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Modular Supervisory Control with Equivalence-Based Abstraction and Covering-Based Conflict Resolution

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Abstract

A modular approach to control is one way to reduce the complexity of supervisory controller design for discrete-event systems (DES). A problem, however, is that modular supervisors can conflict with one another. This paper proposes requirements on coordinating filters that will resolve this conflict. Abstractions are employed to reduce the complexity of the filter construction. Our specific approach is unique in that it employs a conflict-equivalent abstraction that offers the potential for greater reduction in model size than those abstractions employed in previous works on conflict resolution. The resulting control implemented by the modular supervisors in conjunction with coordinating filters meeting the proposed requirements is shown to be safe and nonblocking. Approaches for constructing these filters are discussed and a methodology that implements deterministic coordinating filter control laws by nondeterministic automata is presented. The covering-based filter law construction methodology presented here is further demonstrated to provide less restrictive control than existing results on state-feedback supervisory control.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their thorough comments that have helped to improve the clarity and accuracy of this paper. The kind assistance of the Associate Editor is also acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI, 48221-3038, USA

    Richard C. Hill

  2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2125, USA

    Dawn M. Tilbury & Stéphane Lafortune

Authors
  1. Richard C. Hill
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  2. Dawn M. Tilbury
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  3. Stéphane Lafortune
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard C. Hill.

Additional information

This work was supported in part by NSF grants CMS-05-28287 and EECS-0624821. The majority of this work was performed while the first author was also with the University of Michigan.

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Hill, R.C., Tilbury, D.M. & Lafortune, S. Modular Supervisory Control with Equivalence-Based Abstraction and Covering-Based Conflict Resolution. Discrete Event Dyn Syst 20, 139–185 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10626-009-0070-y

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