18 Experimental Techniques for Investigating Chaos in Electronics

In the study of nonlinear phenomena in electronics, experiments are indispensable for the purpose of verifying the analytical findings and simulation results. This chapter begins with a discussion on the roles of experimental measurements and computer simulations in the study of nonlinear systems. A tutorial overview of the commonly used laboratory techniques for studying nonlinear phenomena in electronic circuits is given. Specifically, some techniques for displaying phase portraits, Poincaré sections and bifurcation diagrams on the oscilloscope are discussed. 1This work is supported in part by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council under a competitive earmarked grant (No. PolyU-5131/99E).