Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present and to assess the performances of a non-time based control scheme for the simultaneous path-tracking and swing control of a two-degree-of-freedom system composed by a trolley and a simple pendulum. The basic idea behind such a scheme, referred to as Delayed Reference Control (DRC), is to make the path reference of the trolley a function of an “action reference parameter” which is in turn a function of a time delay. The time delay is computed on-the-fly with the objective of actively damping the pendulum oscillations. The advantages of the proposed control scheme, as well as its chief drawbacks, are discussed by comparing its performances to those of a state-of-the-art time-based regulator.