IFAC Technical Committee 1.3 focuses on the analysis and control of Discrete Event Systems (DES) and Hybrid Systems (HS).
Discrete event systems are characterized by a countable and possibly non-numerical state space. The asynchronous occurrence of discrete events causes a change of state, thus determing a piece-wise constant state trajectory. Man-made systems with a finite number of resources shared by several users typify such DES.
Hybrid Systems combine event-driven dynamics with conventional time-driven dynamics. As such, they encompass a larger class of systems within their structure, allowing for more flexibility in modeling dynamic phenomena.
Problems of interest in this context include modelling and analysis, controller and observer synthesis, optimization, verification and fault diagnosis. Approaches include algebraic methods (queueing theory, perturbation analysis, etc.) and logical relationships based on formal languages (Petri nets, etc.) Applications include manufacturing systems, computer and communications networks, traffic control, and command-control systems.
