A fast clustering algorithm for evolving fuzzy classifier based on samples mean

Abstract

Evolving models have shown great success in processing non-stationary data that change their characteristics over time. Motivated by elaborating a high-performance model for data classification, the present work proposes a new evolving fuzzy classifier. The proposed model, named evolving Fuzzy Mean Classifier (eFMC), has a low computational cost and is autonomous, i.e., no has user-defined parameters. The eFMC is based on fuzzy clustering structures, where the membership degree between the samples and the clusters is used to obtain the output. In the proposed approach, each class is represented by a cluster, and new clusters are created whenever a new class is discovered. The centers of the clusters are updated through the sample’s means calculated incrementally. Computational experiments were carried out to evaluate and compare the performance of the eFMC in terms of accuracy and processing time. Experimental results and comparisons against alternative state-of-the-art evolving classifiers show that the eFMC is accurate and fast, characteristics essential for adaptive classifiers, especially in online and real-time environments.