FINITE AUTOMATA FROM FIRST-PRINCIPLE MODELS: COMPUTATION OF MIN AND MAX TRANSITION TIMES

Abstract Supervisory control schemes of (complex) plants utilize different forms of automata or related structures such as Petri-nets. Empirical, knowledge-based mapping of the plant's operation into such a structure cannot be complete or correct. These automata can be computed by a model-based approach, which guarantees completeness and correctness within the limits of the given model. The result is a non-deterministic automaton (Philips 2001), which however contains no information about the range of transition time that may be expected. This information would be extremely useful for the design of the derived operational procedures such as supervisory controllers on all levels and fault detection and fault isolation schemes. The problem has been formulated several times in the past, for example (Kowalewsky 1999, Engell 1997). Here a solution to the problem is described, which applies to plants generating a monotone flow field for constant inputs.