Type-2 FLCs: A New Generation of Fuzzy Controllers

Type-1 fuzzy logic controllers (FLCs) have been applied to date with great success to many different applications. However, for dynamic unstructured environments and many real-world applications, there is a need to cope with large amounts of uncertainties. The traditional type-1 FLC using crisp type-1 fuzzy sets cannot directly handle such uncertainties. A type-2 FLC using type-2 fuzzy sets can handle such uncertainties to produce a better performance. Hence, type-2 FLCs will have the potential to overcome the limitations of type-1 FLCs and produce a new generation of fuzzy controllers with improved performance for many applications, which require handling high levels of uncertainty. This paper introduces briefly the interval type-2 FLC and its benefits. We also present briefly the type-2 FLC application to three challenging domains: industrial control, mobile robots control and ambient intelligent environments control.