Abstract
Fuzzy systems comprise one of the models best suited to function approximation problems, but due to the non linear dependencies between the parameters that define the system rules, the solution search space for this type of problems contains many local optima. Another important issue is the identification of the optimum structure for the fuzzy system. Depending on the complexity of the model, different solutions can be found with different compromises between their approximation error and their generalization properties. Thus, the problem becomes a multi-objective problem with two clearly competing objectives, the complexity of the model and its approximation error.
The algorithms proposed in the literature to construct fuzzy systems from examples usually refine iteratively a unique model until a compromise between its complexity and its approximation error is found. This is not an adequate approach for this problem because there exists a set of Pareto-optimum solutions that can be considered equivalent. Thus, we propose the use of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms because, as they maintain a population of potential solutions for the problem, they are able to optimize both objectives simultaneously. We also incorporate some new expert evolutionary operators that try to avoid the generation of worse solutions in order to accelerate the convergence of the algorithm.
The proposed algorithm is tested with some target functions widely used in the literature and the results obtained are compared to other approaches.
Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.References
Abe S, Lan MS (1995) Fuzzy rules extraction directly from numerical data for function approximation. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern B 25(1):119–129
Bäck T, Fogel DB, Michalewicz Z. ed. (1997) Handbook of evolutionary computation. Institute of Physics Publishing and Oxford University Press, Bristol, New York
Bersini H, Duchateau A, Bradshaw N (1997) Using incremental learning algorithms in the search for minimal and effective fuzzy models. In: Proceedings of the 6th IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems, IEEE Computer Society Press, Barcelona, Spain, pp 1417–1422
Bezdek JC (1981) Pattern recognition with fuzzy objective function algorithms. Plenum, New York
Chankong V, Haimes YY (1983) Multiobjective decision making theory and methodology. North-Holland, New York
Chen S, Cowan CFN, Grant PM (1991) Orthogonal least squares learning algorithm for radial basis functions. IEEE Trans Neural Netw 2:302–309
Cherkassky V, Gehring D, Mulier F (1996) Comparison of adaptive methods for function estimation from samples. IEEE Trans Neural Netw 7(4):969–984
Cherkassky V, Lari-Najafi H (1991) Constrained topological mapping for non-parametric regression analysis. Neural Netw 4(1):27–40
De Falco I, Della Cioppa A, Iazzetta A, Natale P, Tarantino E (1998) Optimizing neural networks for time series prediction. In: Roy R, Furuhashi T, Chawdhry PK (ed). Proceedings of the 3rd on-line world conference on soft computing (WSC3). Advances in soft computing – engineering design and manufacturing Internet. Berlin Heidelberg New York, Springer
Deb K (1999) Evolutionary algorithms for multi-criterion optimization in engineering design. In: Miettinen K, Neittaanmäki P, Mäkelä MM, Périaux J (eds.), Proceedings of evolutionary algorithms in engineering and computer design, EUROGEN’99: Wiley, London
Deb K, Goldberg DE (1989) An investigation of niche and species formation in genetic function optimization. In: Schaffer JD (ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on genetic algorithms, Morgan Kaufmann, San Mateo, CA, pp 42–50
Dickerson JA, Kosko B (1996) Fuzzy function approximation with ellipsoidal rules. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cyber B 26(4):542–560
Duda RO, Hart PE (1973) Pattern classification and scene analysis. Wiley, New York
Fonseca CM, Fleming PJ (1993) Genetic algorithms for multiobjective optimization: formulation, discussion and generalization. In: Forrest S (ed.), Proceedings of the 5th international conference on genetic algorithms, Morgan Kaufmann, pp 416–423
Friedman JH (1981) Projection pursuit regression. J Amer Statist Assoc 76:817–823
Friedman JH (1991) Multivariate adaptive regression splines (with discussion). Ann Statist 19:1–141
Glover F, Laguna M (1993) Tabu search. In: Reeves CR (ed). Modern heuristic techniques for combinatorial problems. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 70–150
