Comparison of crisp and fuzzy character networks in handwritten word recognition

Experiments involving handwritten word recognition on words taken from images of handwritten address blocks from the United States Postal Service mailstream are described. The word recognition algorithm relies on the use of neural networks at the character level. The neural networks are trained using crisp and fuzzy desired outputs. The fuzzy outputs were defined using a fuzzy k-nearest neighbor algorithm. The crisp networks slightly outperformed the fuzzy networks at the character level but the fuzzy networks outperformed the crisp networks at the word level

Using fuzzy logic to integrate neural networks and knowledge-based systems

Outlined here is a novel hybrid architecture that uses fuzzy logic to integrate neural networks and knowledge-based systems. The author's approach offers important synergistic benefits to neural nets, approximate reasoning, and symbolic processing. Fuzzy inference rules extend symbolic systems with approximate reasoning capabilities, which are used for integrating and interpreting the outputs of neural networks. The symbolic system captures meta-level information about neural networks and defines its interaction with neural networks through a set of control tasks. Fuzzy action rules provide a robust mechanism for recognizing the situations in which neural networks require certain control actions. The neural nets, on the other hand, offer flexible classification and adaptive learning capabilities, which are crucial for dynamic and noisy environments. By combining neural nets and symbolic systems at their system levels through the use of fuzzy logic, the author's approach alleviates current difficulties in reconciling differences between low-level data processing mechanisms of neural nets and artificial intelligence systems

Approximation properties of the neuro-fuzzy minimum function

The integration of fuzzy logic systems and neural networks in data driven nonlinear modeling applications has generally been limited to functions based upon the multiplicative fuzzy implication rule for theoretical and computational reasons. We derive a universal approximation result for the minimum fuzzy implication rule as well as a differentiable substitute function that allows fast optimization and function approximation with neuro-fuzzy networks. --Fuzzy Logic,Neural Networks,Nonlinear Modeling,Optimization

Models of neural networks with fuzzy activation functions

This paper investigates the application of a new form of neuron activation functions that are based on the fuzzy membership functions derived from the theory of fuzzy systems. On the basis of the results regarding neuron models with fuzzy activation functions, we created the models of fuzzy-neural networks. These fuzzy-neural network models differ from conventional networks that employ the fuzzy inference systems using the methods of neural networks. While conventional fuzzy-neural networks belong to the first type, fuzzy-neural networks proposed here are defined as the second-type models. The simulation results show that the proposed second-type model can successfully solve the problem of the property prediction for time – dependent signals. Neural networks with fuzzy impulse activation functions can be widely applied in many fields of science, technology and mechanical engineering to solve the problems of classification, prediction, approximation, etc

Neuro-Fuzzy Computing System with the Capacity of Implementation on Memristor-Crossbar and Optimization-Free Hardware Training

In this paper, first we present a new explanation for the relation between logical circuits and artificial neural networks, logical circuits and fuzzy logic, and artificial neural networks and fuzzy inference systems. Then, based on these results, we propose a new neuro-fuzzy computing system which can effectively be implemented on the memristor-crossbar structure. One important feature of the proposed system is that its hardware can directly be trained using the Hebbian learning rule and without the need to any optimization. The system also has a very good capability to deal with huge number of input-out training data without facing problems like overtraining.Comment: 16 pages, 11 images, submitted to IEEE Trans. on Fuzzy system

A neural network architecture for implementation of expert systems for real time monitoring

Since neural networks have the advantages of massive parallelism and simple architecture, they are good tools for implementing real time expert systems. In a rule based expert system, the antecedents of rules are in the conjunctive or disjunctive form. We constructed a multilayer feedforward type network in which neurons represent AND or OR operations of rules. Further, we developed a translator which can automatically map a given rule base into the network. Also, we proposed a new and powerful yet flexible architecture that combines the advantages of both fuzzy expert systems and neural networks. This architecture uses the fuzzy logic concepts to separate input data domains into several smaller and overlapped regions. Rule-based expert systems for time critical applications using neural networks, the automated implementation of rule-based expert systems with neural nets, and fuzzy expert systems vs. neural nets are covered

Learning control of inverted pendulum system by neural network driven fuzzy reasoning: The learning function of NN-driven fuzzy reasoning under changes of reasoning environment

Whereas conventional fuzzy reasonings are associated with tuning problems, which are lack of membership functions and inference rule designs, a neural network driven fuzzy reasoning (NDF) capable of determining membership functions by neural network is formulated. In the antecedent parts of the neural network driven fuzzy reasoning, the optimum membership function is determined by a neural network, while in the consequent parts, an amount of control for each rule is determined by other plural neural networks. By introducing an algorithm of neural network driven fuzzy reasoning, inference rules for making a pendulum stand up from its lowest suspended point are determined for verifying the usefulness of the algorithm

