SENSE: Abstraction-Based Synthesis of Networked Control Systems
This addresses the need for automated, correct-by-construction controller synthesis in networked control systems, which is incremental as it builds on existing symbolic model techniques but adds specific tool implementation and code generation capabilities.
The authors tackled the problem of synthesizing controllers for networked control systems (NCS) with complex specifications like linear temporal logic, by developing the tool SENSE that constructs finite abstractions using binary decision diagrams (BDDs) and automatically generates correct-by-construction controllers, handling non-idealities in communication channels and producing implementable code in VHDL/Verilog or C/C++.
While many studies and tools target the basic stabilizability problem of networked control systems (NCS), nowadays modern systems require more sophisticated objectives such as those expressed as formulae in linear temporal logic or as automata on infinite strings. One general technique to achieve this is based on so-called symbolic models, where complex systems are approximated by finite abstractions, and then, correct-by-construction controllers are automatically synthesized for them. We present tool SENSE for the construction of finite abstractions for NCS and the automated synthesis of controllers. Constructed controllers enforce complex specifications over plants in NCS by taking into account several non-idealities of the communication channels. Given a symbolic model of the plant and network parameters, SENSE can efficiently construct a symbolic model of the NCS, by employing operations on binary decision diagrams (BDDs). Then, it synthesizes symbolic controllers satisfying a class of specifications. It has interfaces for the simulation and the visualization of the resulting closed-loop systems using OMNETPP and MATLAB. Additionally, SENSE can generate ready-to-implement VHDL/Verilog or C/C++ codes from the synthesized controllers.