In experiments for single and coupled pendula, we demonstrate the effectiveness of a new control method based on dynamical systems theory for stabilizing unstable aperiodic trajectories defined on infinite- or finite-time intervals. The basic idea of the method is similar to that of the OGY method, which is a well-known, chaos control method. Extended concepts of the stable and unstable manifolds of hyperbolic trajectories are used here. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.