In: IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 16, No. 4, pages 382-399. 2000.
Abstract: The paper considers first-order hybrid Petri nets, a model that consists of continuous places holding fluid, discrete places containing a nonnegative number of tokens, and transitions, either discrete or continuous. A linear algebraic formalism to study the first-order continuous behavior of this model is proposed and it is shown how its control can be framed as a conflict resolution policy that aims at optimizing a given objective function. The use of linear algebra leads to sensitivity analysis that allows one to study of how changes in the structure of the model influence the optimal behavior. As an example of application, the proposed formalism is applied to flexible manufacturing systems with arbitrary layout and different classes of products.
Keywords: flexible manufacturing systems, hybrid Petri nets, performance evaluation, sensitivity analysis.