Bücher der Reihe International Series in Intelligent Technologies

Computational intelligence paradigms have attracted the growing interest of researchers, scientists, engineers and application engineers in a number of everyday applications. These applications are not limited to any particular field and include engineering, business, banking and consumer electronics. Computational intelligence paradigms include artificial intelligence, artificial neural networks, fuzzy systems and evolutionary computing. Artificial neural networks can mimic the biological information processing mechanism in a very limited sense. Evolutionary computing algorithms are used for optimisation applications, and fuzzy logic provides a basis for representing uncertain and imprecise knowledge. Practical Applications of Computational Intelligence Techniques contains twelve chapters providing actual application of these techniques in the real world. Such examples include, but are not limited to, intelligent household appliances, aerial spray models, industrial applications and medical diagnostics and practice. This book will be useful to researchers, practicing engineers/scientists and students, who are interested in developing practical applications in a computational intelligence environment.

The field of "e;intelligent interfaces and systems"e; has seen a fast growth last decade. An impressive number of papers, conference tutorials, and volumes were devoted to the topic. Ten years ago, intelligent systems constituted a rather exotic topic and many were skeptic that such systems amount to more than a nice name. Nowadays, intelligent systems represent a powerful tool in many applications, in all industrial fields. Their development evolved on both the horizontal dimension, with a constantly increasing number of applications, and on the vertical dimension, by including more capabilities going from sensoric to neurofuzzy systems, intelligent agents, speech and image understanding, and decision making in complex environments. The domain constituted by the intelligent systems is now too large to be covered in a single volume. Consequently, the Editors considered a balance between several selected sub-fields, to insure the unity of the volume, yet allowing a large enough horizon and a consistent understanding of the entire field, including real-life applications. The volume represents a comprehensive coverage of the field, including fundamental aspects, software-, sensors-, and hardware-related issues. Moreover, the contributors to this volume offer, beyond a systematic overview of intelligent interfaces and systems, deep, practical knowledge in building and using intelligent systems in various applications. A special emphasis is on specific aspects and requirements in applications. In addition, the second Editor proposes two chapters addressing the management of projects dealing with intelligent systems.

This volume presents the results of approximately 15 years of work from researchers around the world on the use of fuzzy set theory to represent imprecision in databases. The maturity of the research in the discipline and the recent developments in commercial/industrial fuzzy databases provided an opportunity to produce this survey. In this introduction we will describe briefly how fuzzy databases fit into the overall design of database systems and then overview the organization of the text. FUZZY DATABASE LANDSCAPE The last five years have been witness to a revolution in the database research community. The dominant data models have changed and the consensus on what constitutes worthwhile research is in flux. Also, at this time, it is possible to gain a perspective on what has been accomplished in the area of fuzzy databases. Therefore, now is an opportune time to take stock of the past and establish a framework. A framework should assist in evaluating future research through a better understanding of the different aspects of imprecision that a database can model [ 1 l.

Fuzzy logic is `a recent revolutionary technology' which has brought together researchers from mathematics, engineering, computer science, cognitive and behavioral sciences, etc. The work in fuzzy technology at the Laboratory for International Fuzzy Engineering (LIFE) has been specifically applied to engineering problems. This book reflects the results of the work that has been undertaken at LIFE with chapters treating the following topical areas: Decision Support Systems, Intelligent Plant Operations Support, Fuzzy Modeling and Process Control, System Design, Image Understanding, Behavior Decisions for Mobile Robots, the Fuzzy Computer, and Fuzzy Neuro Systems. The book is a thorough analysis of research which has been implemented in the areas of fuzzy engineering technology. The analysis can be used to improve these specific applications or, perhaps more importantly, to investigate more sophisticated fuzzy control applications.

One of the attractions of fuzzy logic is its utility in solving many real engineering problems. Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems reflects the most recent developments in neural networks and fuzzy logic, and their application in intelligent systems.

It is shown that fuzzy control in combination with other techniques such as fuzzy data analysis is an effective approach to the control of modern processes which present many challenges for the design of control systems.

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Fuzzy knowledge and fuzzy systems affect our lives today as systems enter the world of commerce. Analysis and Evaluation of Fuzzy Systems is thus a milestone in the development of fuzzy logic and applications of three representative subsystems: Fuzzy Control, Fuzzy Pattern Recognition and Fuzzy Communications.

One of the attractions of fuzzy logic is its utility in solving many real engineering problems. Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems reflects the most recent developments in neural networks and fuzzy logic, and their application in intelligent systems.

Fuzzy Logic Foundations and Industrial Applications is an organized edited collection of contributed chapters covering basic fuzzy logic theory, fuzzy linear programming, and applications.

Rule-based fuzzy modeling has been recognised as a powerful technique for the modeling of partly-known nonlinear systems. It focuses on the selection of appropriate model structures, on the acquisition of dynamic fuzzy models from process measurements (fuzzy identification), and on the design of nonlinear controllers based on fuzzy models.

In virtually all decision processes in these complicated systems, there are various actors (decision makers) who represent individual subjects (persons, countries, companies, etc.) and their respective interest groups. This makes the decision making process difficult as one cannot employ conventional "hard" tools.

The problem of modeling uncertainty adequately has become more important the more complex systems have become, the faster the scientific and engineering world develops, and the more important, but also more difficult, forecasting of future states of systems have become.

Fuzzy Set Theory and Advanced Mathematical Applications contains contributions by many of the leading experts in the field, including coverage of the mathematical foundations of the theory, decision making and systems science, and recent developments in fuzzy neural control.

Dynamic Fuzzy Pattern Recognition with Applications to Finance and Engineering focuses on fuzzy clustering methods which have proven to be very powerful in pattern recognition and considers the entire process of dynamic pattern recognition.

The application areas of uncertainty are numerous and diverse, including all fields of engineering, computer science, systems control and finance. This book, with invited chapters, deals with the uncertainty phenomena in diverse fields.

Presents the developments and applications in the area of Computational Intelligence, which describes methods and approaches that mimic biologically intelligent behavior in order to solve problems that have been difficult to solve by classical mathematics.

Dynamic Fuzzy Pattern Recognition with Applications to Finance and Engineering focuses on fuzzy clustering methods which have proven to be very powerful in pattern recognition and considers the entire process of dynamic pattern recognition.

Computational intelligence paradigms have attracted the growing interest of researchers, scientists, engineers and application engineers in a number of everyday applications.

The application areas of uncertainty are numerous and diverse, including all fields of engineering, computer science, systems control and finance. This book, with invited chapters, deals with the uncertainty phenomena in diverse fields.

When solving real-life engineering problems, linguistic information is often encountered that is frequently hard to quantify using "classical" mathematical techniques. Human operators, dispatchers, drivers, and passengers use this subjective knowledge or linguistic information on a daily basis when making decisions.

In virtually all decision processes in these complicated systems, there are various actors (decision makers) who represent individual subjects (persons, countries, companies, etc.) and their respective interest groups. This makes the decision making process difficult as one cannot employ conventional "hard" tools.

Rule-based fuzzy modeling has been recognised as a powerful technique for the modeling of partly-known nonlinear systems. It focuses on the selection of appropriate model structures, on the acquisition of dynamic fuzzy models from process measurements (fuzzy identification), and on the design of nonlinear controllers based on fuzzy models.

The problem of modeling uncertainty adequately has become more important the more complex systems have become, the faster the scientific and engineering world develops, and the more important, but also more difficult, forecasting of future states of systems have become.