G.J.: Hierarchical synthesis of hybrid controllers from temporal logic specifications

Abstract. In this paper, the problem of synthesizing a hybrid controller for a specification expressed as a temporal logic formula φ is considered. We propose a hierarchical approach which consists of three steps. First, the plant to be controlled is abstracted to a fully actuated system. Using the notion of approximate simulation relation, we design a continuous interface allowing the plant to track the trajectories of its abstraction with a guaranteed precision δ. The second step, which is also the main contribution of this paper, consists in deriving a more robust specifica-tion φ ′ from the temporal logic formula φ such that given a trajectory satisfying φ′, any other trajectory remaining within distance δ satisfies φ. Third, we design a hybrid controller for the abstraction such that all its trajectories satisfy the robust specification φ′. Then, the trajectories of the plant satisfy the original specification. An application to the control of a second order model of a planar robot in a polygonal environment is considered.