Application of functional abstractions to verification of flexible manufacturing systems modelled using Petri nets

A number of Petri net models (generic modules) of typical components of AGV-based FMSs were previously proposed by the authors (1989). In this paper they discuss some aspects of modeling and implementation of the generic modules and their functional abstractions. It is pointed out that the availability of generic modules and their functional abstractions allows for models of complex FMSs to be assembled quickly and then analyzed. The complexity of the verification models is reduced by using functional abstractions of the constituent modules. The modeling effort can primarily concentrate on the model structure and not on its components. Since the generic modules represent only invariant functional properties of the proposed components of AGV-based FMSs, the details of these modules have to be defined by the user. This can be done either by using the stepwise refinement techniques or by suitable generic modules