Petri nets are a well-known formalism to model, analysis and design of discrete event systems as well as hybrid systems. Systems that are characterized as being concurrent, asynchronous, distributed, parallel, nondeterministic, and/or stochastic can be naturally studied by means of Petri nets. As a graphical tool, Petri nets can be used as a visual-communication aid similar to flow charts, block diagrams, and networks. In addition, tokens are used in these nets to simulate the dynamic and concurrent activities of systems. As a mathematical tool, it is possible to set up state equations, algebraic equations, and other mathematical models governing the behavior of systems.
The objective of this special session is to gather original and recent approaches and applications that are based on Petri nets. The goal is to share new methods for control, identification, state estimation, etc., that can be applied in practical systems including manufacturing, logistic, transportation, communication, robotics, healthcare systems and to present interesting applications, case studies and tools.