This thesis describes a new approach for developing large-scale object- oriented software systems, called Object Management Systems (OMS). The OMS development methodology consists of four stages: Domain Customization, System Architecture, Application Development, and System Test. The methodology is demonstrated by implementing the SmartAHS simulation framework, a Customized Object Model. SmartAHS is used to capture different Automated Highway System (AHS) designs and benchmark scenarios and to generate performance metrics through micro-simulation of the designs. The California PATH Program has proposed a hierarchical control architecture that yields up to a four-fold increase in transportation capacity while enhancing safety. This report demonstrates the use of SmartAHS by implementing elements of the PATH automation architecture. The resultant OMS Application is called SmartPATH.

This report presents SHIFT, a programming language for describing dynamic networks of hybrid automata. The SHIFT model offers the proper level of abstraction for describing complex applications such as automated highway systems, etc. The report first describes a simplified version of the SHIFT model. The models of a type, a component and the world are discussed, including the formal semantics of the model. This is followed by a description of the main features of the SHIFT language, including states, inputs, outputs, differential equations and algebraic definitions, discrete states and state transitions. Two examples are provided illustrating these features. In the final section, the run-time environment for simulating SHIFT programs is described, and in particular, the algorithm for determining synchronized transitions.

This document is a reference manual for SHIFT, a description language for dynamic networks of hybrid systems. This model offers the proper level of abstraction for describing complex applications such as highway and air traffic control systems, robotic shopfloors, and other systems whose operation cannot be captured by conventional models. SHIFT is planned for use as a mechanism for defining the Automated Highway System Tool Interchange Format (AHSTIF). An automated highway system is a hybrid system with specific characteristics and restrictions. SHIFT supports the definition and enforcement of AHSTIF-specific semantics.