Continuous action systems as a model for hybrid systems

Abstract

Action systems have been used successfully to describe discrete systems, i.e., systems with discrete control acting upon a discrete state space. In this paper we define continuous action systems that extend the action system approach to also model hybrid systems, i.e., systems with discrete control over a continuously evolving state. The semantics of continuous action systems is defined in terms of traditional action systems and their properties are proved using standard action systems proof techniques. We describe the essential features of continuous action systems, show that they can be used to describe a diverse range of hybrid systems and illustrate the framework by a collection of examples.