The Stratic Defuzzifier for Discretised General Type-2 Fuzzy Sets

Stratification is a feature of the type-reduced set of the general type-2 fuzzy set, from which a new technique for general type-2 defuzzification, Stratic Defuzzification, may be derived. Existing defuzzification strategies are summarised. The stratified structure is described, after which the Stratic Defuzzifier is presented and contrasted experimentally for accuracy and efficiency with both the Exhaustive Method of Defuzzification (to benchmark accuracy) and the alpha-Planes/Karnik–Mendel Iterative Procedure strategy, employing 5, 11, 21, 51 and 101 alpha-planes. The Stratic Defuzzifier is shown to be much faster than the Exhaustive Defuzzifier. In fact the Stratic Defuzzifier and the alpha-Planes/Karnik–Mendel Iterative Procedure Method are comparably speedy; the speed of execution correlates with the number of planes participating in the defuzzification process. The accuracy of the Stratic Defuzzifier is shown to be excellent. It is demonstrated to be more accurate than the alpha-Planes/Karnik–Mendel Iterative Procedure Method in four of six test cases, regardless of the number of -planes employed. In one test case, it is less accurate than the alpha-Planes/Karnik–Mendel Iterative Procedure Method, regardless of the number of alpha-planes employed. In the remaining test case, the alpha-Planes/Karnik–Mendel Iterative Procedure Method with 11 alpha-Planes gives the most accurate result, with the Stratic Defuzzifier coming second.