FUZZY LOGIC SYSTEMS INSTITUTE (FLSI) SOFT COMPUTING SERIES – serie

This book presents worldwide outstanding research and recent progress in the applications of neural networks, fuzzy logic, chaos, independent component analysis, etc to fields related to speech recognition enhancement, supervised Fourier demixing noise elimination, acoustic databases, the human hearing system, cancer detection, image processing, and visual communications.

Pattern recognition (PR) consists of three important tasks: feature analysis, clustering and classification. Image analysis can also be viewed as a PR task. Feature analysis is a very important step in designing any useful PR system because its effectiveness depends heavily on the set of features used to realise the system.A distinguishing feature of this volume is that it deals with all three aspects of PR, namely feature analysis, clustering and classifier design. It also encompasses image processing methodologies and image retrieval with subjective information. The other interesting aspect of the volume is that it covers all three major facets of soft computing: fuzzy logic, neural networks and evolutionary computing.

Soft computing (SC) consists of several computing paradigms, including neural networks, fuzzy set theory, approximate reasoning, and derivative-free optimization methods such as genetic algorithms. The integration of those constituent methodologies forms the core of SC. In addition, the synergy allows SC to incorporate human knowledge effectively, deal with imprecision and uncertainty, and learn to adapt to unknown or changing environments for better performance. Together with other modern technologies, SC and its applications exert unprecedented influence on intelligent systems that mimic human intelligence in thinking, learning, reasoning, and many other aspects.Knowledge engineering (KE), which deals with knowledge acquisition, representation, validation, inferencing, explanation, and maintenance, has made significant progress recently, owing to the indefatigable efforts of researchers. Undoubtedly, the hot topics of data mining and knowledge/data discovery have injected new life into the classical AI world.This book tells readers how KE has been influenced and extended by SC and how SC will be helpful in pushing the frontier of KE further. It is intended for researchers and graduate students to use as a reference in the study of knowledge engineering and intelligent systems. The reader is expected to have a basic knowledge of fuzzy logic, neural networks, genetic algorithms, and knowledge-based systems.

This volume is a guide to two types of transcendence of academic borders which seem necessary for understanding and modelling brain function. The first type is technical transcendence needed to make intelligent machines such as a humanoid robot, an animal-like behavior architecture, an interpreter of fiction, and an evolving learning machine. This technical erosion is conducted into areas such as biology, ethology, neuroscience and psychology, as well as robotics and soft computing. The second type of transcendence of cross-disciplinary boundaries cuts across scientific areas such as biology and cognitive science/philosophy, into comprehensive, less technical and more abstract aspects of brain function. These aspects enable us to know in what direction and how far an intelligent machine will go.

Soft computing has been presented not only with the theoretical developments but also with a large variety of realistic applications to consumer products and industrial systems. Application of soft computing has provided the opportunity to integrate human-like vagueness and real-life uncertainty into an otherwise hard computer program.This book highlights some of the recent developments in practical applications of soft computing in engineering problems. All the chapters have been sophisticatedly designed and revised by international experts to achieve wide but in-depth coverage.