towards an integrated system model for testing and verification of automation machines
Models and documents created during the development of automation machines typically can be categorized into mechanics, electronics, and software. The functionality of an automation machine is, however, realized by the interaction of all three of these domains. So no single model covering only one development category will be able to describe the behavior of the machine thoroughly. For early planning of machine design, virtual prototypes, and especially for the formal verification of requirements an integrated functional model of the machine is required. This paper introduces a technique which can be used to model automation machines on an abstract level, including coarse-grained descriptions of mechanics, electronics and software aspects with special focus on modeling domain-specific issues such as material flow and collision response. The resulting models are detailed enough to be simulated or verified but still suitably abstract to allow fast creation and efficient simulation.
modeling automation engineering