The use of temporal Petri nets in the specification and design of systems with safety implications

Abstract This paper considers the use formal techniques based on Petri nets and temporal logic in the specification, design and verification of synchronisation and control logic for an embedded real-time control systems which has safety functions or safety implications. It addresses the problem of specifying a concurrent real-time system in a formal manner and presents an overview of relevant specification techniques. It shows that temporal Petri nets, which combine Petri nets and temporal logic can be used to capture the causal and temporal aspects of a system in a consistent manner. They can also be used to prove both system and safety properties. These techniques are applied to a real-time industrial problem that involves the synchronisation of part of a flexible high-speed manufacturing system.