Synchronization of Mechanical Oscillators: An Experimental Study

Abstract

In this paper we investigate synchronization of oscillators. We use mechanical metronomes that are coupled through a mechanical medium. In passive coupling of two oscillators, the coupling medium is a one degree of freedom passive mechanical basis. The analysis of the system is shown and supported by simulations of the proposed model and experimental results. We show how the oscillators synchronize and discuss the affecting parameters in synchronization. In another case, the oscillators are forced by an external input while that input is also affected by the oscillators. This feedback loop introduces dynamics to the whole system. For this case, we place the mechanical metronomes on a one degree of freedom moving base. The movements of the base are a function of a feedback from the phases of the metronomes. We study the space of possibilities for the movements of the base and consider impacts of the base movement on the synchronization of metronomes. We also show how such a system evolves in time when we introduce an adjusting parameter that changes over time and updates based on feedbacks from the system.