Can you balance this cartpole?

Here is a pole sitting on top of a cart. How long can you balance the pole?

Use the left and right arrow keys (or h/l) to push the cart.
Use the Start button (or spacebar) to pause, resume, and restart.

High Score: 0.0

This is the classic inverted pendulum problem of control theory—also known as the cartpole problem of reinforcement learning (or "AI"). With a proper strategy, you can stabilize the cart indefinitely. The strategy can either come from mathematical principles (control theory) or from experience (reinforcement learning).