Bouncing Ball Experiment

The Bouncing Ball Experiment from Magnetic Moments is a research tool used for investigating nonlinear dynamics. Though the concept of a rubber ball bouncing on an oscillating base is simple, the system exhibits a surprisingly wide range of dynamic behaviors. A piston in the base of the instrument moves in response to a command waveform (typically a sine wave). An elastic ball bounces on the piston and exhibits, depending on operating conditions, resonance, sub-harmonic resonance, and chaos. The piston is actuated with a vertical linear motor, and the ball is constrained by a Teflon bushing to move on a stainless steel rod. This experiment allows students to investigate a multitude of concepts, such as nonlinear dynamics, periodic motion, deterministic systems, phase portraits, feedback linearization, and periodic orbit stabilization.

A high-resolution eddy-current sensor is used to measure the piston position for monitoring and feedback through an internal high bandwidth PD controller. The user can augment or replace the internal controller with an external controller through easy-to-use BNC connections and front panel controls. In addition, an acoustic pick-up embedded in the piston reliably detects impacts of the ball on the piston. This impact detector can be used to construct Poincare maps, nonlinear observers, and feedback controllers.

Please see the product brochure for complete details and specifications.