Worldwide R&D Activities:

Around the world, particularly in Japan, intense work is being conducted in the field of fuzzy logic. One of the centres of Japanese activity is the LIFE ( Laboratory for International Fuzzy Engineering Research) institute in Yokohama. Modelled after the Fifth Generation Institute, the LIFE institute not only enjoys an annual budget of $10 million but also has many industrial member companies, including Canon, Fuji, Hitachi, Matsushita Electric, Mistubshi Electric, IBM Japan and Thomson Japan.

According to Machio Sugeno, professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, the fuzzy computer will not replace a digital computer but will be better suited to solving real world management and decision problems that must be tackled on a grand scale. Mr Sugeno heads a five year, $44 million project, a joint venture between universities and companies devoted to basic research on fuzzy logic. In addition, several universities as well as companies are pursuing their own extensive activities in this area.

While Japanese companies have so far largely restricted themselves to their domestic market, they are now attempting to gain foothold in the European market with fuzzy controlled products. More than50 Japanese companies are developing fuzzy applications, and two multi million dollar consortia backed by the biggest corporations in Japanese technology have been formed to further the research work. In the US the aerospace industry chiefly Boeing and NASA have shown the greatest interest in the field of fuzzy control systems. In Germany, as in the rest of Europe, research in fuzzy control is being pursued.