Fuzzy Logic - How fuzzy is it?

Most of the appliances in our world today have the feature called fuzzy logic. 

But what is actually fuzzy logic?

Fuzzy logic is a rule-based system that can rely on the practical experience of an operator, particularly useful to capture experienced operator knowledge.Fuzzy logic is a form of artificial intelligence software.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (known in the United States as Panasonic, Quasar, and Technics) is the world's largest manufacturer of consumer electronics. In 1990 Masushita introduced a washing machine as the first major consumer appliance to incorporate fuzzy logic. The machine would sense the size of the load and the amount of dirt, and automatically adjust the wash cycle accordingly.

Matsushita (as well as Hitachi) also makes a fuzzy vacuum cleaner that uses an infrared sensor to measure the amount of dust on the floor. The machine then automatically sets the proper level of suction by adjusting the speed of the motor.

Matsushita and Sanyo also make fuzzy rice cookers. (No, they don't cook "fuzzy rice.") These rice cookers allow the user to select between four different kinds of cooked rice: hard, medium, soft, and sushi. Each type requires a different amount of water and a different steaming method. But by utilizing fuzzy logic, the user can simply fill the cooker to a single water level and the device automatically makes the adjustments.

Sanyo, Toshiba, and Sharp all make fuzzy microwave ovens, which sense temperature and humidity, and automatically adjust the cooking power and time. Normally, microwave ovens are either totally "on" (cooking) or totally "off" (not cooking) at any instant of time while they are in operation. (If you set the oven to less than full power and listen carefully, you can actually hear when it goes on and off.) By allowing for intermediate values of "on-ness" more uniform cooking can be achieved.

 

In other words, the fuzzy logic cooker does what a real cook does, using its senses and intuition when it is cooking rice, watching and intervening when necessary to turn heat up or down, and reacting to the kind of rice in the pot, the volume and the time needed.

The above is extracted from Simple Code Work and SFGate