Extended Place-Invariant Control in Automated Manufacturing Systems Using Petri Nets

Abstract

In supervisory control of Petri nets (PNs), the place-invariant ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -invariant) control principle is the most typical and principal method to deal with the siphon control problem. Although it has a relatively narrow application, this principle is widely acknowledged due to its simplicity and efficiency. In this article, we first propose the extended <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -invariant control principle in order to extend the application of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -invariants and provide a general methodology for the control of siphons. Second, three types of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -invariants, from the special to the general, are developed to implicitly or explicitly invariant control the siphons. In the most general case, the virtual <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -invariants are constructed in the PNs. Third, the extended principle is further applied to the supervisor simplification. In the paradigm of the extended principle, it presents the redundancy from a structural perspective in contrast to several typical methods, and shows the significant importance of structural analysis in PNs, especially the important role of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -invariants. As a consequence, the extended <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -invariant control principle can be considered as the fundamental principle of siphon control as well as its supervisor simplification.