Specification and Synthesis of Hybrid Automata for Physics-Based Animation

Physics-based animation programs can often be modeled in terms of hybrid automata. A hybrid automaton includes both discrete and continuous dynamical variables. The discrete variables define the automaton's modes of behavior. The continuous variables are governed by mode-dependent differential equations. This paper describes a system for specifying and automatically synthesizing physics-based animation programs based on hybrid automata. The system presents a program developer with a family of parameterized specification schemata. Each scheme describes a pattern of behavior as a hybrid automaton passes through a sequence of modes. The developer specifies a program by selecting one or more schemata and supplying application-specific instantiation parameters for each of them. Each scheme is associated with a set of axioms in a logic of hybrid automata. The axioms serve to document the semantics of the specification scheme. Each scheme is also associated with a set of implementation ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: KBSE
• Authors: Thomas Ellman
• Keywords: Animation Programs, Hybrid Automata, KBSE 2003, Physics-based Animation, Software Engineering