The Optimization of Logical Goal-seeking Procedures†
A. PORTER, Peter K. T. Vaswani · Journal of Electronics and Control · 1959
The property of decision-taking is basic in all types of control systems, and the goal-seeking characteristic of such systems can be considered as a direct consequence of this decision-taking capability. The difficulty of optimizing goal-seeking procedures in systems ill which the rules, or constraints, are based on two-valued logical statements is discussed. In the present study it is shown that if the variables in a particular system, and the corresponding rules of behaviour, can be expressed in terms of a many-valued logic, a function, called the measure function, can be defined which provides a crude method of optimizing the goal-seeking process. The approach is essentially empirical. A high-speed computer is used to study selected 10-valued logical problems. The main object of the paper is to stimulate interest amongst control specialists in the possibility of applying many-valued logics in the control of complex processes.