Timed discrete event control of a parallel production line with continuous output

In this paper we present an approach to formulate and solve certain scheduling tasks using timed discrete event control methods. To demonstrate our approach, we consider a special class of systems: a cyclically operated chemical plant with parallel reactors using common resources and a continuous output. This problem was motivated by a benchmark proposed within the EU Network of Excellence HYCON. For this class of systems, we show how to pose the control problem within a discrete event framework by modelling system components as multirate timed automata. Safety and nonblocking are investigated. These properties have to be achieved in the presence of a class of bounded errors/disturbances.