Modeling and simulation of the two-tank system within a hybrid framework

Abstract

Most real-world dynamical systems are often involving continuous behaviors and discrete events, in this case, they are called hybrid dynamical systems (HDSs). To properly model this kind of systems, it is necessary to consider both the continuous and the discrete aspects of its dynamics. In this paper, a modeling framework based on the hybrid automata (HA) approach is proposed. This hybrid modeling framework allows combining the multi-state models of the system, described by nonlinear differential equations, with the system’s discrete dynamics described by finite state machines. To attest to the efficiency of the proposed modeling framework, its application to a two-tank hybrid system (TTHS) is presented. The TTHS studied is a typical benchmark for HDSs with four operating modes. The MATLAB Simulink and Stateflow tools are used to implement and simulate the hybrid model of the TTHS. Different simulations results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed modeling framework, which allows us to appropriately have a complete model of an HDS.