Supervisor localisation for large-scale discrete-event systems under partial observation

Abstract

ABSTRACTRecently we developed partial-observation supervisor localisation, a top-down approach to distributed control of discrete-event systems (DES) under partial observation. Its essence is the decomposition of the partial-observation monolithic supervisor into partial-observation local controllers for individual controllable events. In this paper, we extend the partial-observation supervisor localisation to large-scale DES, for which the monolithic supervisor may be incomputable. Specifically, we first employ an efficient heterarchical supervisor synthesis procedure to compute a heterarchical array of partial-observation decentralised supervisors and partial-observation coordinators. Then, we localise each of these supervisors/coordinators into partial-observation local controllers. This procedure suggests a systematic approach to the distributed control of large-scale DES under partial observation. The results are illustrated by a system of automatic guided vehicles serving a manufacturing workcell.