Zone logic for knowledge-based control: formalization and applications

The use of modal and temporal logic coupled with a qualitative calculus in extending zone logic is investigated. It is shown that these concepts can be used in conjunction with the zone-logic approach to system modeling to establish a knowledge-based control structure consisting of two levels. The lower zone-logic-based level would drive the control effort at the subsystem level, trapping errors and automatically changing subsystem states in response to external stimuli and command inputs from the higher planning level. The planning level would make use of temporal and modal concepts as well as a qualitative calculus in reasoning about the system model represented in the lower level