Temporal Logic Control of Switched Affine Systems with an Application in Fuel Balancing

Petter Nilsson, Necmiye Özay, Ufuk Topcu and Richard M. Murray
Submitted, 2012 American Control Conference (ACC)

We consider the problem of synthesizing hier- archical controllers for discrete-time switched affine systems subject to exogenous disturbances that guarantee that the trajectories of the system satisfy a high-level specification expressed as a linear temporal logic formula. Our method builds upon recent results on temporal logic planning and embedded controller synthesis. First, the control problem is lifted to a discrete level by constructing a finite transition system that abstracts the behavior of the underlying switched system. At the discrete level, we recast the problem as a two player temporal logic game by treating the environment driven switches as adversaries. The solution strategy for the game (i.e. the discrete plan) is then implemented at the continuous level by solving finite-horizon optimal control problems that establish reachability between discrete states and that compensate the effects of continuous disturbances. We also extend the earlier work by making efficient use of propositions in the temporal logic formula to drive the abstraction procedure and to facilitate the computation of continuous input at implementation time. An aircraft fuel system example is formulated; and solved using the proposed method. This sample problem demonstrates the applicability of the abstraction procedure and correct-by-construction controllers to regulate the fuel levels in multiple tanks during interesting operations like aerial refueling.

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