Accessing Databases Within Esterel.

A current limitation of the Esterel language for reactive-systems design is its lack of support for accessing databases. This talk presents the results of a summer student project which investigated a way of integrating databases and Esterel by providing an API for database use inside Esterel. A case study, involving a warehouse storage system built using Lego Mindstorms robotics kits, demonstrates the utility of the API. This system employs an Esterel-programmed robot whose task it is to collect various items from a customer's order and assemble them in one place. To do so, the robot accesses customer-order data and floor-plan data stored in a database.