Synthesizing Control Code for Achieving State Targets in Composed Systems

This paper considers the problem of control synthesis for a class of discrete event systems composed of subsystems interacting through condition signals. The control objective is specified as a sequence of condition sets, and the purpose of control synthesis is to determine input signals to drive the composed system through a series of states that satisfies the given specification. The synthesis method developed builds up the control law by considering the system in layers. At each layer, a more detailed specification of the control objective is formulated, until the final result is a specification that fully defines the control actions for the system. The resulting specification is then automatically converted into a program for Programmable Logic Controllers. 1. Introduction and Motivation Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are commonly used for control of industrial equipment. These controllers primarily operate by sensing discrete (binary) signals from the process, and generat..