Controlling chaotic orbits in mechanical systems with impacts

We stabilize desired unstable periodic orbits, embedded in the chaotic invariant sets of mechanical systems with impacts, by applying a small and precise perturbation on an available control parameter. To obtain such perturbation numerically, we introduce a transcendental map (impact map) for the dynamical variables computed just after the impacts. To show how to implement the method, we apply it to an impact oscillator and to an impact-pair system.