Hybrid Automata as Coalgebras

Abstract

Able to simultaneously encode discrete transitions and continuous behaviour, hybrid automata are the de facto framework for the formal specification and analysis of hybrid systems. The current paper revisits hybrid automata from a coalgebraic point of view. This allows to interpret them as state-based components, and provides a uniform theory to address variability in their definition, as well as the corresponding notions of behaviour, bisimulation, and observational semantics.