Stateflow (developed by MathWorks) is a control logic tool used to model reactive systems via state machines and flow charts within a Simulink model. Stateflow uses a variant of the finite-state machine notation established by David Harel, enabling the representation of hierarchy, parallelism and history within a state chart.[ MATLAB Tech Talks on the basics and usage of state machines][ Simulation of Hybrid Systems Using Stateflow] Stateflow also provides state transition tables and truth tables.
Common uses
Stateflow is generally used to specify the discrete controller in the model of a
hybrid system where the continuous dynamics (i.e., the behavior of the plant and environment) are specified using Simulink.
[ Orion GN&C MATLAB/Simulink/Stateflow Standards]
Specific applications for Stateflow include:
Extensions
A number of MathWorks and third-party tools can be used with Stateflow to validate the design and generate code. For example, Simulink Verification and Validation, a MathWorks tool, can be used to check for requirements traceability and model coverage analysis. Other add-on code generation tools can be used to automatically generate C, C++, HDL, and PLC code for implementation on embedded systems.