Algorithmic Verification of Continuous and Hybrid Systems

We provide a tutorial introduction to reachability computation, a class of computational techniques that exports verification technology toward continuous and hybrid systems. For open under-determined systems, this technique can sometimes replace an infinite number of simulations.Comment: In Proceedings INFINITY 2013, arXiv:1402.661

Target control for hybrid systems with linear continuous dynamics

We consider the target control problem for hybrid systems with linear continuous dynamics. The system is modelled as a hybrid automaton. Control action is applied on the discrete level, while the continuous dynamics is subject to constant or set valued disturbance. The proposed controller ensures that the system can be transferred from any point of an initial set to a target set of the hybrid state space. A control design algorithm based on reachability analysis is proposed. For the implementation of the algorithm, approximate reachability analysis is employed. This involves under-approximation of reachable sets under linear continuous dynamics. The algorithm is applied to a batch control proble

Approximation of reachable sets using optimal control algorithms

To appearInternational audienceNumerical experiences with a method for the approximation of reachable sets of nonlinear control systems are reported. The method is based on the formulation of suitable optimal control problems with varying objective functions, whose discretization by Euler's method lead to finite dimensional non-convex nonlinear programs. These are solved by a sequential quadratic programming method. An efficient adjoint method for gradient computation is used to reduce the computational costs. The discretization of the state space is more efficiently than by usual sequential realization of Euler's method and allows adaptive calculations or refinements. The method is illustrated for two test examples. Both examples have non-linear dynamics, the first one has a convex reachable set, whereas the second one has a non-convex reachable set

LNCS

Despite researchers’ efforts in the last couple of decades, reachability analysis is still a challenging problem even for linear hybrid systems. Among the existing approaches, the most practical ones are mainly based on bounded-time reachable set over-approximations. For the purpose of unbounded-time analysis, one important strategy is to abstract the original system and find an invariant for the abstraction. In this paper, we propose an approach to constructing a new kind of abstraction called conic abstraction for affine hybrid systems, and to computing reachable sets based on this abstraction. The essential feature of a conic abstraction is that it partitions the state space of a system into a set of convex polyhedral cones which is derived from a uniform conic partition of the derivative space. Such a set of polyhedral cones is able to cut all trajectories of the system into almost straight segments so that every segment of a reach pipe in a polyhedral cone tends to be straight as well, and hence can be over-approximated tightly by polyhedra using similar techniques as HyTech or PHAVer. In particular, for diagonalizable affine systems, our approach can guarantee to find an invariant for unbounded reachable sets, which is beyond the capability of bounded-time reachability analysis tools. We implemented the approach in a tool and experiments on benchmarks show that our approach is more powerful than SpaceEx and PHAVer in dealing with diagonalizable systems

A Framework for Worst-Case and Stochastic Safety Verification Using Barrier Certificates

This paper presents a methodology for safety verification of continuous and hybrid systems in the worst-case and stochastic settings. In the worst-case setting, a function of state termed barrier certificate is used to certify that all trajectories of the system starting from a given initial set do not enter an unsafe region. No explicit computation of reachable sets is required in the construction of barrier certificates, which makes it possible to handle nonlinearity, uncertainty, and constraints directly within this framework. In the stochastic setting, our method computes an upper bound on the probability that a trajectory of the system reaches the unsafe set, a bound whose validity is proven by the existence of a barrier certificate. For polynomial systems, barrier certificates can be constructed using convex optimization, and hence the method is computationally tractable. Some examples are provided to illustrate the use of the method