A fuzzy expert system shell: From minicomputer to PC

An expert system shell (SYSTEM Z-II) based on fuzzy logic and numbers was built in a minicomputer environment. Z-II wss proved to be a successful and powerful expert system building tool because it can handle both exact and inexact reasoning. Its third generation, Z-III, is developed in a PC environment and includes some new enhancement features compared to Z-II. In this paper, the development process of Z-III is described. Two medical expert systems in the field of obstetrics have been built successfully using Z-III. A comparative performance evaluation between Z-II and Z-III using a third expert system is given. It is concluded that the implementation of Z-III in a PC environment is not only feasible but also increases user-friendliness and availability of such expert system shells.