Fuzzy Logic

Our hundred dollar twin tub washer from China died after a mere six months of operation - the spinner motor burned out. We looked at American washers at Ace Hardware, but the six hundred dollar base price was too steep for the family. The only other washers on the island were some Taiwanese AW-B707A washing machines for half as much money.
The panel is completely in the traditional Chinese character set.
Fortunately the manufacturer, Toshiba, makes an almost identical machine for the Malaysian market for which there is a downloadable manual with English button labels. With the twin tub machines one tub is the washer and the other is the spinning tub. Doing laundry means babysitting the washing machine, moving clothes from the washer after the wash cycle to spin, then back in order to rinse, and again back to the spinning tub for a final spin.

The new washing machine uses fuzzy logic and some form of stepper motor to make decisions. The machine first measures the torque necessary to turn the tub, which the machine then translates into the appropriate amount of water and wash time. In the image above the washer has correctly deduced that it is a half full and only needs 34 liters of water, not a a full 45 liters of water.

Even the spin cycle is monitored as the machine gauges and changes the spin speed during the spin cycle.

Not that my wife likes the machine. When you grow up babysitting washing machines, this new all automatic machine simply puts labor out of a job. While my wife may be out of a babysitting job, my son and I like to sit and watch the new washer making decisions on what to do next. The new machine is better than watching television these days.

Speaking of fuzzy logic, here are two more examples of fuzzy logic out analyzing fish on the reef.
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