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Feature Extraction Using Rough Set Theor

1. The document proposes an integrated feature extraction approach based on rough set theory and genetic algorithms to simplify product quality evaluation. 2. It develops a prototype feature extraction system that combines the ability of rough set theory to handle uncertain data with the robust search capabilities of genetic algorithms. 3. The results show the system can remarkably reduce the cost and time of product quality evaluation without compromising test specifications.

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68 views3 pages

Feature Extraction Using Rough Set Theor

1. The document proposes an integrated feature extraction approach based on rough set theory and genetic algorithms to simplify product quality evaluation. 2. It develops a prototype feature extraction system that combines the ability of rough set theory to handle uncertain data with the robust search capabilities of genetic algorithms. 3. The results show the system can remarkably reduce the cost and time of product quality evaluation without compromising test specifications.

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Teddy Bubs
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Computers & Industrial Engineering 43 (2002) 661–676

www.elsevier.com/locate/dsw

Feature extraction using rough set theory and genetic algorithms—


an application for the simplification of product quality evaluation
Lian-Yin Zhai*, Li-Pheng Khoo, Sai-Cheong Fok
School of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore,
Singapore 639798

Abstract
Feature extraction is an important aspect in data mining and knowledge discovery. In this paper an integrated
feature extraction approach, which is based on rough set theory and genetic algorithms (GAs), is proposed. Based
on this approach, a prototype feature extraction system has been established and illustrated in an application for the
simplification of product quality evaluation. The prototype system successfully integrates the capability of rough
set theory in handling uncertainty with a robust search engine, which is based on a GA. The results show that it can
remarkably reduce the cost and time consumed on product quality evaluation without compromising the overall
specifications of the acceptance tests. q 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Feature extraction; Rough set; Genetic algorithm; Knowledge extraction

1. Introduction

Feature extraction from large-scale empirical data is an important research area in data mining.
Feature extraction is of great importance to help humans earn necessary knowledge about a
specific part of a real or abstract world and further use the knowledge to make sound decisions.
With the rapid development of information storage technology, a huge amount of data about a
certain object can be stored and kept for later analysis. However, not all the data collected are
useful or informative. In the evaluation of the quality of a part/component produced by a
manufacturing system, a lot of parameters about the part/component are measured and stored.
The operators will have to look through all the data to ascertain the quality of the
part/component produced during product quality evaluation. This kind of job is normally
monotonous and tedious, and will remarkably reduce productivity. Under such a situation, a
feature extraction technique can help discover those important parameters that best describe the

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (L.-Y. Zhai), [email protected] (L.-P. Khoo), [email protected] (S.-C. Fok).

0360-8352/02/$ - see front matter q 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 6 0 - 8 3 5 2 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 3 1 - 6
662 L.-Y. Zhai et al. / Computers & Industrial Engineering 43 (2002) 661–676

target object and thus can simplify the test procedure. Hence, to some extent, feature extraction
can be viewed as a pre-pruning process to choose a small subset of features that is necessary and
sufficient to describe target concepts. The importance of feature extraction in a broader sense is
not only to reduce the search space, but also to speed up the process of both concept learning
and the classification of objects and also to improve the quality of classification (Kira & Rendell,
1992).
In recent decades, many techniques have been developed to deal with feature extraction
issues, among which include stepwise backward/forward techniques (James, 1985; Modrze-
jewski, 1993), dynamic programming (Chang, 1973), branch and bound algorithm (Narendra &
Fukunaga, 1977), and so on. These methods have different strengths and drawbacks, based on
the specific feature extraction criterion. However, most of these methods may not be
applicable for extracting significant features from incomplete/imprecise data. This is an
important issue as, in reality, due to various reasons empirical data often have the property of
granularity and may be incomplete, imprecise, or even conflicting. For example, in diagnosing
a machine in a manufacturing system, the opinions of two engineers can be different, or even
contradicting.
The ability to handle imprecise and inconsistent information has become one of the most
important requirements for a feature extraction system. Many theories, techniques and algorithms
have been developed to deal with the analysis of imprecise or inconsistent data. The most
successful ones are based on fuzzy set theory and the Dempster – Shafer theory of evidence.
Rough set theory, which was introduced by Pawlak (1982) in the early 1980s, is a new
mathematical tool that can be employed to handle uncertainty and vagueness. It focuses on the
discovery of patterns in inconsistent data (Pawlak, 1996; Slowinski & Stefanowski, 1989) and can
be used as the basis to perform formal reasoning under uncertainty, machine learning and rule
discovery (Yao, Wong, & Lin, 1997; Ziarko, 1994). Compared to other approaches in handling
uncertainty, rough set theory has its unique advantages (Pawlak, 1996, 1997). It does not require
any preliminary or additional information about the empirical training data such as probability
distributions in statistics; the basic probability assignment in the Dempster – Shafer theory of
evidence; or grades of membership in fuzzy set theory (Pawlak, 1992). Besides, rough set theory
is more appropriate in situations where the set of empirical or experimental data is too small to
employ standard statistical methods (Pawlak, 1991). In less than two decades, rough set theory
has rapidly established itself in many real-life applications such as medical diagnosis (Slowinski,
1992), control algorithm acquisition and process control (Mrozek, 1992) and structural
engineering (Arciszewski & Ziarko, 1990). Currently, most work on inductive learning or
classification using rough set theory is limited to binary-concept, such as yes or no in decision
making or positive or negative in the classification of objects.
Concept learning is another important issue in feature extraction. In this aspect, genetic algorithms
(GAs) have received much attention from researchers working on machine learning (Goldberg, 1989).
Basically, GA-based techniques take advantage of the unique robust search engine of GAs to extract
useful information or knowledge from its search space. This paper describes a prototype feature
extraction system for simplifying the product quality evaluation process. It is based on a hybrid
technique that combines the strengths of rough set theory and GAs. In the following sections, the basic
notions of rough set theory and GAs are presented. Details of the feature extraction system and its
validation are also described.

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