Fuzzy neural networks with genetic algorithm-based learning method

This thesis is on the reasoning of artificial neural networks based on granules for both crisp and uncertain data. However, understanding the data in this way is difficult when the data is so complex. Reducing the complexity of the problems that these networks are attempting to learn as well as decreasing the cost of the learning processes are desired for a better prediction. A suitable prediction in artificial neural networks depends on an in-depth understanding of data and fine tracking of relations between data points. Inaccuracies of the prediction are caused by complexity of data set and the complexity is caused by uncertainty and quantity of data. Uncertainties can be represented in granules, and the reasoning based on granules is known as granular computing. This thesis proposed an improvement of granular neural networks to reach an outcome from uncertain and crisp data. Two methods based on genetic algorithms (GAs) are proposed. Firstly, GA-based fuzzy granular neural networks are improved by GA-based fuzzy artificial neural networks. They consist of two parts: granulation using fuzzy c-mean clustering (FCM), and reasoning by GAbased fuzzy artificial neural networks. In order to extract granular rules, a granulation method is proposed. The method has three stages: construction of all possible granular rules, pruning the repetition, and crossing out granular rules. Secondly, the two-phase GA-based fuzzy artificial neural networks are improved by GA-based fuzzy artificial neural networks. They are designed in two phases. In this case, the improvement is based on alpha cuts of fuzzy weight in the network connections. In the first phase, the optimal values of alpha cuts zero and one are obtained to define the place of a fuzzy weight for a network connection. Then, in the second phase, the optimal values of middle alpha cuts are obtained to define the shape of a fuzzy weight. The experiments for the two improved networks are performed in terms of generated error and execution time. The results tested were based on available rule/data sets in University of California Irvine (UCI) machine learning repository. Data sets were used for GA-based fuzzy granular neural networks, and rule sets were used for GA-based fuzzy artificial neural networks. The rule sets used were customer satisfaction, uranium, and the datasets used were wine, iris, servo, concrete compressive strength, and uranium. The results for the two-phase networks revealed the improvements of these methods over the conventional onephase networks. The two-phase GA-based fuzzy artificial neural networks improved 35% and 98% for execution time, and 27% and 26% for the generated error. The results for GA-based granular neural networks were revealed in comparison with GA-based crisp artificial neural networks. The comparison with other related granular computing methods were done using the iris benchmark data set. The results for these networks showed an average performance of 82.1%. The results from the proposed methods were analyzed in terms of statistical measurements for rule strengths and classifier performance using benchmark medical datasets. Therefore, this thesis has shown GA-based fuzzy granular neural networks, and GA-based fuzzy artificial neural networks are capable of reasoning based on granules for both crisp and uncertain data in artificial neural networks

Theoretical Interpretations and Applications of Radial Basis Function Networks

Medical applications usually used Radial Basis Function Networks just as Artificial Neural Networks. However, RBFNs are Knowledge-Based Networks that can be interpreted in several way: Artificial Neural Networks, Regularization Networks, Support Vector Machines, Wavelet Networks, Fuzzy Controllers, Kernel Estimators, Instanced-Based Learners. A survey of their interpretations and of their corresponding learning algorithms is provided as well as a brief survey on dynamic learning algorithms. RBFNs' interpretations can suggest applications that are particularly interesting in medical domains

A neuro-fuzzy architecture for real-time applications

Neural networks and fuzzy expert systems perform the same task of functional mapping using entirely different approaches. Each approach has certain unique features. The ability to learn specific input-output mappings from large input/output data possibly corrupted by noise and the ability to adapt or continue learning are some important features of neural networks. Fuzzy expert systems are known for their ability to deal with fuzzy information and incomplete/imprecise data in a structured, logical way. Since both of these techniques implement the same task (that of functional mapping--we regard 'inferencing' as one specific category under this class), a fusion of the two concepts that retains their unique features while overcoming their individual drawbacks will have excellent applications in the real world. In this paper, we arrive at a new architecture by fusing the two concepts. The architecture has the trainability/adaptibility (based on input/output observations) property of the neural networks and the architectural features that are unique to fuzzy expert systems. It also does not require specific information such as fuzzy rules, defuzzification procedure used, etc., though any such information can be integrated into the architecture. We show that this architecture can provide better performance than is possible from a single two or three layer feedforward neural network. Further, we show that this new architecture can be used as an efficient vehicle for hardware implementation of complex fuzzy expert systems for real-time applications. A numerical example is provided to show the potential of this approach