Hybrid Systems Modeling and Control

Hybrid systems can switch between many operating modes where each mode is governed by its own characteristic dynamical laws. Mode transitions are triggered by variables crossing specific thresholds (state events), by the lapse of certain time periods (time events), or by external inputs (input events). A simple example of a hybrid system would be a car. The dynamics of the car switch when a gear shift occurs, either because the driver moves the stick shift (input event) or because the state variable “speed” exceeds a specified threshold (state event) in the case of an automatic transmission. A hybrid system can have both continuous and discrete states. If a digital computer (with discrete states only) is used to control a physical system (typically