Researchers have demonstrated a way to maintain an unstable quantum system by applying bursts of microwave radiation. The technique is comparable to methods used for controlling an inverted pendulum ...

Have you ever tried to balance a broomstick or dowel on the tip of your finger? It’s not so easy. Just how fast should you move your hand to keep the stick balanced? How should you respond if somebody ...

Newton’s Cradle is thought of as the most elegant of executive desk toys. But that 20th-century dinosaur just got run off the road as [Ben Katz]’s Furuta pendulum streaks past in the fast lane, ...

If you march sufficiently deep into the wilderness of control theory, you’ll no doubt encounter the inverted pendulum problem. These balancing acts have emerged with a number of variants over the ...

Apparently, balancing a pole on top of a flying quadrocopter robot wasn't challenging enough for the researchers at ETH Zurich's Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control. Their latest project has two ...