Application of fuzzy logic to engineering design and configuration problems-a survey

During the last decade, fuzzy logic was successfully used to solve real world problems, in particular in engineering, management, medicine, traffic, etc. Technologies such as fuzzy control, fuzzy data analysis, and fuzzy multi-criteria decision analysis have been developed and used to solve many important applications. However, there is only a small number of approaches published dealing with the application of fuzzy logic to engineering design problems. On the other hand, dealing with imprecision in design is very important, because the design process might be viewed as a process of reducing imprecision iteratively. We describe and compare three alternative approaches to fuzzy engineering design and configuration: a method of imprecision and design; a method which deals with imprecise user requirements in order to construct or to select an optimal design-artifact; and a fuzzy multi-criteria decision making approach.