Harnessing Fuzzy Logic

May 10, 2006 == MEDIA ADVISORY

A Calvin senior engineering student had a rare opportunity when he presented a
paper recently on "fuzzy logic" at the 2006 IEEE International
Electro/Information Technology Conference, held May 7-10, at Michigan State
University.

The event was sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE).

Bryan Klingenberg spoke on "Fuzzy Logic for Harmonic Distortion Diagnosis in
Power Systems" at a conference whose keynote speaker was the inventor of fuzzy
logic.

"It is a prestigious conference," says Calvin engineering professor Paulo
Ribeiro. "This was a remarkable opportunity for a student."

Klingenberg, a London, Ontario, native who will graduate May 20, has also
designed a website for teaching fuzzy logic to undergraduates, an effort funded
by the Digital Studio at Calvin.

His current work will be used by Ribeiro in his work on shipboard power
systems for the new class of U.S. Navy ships, sponsored by the Office of Naval
Research.

"Bryan's work is all the more impressive because it is going into industrial
application at the research level right away," Ribeiro says.

Fuzzy logic is a system that uses several inputs, not just one, to make a
decision.

"It functions almost like a human," says Ribeiro. "Our decisions are very
fuzzy. You don't decide I'm going to do this for one simple reason. We are
always thinking in a fuzzy way and making decisions based on multitude of
inputs or data information."

Klingenberg used fuzzy logic to diagnose harmonic distortion in power
systems.

"Harmonic distortions are extra, unwanted oscillations in the signal that can
adversely affect many systems by causing erratic behavior and overheating -
either immediate equipment failure or shortened equipment life," he says. "So,
you have something that's supposed to last for 10 years, and it lasts for five
years, or it will just blow up."

The model devised by Klingenberg uses a fuzzy logic-based controller to
monitor temperature and several harmonic voltage inputs, which indicate the
degree of danger that the system is under.

Klingenberg first worked on fuzzy logic as a project through Ribeiro's class.

For the full story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2005_06/fuzzy_logic.htm

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Received on Wed May 10 11:51:54 2006