CONTROL OF THE CHAOTIC DRIVEN PENDULUM

A method of controlling chaos (due to Ott, Grebogi, and Yorke) is illu strated with a simulated chaotic pendulum. The method consists of stab ilizing a previously unstable periodic orbit through a feedback mechan ism that periodically adjusts the damping parameter of the pendulum. T he presentation is pedagogical and describes the method in more detail than is typical of the research literature on controlling chaotic sys tems. (C) 1995 American Association of Physics Teachers.