Post date: Jun 13, 2014 4:32:12 PM
There is a clear distinction between chaos and random motion in nonlinear systems theory.
Random motion is because the system model or input contain uncertainty, and therefore, the output cannot be predicted exactly (but can use statistics). In contrast, in chaotic motion, the system and input are deterministic and have little (or no) uncertainty. Presence of strong nonlinearity in the dynamics can cause radically different output responses for initial conditions that are only slight different.
Examples of chaos: turbulence in fluid mechanics (incense stick), atmospheric dynamics (weather predictions are tough), systems with aeroelastic dynamics, wheel rail dynamics in railway systems (Slotine?). In all these examples, the underlying dynamics are deterministic and have strong nonlinearity present.
* Chaos cannot occur in linear systems.