A Petri net-based object-oriented approach for the modelling of hybrid productive systems

This paper introduces a new approach for the modelling of hybrid productive systems. This approach is based on Petri net to represent the discrete part, differential equations to describe the continuous part and object-oriented paradigm to deal with the complexity problem in real systems. During the modelling process, the Unified Modelling Language (UML) is used in order to support the description of different aspects and identify different hybrid characteristics of the system. The proposed approach is illustrated using as an example the design of supervisory systems for air-conditioning systems.