define every possible rule at this level of
granularity. Since this system is so small, it
was developed with all 9 combinations:
If (WokeUpThisMorning is Early)
and (NapLength is Short)
then (BedTime is Early)
If (WokeUpThisMorning is Early)
and (NapLength is Normal)
then (BedTime is Normal)
If (WokeUpThisMorning is Early)
and (NapLength is Long)
then (BedTime is Late)
If (WokeUpThisMorning is Normal)
and (NapLength is Short)
then (BedTime is Early)
If (WokeUpThisMorning is Normal)
and (NapLength is Normal)
then (BedTime is Normal)
If (WokeUpThisMorning is Normal)
and (NapLength is Long)
then (BedTime is Late)
If (WokeUpThisMorning is Late)
and (NapLength is Short)
then (BedTime is Early)
If (WokeUpThisMorning is Late)
and (NapLength is Normal)
then (BedTime is Late)
If (WokeUpThisMorning is Late)
and (NapLength is Long)
then (BedTime is Late)
These rules capture the relevant
knowledge in a very natural manner. These
rules have been listed exactly as they appear
in the fuzzy rule editor of the Fuzzy Logic
Toolbox. The expert on children’s bed times
is not an expert in fuzzy logic (although she
is a mechanical engineer), but she had no
difficulty defining the fuzzy terms or the
fuzzy rules. In this case, we used trapezoidal
shapes to specify the fuzzy terms and the
system output was verified as producing
appropriate (reasonably accurate) predictions
(see figure 4 for a graph of the system’s
output).
Though simple, this example
illustrates the interaction of inputs in the
fuzzy rule base and is extensible to much
larger problems. Again, not every possible
fine-grained combination of input terms
needs its own rule. One rule may cover
many such combinations. For instance,
we can replace rules 3, 6 and 9 above by
the single rule “If(NapLength is Long)

PCAI 37 March/April 2002

then (BedTime is Late)”, since Definitions of fuzzy terms are precise and
WokeUpThisMorning does not affect fuzzy logic is a powerful tool for generating Some Fuzzy Twists
BedTime when NapLength is considered complex behaviors. The fuzzy systems developed in this
Long. article use only simple, pre-defined fuzzy
Further Exploration terms, but many fuzzy logic tools allow for
Conclusion You will find a number of good books variations on this idea. These variations
Mechanical control applications and on fuzzy logic and its application. Earl Cox’s expand the expressive power of the
other very technical uses, such as pattern modeling language, making system design
“The Fuzzy Systems Handbook”, now in its
recognition, have overshadowed fuzzy logic’s easier and more robust.
ease-of-use and wide applicability to other second edition, goes into much more
technical detail than this article and gives As an example, one might wish to
important, though much less exotic include a rule which begins “If
problems, such as new product pricing, excellent examples of effective fuzzy
solutions to difficult real-world problems. (SellingPrice is NearManufacturingCost)
project planning and stock selection.
Also consider “Fuzzy Logic and Neurofuzzy then…”. assuming that Manufacturing
Fuzzy logic is applicable when making
some type of prediction or decision, and cost changes over time and is one of the
Applications in Business and Finance” by
human experts can express the relationship inputs to the fuzzy system, then the
Constantin Von Altrock.
between the known and what needs to be definition of NearManufacturingCost
The math behind fuzzy logic is simple
decided. Note that the straightforward will obviously change as well. Some
enough that most programmers should have fuzzy logic software allow a fuzzy
nature of fuzzy rules not only allows non- no difficulty implementing it in their
technical people to understand the system, concept such as NearManufacturingCost,
language of choice. However, many existing to be defined dynamically, tracking the
but also encourages participation by them in
the construction of the fuzzy system. By software packages make fuzzy systems easy system input ManufacturingCost.
helping to define fuzzy terms and supplying to build, even for non-programmers. These Another idea that fuzzy designers
fuzzy rules, non-technical experts (the tools usually include easily-manipulated may wish to include are formulas that
people best qualified to indicate the behavior graphical interfaces, allowing the user to manipulate fuzzy values. A rule starting
of the system) are able to meaningfully visualize the system as it is being built. with “If (StockPriceToday is 1.1 *
contribute to development and achieve a MATLAB’s Fuzzy Logic Toolbox is a StockPriceYesterday) then…” requires the
sense of ownership. The technical folks still good example. ability to perform the multiplication
handle the real technical details, enabling an before making a comparison between
ideal separation of responsibilities. Despite Will Dwinnell, MBA is a quantitative analyst with over
12 years experience who lives in southeastern the two values.
the "rule-of-thumb" appearance of the rules, Sometimes, when initializing a target
Pennsylvania. His Web site is at will.dwinnell.com and
fuzzy logic is not arbitrary or happenstance. value, there is a need for unconditional
he may be reached by e-mail at predictor@dwinnell.com
rules. These rules have no “If” part and
always fire. Consider a rule such as
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that Use your Products unconditional rules produce the same
output regardless of inputs, they are only a
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system output still varies with the inputs
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unconditional rules are a method of
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Last, a very popular feature of fuzzy
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simulation decision support, e-commerce, and web technology. definition of hedges allows their
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improve their bottom line. extends the language used in the fuzzy
system. For instance, in our bed time
For more information on example, the hedge Very might have
PC AI Web Banner advertising contact us at: been appended to the fuzzy term Long
(used with NapLength) to produce a rule
(602) 971-1869 beginning “If (NapLength is Very Long)
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or at web-banner-info@pcai.com handles the mechanics of all this under
the covers, so users concentrate on the
everyday meaning of these words.
Consider some other common hedges
that could be employed in our examples,
such as Somewhat Dark, Extremely Light,
Fairly Short or Moderately Late.

PCAI 39 March/April 2002