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Synthesis of Controllers of Processes Modeled as Colored Petri Nets

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Abstract

This paper presents an adaptation of a supervisory control theory and a supervisor synthesis problem to a class of colored Petri nets. More specifically, the forbidden state control problem with full observation, in which a discrete-event system is modeled as a colored Petri net with a symmetry specification, is investigated. This problem is decidable if the colored Petri net has finite color sets and bounded places. A new algorithm for deriving a controller is presented in detail with a proof of correctness. Unlike conventional algorithms that explore the entire reachable set of states, our algorithm avoids an exhaustive search of the state space by exploiting a symmetry specification. It performs particularly well when applied to large but structured processes with similar components. Furthermore, this approach leads to a representation of controllers which are smaller than those obtained with automaton-based approaches.

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Makungu, M., Barbeau, M. & St-Denis, R. Synthesis of Controllers of Processes Modeled as Colored Petri Nets. Discrete Event Dynamic Systems 9, 147–169 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008371814442

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