Chaotic motion of a symmetric gyro subjected to a harmonic base excitation

Chaotic motion of a symmetric gyro subjected to a harmonic base excitation is investigated in this note. The Melnikov method is applied to show that the system possesses a Smale horse when it is subjected to small excitation. The transition from regular motion to chaotic motion is investigated through numerical integration in conjunction with Poincare map. It is shown that as the spin velocity increases, the chaotic motion turns into a regular motion.