Fuzzy logic has been a laboratory toy in the US since the early 1970s, but while the US has treated it as an interesting toy and Europe has virtually ignored it, Japan Inc has picked up the ball and run so fast with it that it has a lead of many leagues. In Japan, your washing machine or your vacuum cleaner uses fuzzy logic to adjust its settings according to what it’s being asked to clean, and domestic appliances don’t sell any more unless they have that warm fuzziness about them. Fuzzy logic is finding its way into more critical applications in factory automation and process control in Japan too, with the programs increasingly embedded in the microcontrollers at the heart of the control system. Now, reports Electronic World News, SGS-Thomson Microelectronics NV has woken up to the fact that Europe should have a presence in the technology, and has embarked on a five-year $30m research programme to develop fuzzy logic hardware, seeing the market reaching $1,000m by 1995. The motor industry is clearly an important new area of application, and Fiat SpA is said to be studying the application of fuzzy logic to engine controls. SGS-Thomson is working on a high-end fuzzy logic co-processor for use as an accelerator for expert systems running on workstations, and two low-end devices for embedding into appliance controllers – a digital device that uses fuzzy logic software and a hybrid circuit that includes dedicated fuzzy logic hardware using analogue memories. And, as in all its other activities these days, SGS-Thomson is seeking partners – in this case specifically ones in the software field that can come up with the appropriate fuzzy develop ment tools and environment.
