Tracking and controlling unstable steady states of dynamical systems

An adaptive controller for stabilization of unknown unstable steady states (spirals, nodes and saddles) of nonlinear dynamical systems is considered and its robustness under the changes of the location of the fixed point in the phase space is demonstrated. An analog electronic controller, based on a low-pass filter technique, is described. It can be easily switched between a stable and an unstable mode of operation for stabilizing either spirals/nodes or saddles, respectively. Numerical and experimental results for two autonomous systems, the damped Duffing-Holmes oscillator and the chaotic Lorenz system, are presented.