Supervisory control of hybrid systems

In this paper, the supervisory control of hybrid systems is introduced and discussed at length. Such control systems typically arise in the computer c ontrol of continuous processes, for example, in manufacturing and chemical processes, in transporation systems,and in communication networks. A functi onal architecture of hybrid control systems consisting of a continuous plan t, a discrete-event controller, and an interface is used to introduce and d escribe analysis and synthesis concepts and approaches. Our approach highli ghts the interaction between the continous and discrete dynamics, which is the cornerstone of any hybrid system study. Discrete abstractions are used to approximate the continous plant. Properties of the discrete abstractions to be appropriate representations of the continous plant are presented, an d important concepts such as determinism and controllability are discussed. Supervisory control design methodologies are presented to satisfy control specification described by formal languages. Several examples are used thro ughout the paper to illustrate our approach.