Type-2 fuzzy multi-intersection traffic signal control with differential evolution optimization

• A type-2 fuzzy control method optimized by differential evolution is proposed.
• The rule bases and membership functions of type-2 FLC are optimized by turns.
• The proposed method is applied to an eleven-intersection traffic network.
• Phase sequences and left-turning vehicles are also been considered.
• The communication among intersections is implemented by multi-agent system.

This paper proposes a multi-agent type-2 fuzzy logic control (FLC) method optimized by differential evolution (DE) for multi-intersection traffic signal control. Type-2 fuzzy sets can deal with models’ uncertainties efficiently because of its three-dimensional membership functions, but selecting suitable parameters of membership functions and rule base is not easy. DE is adopted to decide the parameters in the type-2 fuzzy system, as it is easy to understand, simple to implement and possesses low space complexity. In order to avoid the computational complexity, the expert rule base and the parameters of membership functions (MF) are optimized by turns. An eleven-intersection traffic network is studied in which each intersection is governed by the proposed controller. A secondary layer controller is set in every intersection to select the proper phase sequence. Furthermore, the communication among the adjacent intersections is implemented using multi-agent system. Simulation experiments are designed to compare communicative type-2 FLC optimized by DE with type-1 FLC, fixed-time signal control, etc. Experimental results indicate that our proposed method can enhance the vehicular throughput rate and reduce delay, queue length and parking rate efficiently.