On this website, you may learn more about juggling machines and a few key concepts from dynamical system theory that are related to them. The prototypes were built at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control (IDSC) at the Swiss university ETH Zurich. The machines are able to juggle balls without any cameras, microphones, or any other sensors that detect the balls. The key purpose of the machines is to provide experimental platforms for research in the control of dynamical systems, but they are also used in various outreach activities. Following is a short summary of what you can find here:
The Blind Juggler was the very first prototype. It is able to juggle a single ball at up to 2 meters height (about 7 feet) without any sensors detecting the ball.
The Swinging Blind Juggler is the Blind Juggler attached to a pendulum-like structure. It can juggle balls from side to side with just a single paddle.
The Cloverleaf Paddle allows the Blind Juggler to indefinitely juggle up to four balls simultaneously. It is used as an experimental platform for the research project “Controlling the Uncontrollable”, and to demonstrate some cool properties of nonlinear systems like periodic orbits and chaos.
Research: The Blind Juggler was originally built to demonstrate that high performance robotic juggling is possible without any sensing. We currently use the Cloverleaf paddle for validating new algorithms that we develop in our research.
Tutorials: Learn more about some basic concepts from dynamical system theory that are key to the machines we built. Specifically, you can learn about stability, nonlinear systems, and controllability.
