Software development tool for object-oriented fuzzy knowledge systems

Applying a fuzzy reasoning concept in an expert system can improve its abilities in approximate reasoning. Embedding an object oriented paradigm into the organization of an expert system can additionally provide richer knowledge representation and reasoning power. A novel fuzzy linguistic object (FLO) model is developed, by which the traditional rule base is replaced by a corpus of fuzzy linguistic objects, and the problem solving process is realized by interactions and inheritances among those objects. Based on the proposed model, a three layered structure including knowledge acquisition layer, object design layer and program design layer is adopted to implement a development tool for fuzzy knowledge systems. In this three layered structure, the user can proceed his design work at any layer, and design information is automatically transformed among layers. An object simulator is also developed to enhance the ability of rapid prototyping. Two case studies were performed to confirm the functions of the proposed development tool.