A digital system for on-line studies of dynamical systems

The study of dynamical systems with the aid of analog and digital computers has developed rapidly in the past two decades. Increased interest in systems described by differential equations which are nonlinear or have time-varying coefficients, has resulted in more reliance on techniques requiring on-line computation. Usually less is known a priori of how the solutions will develop or what parameter values or initial conditions should be used. The recent trend to using hybrid computers (combinations of digital and analog equipment) has been motivated by the desire to study complex dynamical systems with computer configurations which are designed with particular classes of problems in mind. Extensive use of display, plotting, and printing equipment as well as elaborate consoles attest the on-line capability of such computers.