Microcontroller-Based Process Monitoring Using Petri-Nets

This paper considers the development of a Petri-net-based modelling tool as a mechanism for process and system monitoring. The use of Petri-nets, which has previously been largely based in the areas of systems modelling and simulation, is shown here to have great potential for deployment as a process monitoring and management application. Interfacing with real-world processes has been achieved in part by introducing a specific set of extensions to the original Petri-net concept. This work has resulted in the engineering of a tool that can be embedded within the process using a microcontroller platform. The potential for such systems to provide low cost, yet powerful process management tools, is becoming increasingly evident, particularly given the ever-improving capabilities of microcontrollers.