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Extending Formal Modeling for Resilient Systems Design
Author(s) -
Madni Azad M.,
Sievers Michael,
Madni Ayesha,
Ordoukhanian Edwin,
Pouya Parisa
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
insight
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2156-4868
pISSN - 2156-485X
DOI - 10.1002/inst.12210
Subject(s) - computer science , flexibility (engineering) , resilience (materials science) , construct (python library) , probabilistic logic , distributed computing , formal methods , formal verification , reliability engineering , software engineering , theoretical computer science , artificial intelligence , engineering , programming language , statistics , physics , mathematics , thermodynamics
Resilience is a much‐needed characteristic in systems that are expected to operate in uncertain environments for extended periods with a high likelihood of disruptive events. Resilience approaches today employ ad hoc methods and piece‐meal solutions that are difficult to verify and test, and do not scale. Furthermore, it is difficult to assess the long‐term impact of such ad hoc “resilience solutions.” This paper presents a flexible contract‐based approach that employs a combination of formal methods for verification and testing and flexible assertions and probabilistic modelling to handle uncertainty during mission execution. A flexible contract (FC) is a hybrid modelling construct that facilitates system verification and testing while offering the requisite flexibility to cope with non‐determinism. This paper illustrates the use of FCs for multi‐UAV swarm control in, partially observable, dynamic environments. However, the approach is sufficiently general for use in other domains such as self‐driving vehicle and adaptive power/energy grids.