In: Computer Science
Consider the following circuit to control a moving walkway. Every 2 seconds, the circuit examines two weight sensors and decides if the walkway will travel Northward or Southward or be turned off. There is a weight sensor in the North half of the walkway and a weight sensor in the South half of the walkway. If both sensors detect zero weight, the walkway is turned off. If the walkway is off and both sensors detect weight, the walkway remains off. If the walkway is off and one of the sensors detects a weight, the walkway starts moving in the opposite direction, i.e., if the North weight sensor detects a weight, the walkway starts moving Southward. Once the walkway is in motion, it retains that motion until both weight sensors detect zero weight.
a) What are the states for the circuit controlling the walkway?
b) What are the inputs to the circuit and what values can those inputs have?
c) Draw the finite state table and finite state diagram for this circuit.
d) Identify one example scenario where you would want the circuit's behavior to be different from what is specified above.