The German Society of Cybernetics organizes international conferences on selected interdisciplinary topics in regular 3-year intervals. The aim of these meetings is to bring together scientists who work in quite different disciplines, but are confronted with related problems and use the same or similar approaches. The topic of the 1983 conference which was held on March 23-25 at the University of Tiibingen came from a typical field of research in which engineers, biologists, and phYSicists share a common interest. We do not want to discuss here in detail the common principles which are used by nature and by engineers to solve the problems associated with localization and orientation, since the reader will find enough examples in this volume. The question, however, whether the participants of such meetings can really profit from each other, deserves some further consid­ eration. First, there is the difficulty of finding a common language. This still seems to be a problem, although in some fields the language of engineers and biologists has become very similar over the years, an impression we also gained during the conference. Most of the authors made a great ef­ fort to use a vocabulary which is understandable to people outside their own field of research, but, admittedly, not all succeeded.

Inhalt

I Localization, Identification, and Tracking of Signal Sources.- The Problem of Orientation in Photogrammetry from the Phototheodolite to Earth Resources Satellites.- Digital Array Signal Processing Methods Applied for Advanced Direction Finding Operations.- Remote Sensing and Imaging with Microwave Sensors.- The Application of Spread Spectrum Techniques in Satellite Orbit Determination and Navigation Systems.- Passive Bearing Estimation of a Moving Sound Source Using an Adaptive Filter.- Second-Order Representation of Signals.- The Phonochrome - A Coherent Spectro-Temporal Representation of Sound.- Directional Hearing and the Acoustical Near-Field of a Human and an Artificial Head.- Determination of the Transfer Function of a Time-Varying Transfer Channel by a Correlation Method. Illustrated on Sound Propagation Through a Turbulent Medium.- Redundance of Acoustic Localization.- Sound Localization in the Horizontal Plane by the House Mouse (Mus musculus).- Localization of Water Surface Waves with the Lateral Line System in the Clawed Toad (Xenopus laevis Daudin).- Determination of Source-Distance by the Surface-Feeding Fishes Apbcheilus lineatus (Cyprinodontidae) and Pantodon buchholzi (Pantodontidae).- Determination of Stimulus Direction by the Topminnow Apbcheilus lineatus.- Mathematical Description of the Stimulus for the Lateral Line Organ.- Image Sequence Analysis for Target Tracking.- Detection Performance in Visual Search Tasks.- Prediction of Human Pattern Discrimination.- On the Application of Associative Neural Network Models to Technical Control Problems.- Control of Hand-Movements Towards a Target.- How the Primate Brain Performs Detection and Pursuit of Moving Visual Objects.- Non-Linear Interaction of Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex and Pursuit Eye Movements.- How Saccadic Eye Movements Find their Target.- Visual Orientation of Flies in Flight.- II Orientation and Path Control.- Roll-Stabilization During Flight of the Blowfly's Head and Body by Mechanical and Visual Cues.- Activation of Flight Control Muscles by Neck Reflexes in the Domestic Pigeon (Columba livia var. domestica).- Dynamics of Groundspeed Control in Drosophila.- Control of Flight Speed by Minimization of the Apparent Ground Pattern Movement.- Short-Term Integration: A Possible Mechanism in the Optomotor Reaction of Walking Crickets?.- Computation of Motion and Position in the Visual System of the Fly (Musca). Experiments with Uniform Stimulation.- On the Alignment of Movement Detectors Mediating the Landing Response in the Blowfly, Calliphora erythrocephala.- The Stimulus Efficiency of Intensity Contrast, Spectral Contrast, and Polarization Contrast in the Optomotorics of Pachnoda marginata (Coleoptera: Cetoniinae).- A Possible Neuronal Mechanism of Velocity and Direction Detection.- Optical Monitoring of Ego-Motion for Movement with Respect to a Plane Surface.- Perception of Differences Between Visually and Mechanically Presented Motion Information.- Paired Tread Wheels as a Tool for the Analysis of Orientation Behaviour in Arthropods.- Wind Orientation in Walking Carrion Beetles (Necrophorus humator F.) Under Closed and Open Loop Conditions.- Correcting Behaviour - a Mechanism to Support Course Stability?.- Acoustical Pattern Recognition in Crickets.- Neural Enhancement of Directionality in Sensory Pathways of Two Arthropods, the Cricket and the Crayfish.- Homing by Systematic Search.- III Localization and Identification of Targets by Active Systems.- The Superlaminated Torus in the Electric Fish Eigenmannia, a Multimodal Space Integrator.- The Performance of Bat Sonar Systems.- Short-Time Spectral Analysis of the Ultrasound-Echoes of Flying Insects.- Control of Echolocation Pulses in the CF-FM-Bat Rhinolophus rouxi: Neurophysiological Investigations of the Function of the Brain Stem Motor Nucleus Innervating the Larynx: the Nucleus Ambiguus.- Echolocation as Seen from the Viewpoint of Radar/Sonar Theory.- Remarks on Recent Developments in Inverse Scattering Theory.- Signal Extraction and Target Detection for Localization by Radar.- Environment and Factors Influencing Optimum Multi-Radar Processing in Air Traffic Control.- Collision Avoidance in Air-Traffic - Conflict Detection and Resolution.- A Ship Encounter - Collision Model.- IV Navigation, Bird Migration and Homing.- Pacific Systems of Trade and Navigation.- Interplanetary Navigation: An Overview.- Image-Supported Navigation.- Range Measuring Techniques in Aviation.- The Geometrical Characteristics of the Navigation Satellite Systems.- Elements of Bird Navigation.- The Development of the Navigational System in Young Homing Pigeons.- The Homing Behavior of Pigeons Raised in a Reversed Magnetic Field.- The Magnetic Compass as an Independent Alternative to the Sun Compass in the Homing Performance of Young Pigeons.- Typical Migratory Birds: Endogenously Programmed Animals.- The Influence of the Earth Magnetic Field to the Migratory Behaviour of Pied Flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca PALLAS).- Migratory Birds: Path-Finding Using Madar? (Magnetic Detection and Ranging).