Hierarchical distributed controllers - design and verification

Design and verification of distributed controllers according to the IEC 61499 standard are major issues for automation industry today. In this paper we introduce an enhanced development of the hierarchical control approach by means of a multi-layered architecture including distributed master controllers as a layered composition. A main focus in that control design is the high reusability of the controllers. We further address formal approaches to verify this control architecture in a hierarchical way as well. Therefore, we use the previously introduced methods of automation objects, which are a subject of work for many research groups nowadays.