From fuzzy set theory to computational intelligence-special European experiences

Even though the first publication in the area of fuzzy set theory (FST) appeared already in 1965, the development of this theory for almost 20 years remained in the academic realm. Almost all basic concepts, theories and methods were, however, developed during this period. Fuzzy control opened the gate to real applications for FST. Particularly in Japan the applications of the fuzzy control principle in consumer goods made FST known in the public and made it commercially interesting for industry. This lead to two developments: since the development of fuzzy applicational systems had to be efficient, fuzzy CASE tools and expert system shells were developed making FST to fuzzy technology. The success in Japan could draw the attention of the media and started-first in Germany-the "fuzzy booms", which lead to an unprecedented growth in publications, university teaching and other industrial applications in many countries. Around 1993 FST, neural nets and evolutionary computing joined forces and were soon considered to be one area called soft computing or computational intelligence. Applications in engineering as well as in management will be described during the presentation. Of particular interest for Europe might also be the development of ERUDIT (European Network of Excellence for Fuzzy Sets and Uncertainty Modeling), a network which grew from 15 nodes in 1995 to 250 nodes in 1997 and which has just been extended for another two years by the European Commission. Details about possibilities in the framework of ERUDIT will also be described in more detail.