Petri net models, functional abstractions, and reduction techniques: applications to the design of automated manufacturing systems

The use of generic models in the synthesis of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) systems, which allows for rapid modeling and analysis, does not ease the verification task difficulty. Even though generic modules can be verified separately, the verification of the interconnections between modules requires the whole model to be considered. A potential solution is to replace the generic modules with their functional abstractions which realize the external functional behavior of these modules. The number of places and transitions involved in realizing the required functionality is, typically, a fraction of that used to represent complete components. This reduces the complexity of the components of the modeled system, and thus the complexity of the verification model. The verification task can then focus on the correctness of the interfaces, rather then on the internal nature of the components. This paper presents new results that allow for systematic construction of functional abstractions for a class of Petri net models which can be used to represent the primary components of the automated-guided-vehicle-based FMSs.