Improving the Fuzzy Min–Max neural network performance with an ensemble of clustering trees

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, an ensemble of clustering trees (ECTs) is adopted to improve the performance of the Fuzzy Min–Max (FMM) network with individual clustering trees. The key advantage of combining FMM and ECT together is to formulate an accurate and useful learning model that is able to perform online clustering and to explain its predictions. The online clustering capability is inherited from the FMM hyperboxes, while the explanatory capability arises from the underlying decision trees of ECT. Four different mean measures, namely harmonic, geometric, arithmetic, and root mean square, are incorporated into FMM for computing its hyperbox centroids. A series of benchmark and real-world data sets are used for evaluating the FMM-ECT performance. The results are analyzed and compared with those from other models. The outcomes indicate that FMM-ECT is able to achieve comparable clustering performances, with the advantage of providing explanations of its predictions using a decision tree.