Goldberg DE (1989) Genetic algorithms in search, optimization and machine learning. Addison Wesley, USA Oxford
Goldberg DE, Deb K (1991) A comparison of selection schemes used in genetic algorithms. In: Rawlins GJE. (ed). Foundations of genetic algorithms. Morgan Kaufmann, San Mateo, CA, pp. 69–93
González J, Rojas I, Pomares H, Ortega J, Prieto A (2002) A new clustering technique for function approximation. IEEE Trans Neural Netw 13(1):132–142
Hans AE (1988) Multicriteria optimization for highly accurate systems. In: Stadler W (Ed.), Multicriteria optimization in engineering and sciences, mathematical concepts and methods in science and engineering, vol 19 Plenum Press, New York, pp 309–352
Holland JJ (1975) Adaptation in natural and artificial systems. University of Michigan Press, Canada
Hwang CL, Masud ASM (1979) Multiple objective decision making – methods and applications. vol 164, Lecture notes in economics and mathematical systems. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
IEEE Neural Networks Council (ed.) (1996) In: Proceedings of the 5th IEEE international conference on fuzzy systems, New Orleans, LA
Jang JSR (1993) ANFIS: Adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern 23:665–685
Jang JSR, Sun CT, Mizutani E (1997) Neuro-Fuzzy and soft computing. Prentice–Hall, USA, ISBN 0-13-261066-3
Karayiannis NB, Mi GW (1997) Growing radial basis neural networks: merging supervised and unsupervised learning with network growth techniques. IEEE Trans Neural Netw 8(6):1492–1506
Kirkpatrick S, Gerlatt C, Vecchi M (1983) Optimization by simulated annealing. Science 220:671–680
Mackey MC, Glass L (1977) Oscillation and chaos in physiological control systems. Science. 197(4300):287–289
Michalewicz Z. (1996) Genetic algorithms + data structures = evolution programs. 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Moody JE, Darken CJ (1989) Fast learning in networks of locally-tuned processing units. Neural Computation. 1:281–294
Mouzouris GC, Mendel JM (1996) Designing fuzzy logic systems for uncertain environments using a singular-value-QR decomposition method. In: IEEE neural netw council, pp 295–301
Pareto V (1896) Cours D’Economie Politique. vols I and II, F. Rouge, Lausanne
Patan G, Russo M (2001) The enhanced-LBG algorithm. Neural Netw 14(9):1219–1237
Platt J (1991) A resource allocation network for function interpolation. Neural Comput 3:213–225
Pomares H (2000) Nueva Metodología para el Dise no Automático de Sistemas Difusos (in Spanish). PhD thesis, Universidad de Granada, Spain
Pomares H, Rojas I, González J, Prieto A (2002) Structure identification in complete rule-based fuzzy systems. IEEE Trans Fuzzy Syst 10(3):349–359
Pomares H, Rojas I, Ortega J, González J, Prieto A (2000) A systematic approach to a self-generating fuzzy rule-table for function approximation. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern B 30(3):431–447
Rosipal R, Koska M, Farkaš I (1998) Prediction of chaotic time-series with a resource-allocating RBF network. Neural Process Lett, 7:185–197
Srinivas M, Patnaik LM (1994) Adaptive probabilities of crossover and mutation in genetic algorithms. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern 24(4):656–666
Srinivas N, Dev K (1995) Multiobjective optimization using nondominated sorting in genetic algorithms. Evol Comput 2(3):221–248
Sutanto EL, Masson JD, Warwick K (1997) Mean-tracking clustering algorithm for radial basis function center selection. Int J Contr 67(6):961–977
Wang LX, Langari R (1995) Building sugeno-type models using fuzzy discretization and orthogonal parameter estimation techniques. IEEE Trans Fuzzy Systems 3(4):454–458
Wang LX, Mendel JM (1992) Generating fuzzy rules by learning from examples. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cyber 22(6):1414–1427
Whitehead BA, Choate TD (1996) Cooperative-competitive genetic evolution of radial basis function centers and widths for time series prediction. IEEE Trans Neural Netw 7(4):869–880
Yen J, Wang L (1996) An SVD-based fuzzy model reduction strategy. In: IEEE neural netw council, pp 835–841
Yen J, Wang L (1999) Simplifying fuzzy rule-based models using orthogonal transformation methods. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern B 29(1):13–24
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
González, J., Rojas, I., Pomares, H. et al. Multi-objective evolution of fuzzy systems. Soft Comput 10, 735–748 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-005-0003-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-005-0003-0