Implementation of state transition models in IEC 61499 and its use for recognition and selection of sequences of events and objects

Efficient application of model-based software design methodologies in industrial automation requires methods and tools for automatic code generation. Formal models can be especially useful to avoid ambiguity, to verify and evaluate performance, which ultimately will improve the quality and reliability of the project and lead to lower design costs. This paper proposes methods for implementing state-transition formal models, such as finite state and pushdown automata, as well as extended Petri nets (A-nets) by means of IEC 61499 function blocks. These implementation approaches can be used in the design of industrial cyber-physical systems for monitoring, diagnostics, conformance checking, detection and selection of specified sequences of events and parameterized objects from an input stream. One of the proposed applications is illustrated using an example of an assembly process with LEGO blocks.