Special Issue on Computational Cybernetics

Abstract

This issue contains selected papers from the International IEEE Conference on Computational Cybernetics that took place in Vienna 2004 in Austria at the Vienna University of Technology. Computational Cybernetics is the synergetic integration of Cybernetics and Computational Intelligence techniques. Cybernetics was defined by Wiener as "the science of control and communication, in the animal and the machine". The word "cybernetics" itself stems from the Greek "kybernetes" that means pilot or governor. While the roots of cybernetics go back to the time when James Watt equipped his steam engine with a Governor, that is a simple feedback mechanism for regulation of steam flow, the computational component was a child of the 20th century with the rise of information processing machines. The science of cybernetics and the science of computer science have in common, that both infiltrated many fields of application such as mathematics, telecommunication, regulated engines, living systems/medicine, social systems, and economical systems. Thus, on the one hand, the science of computational cybernetics encompasses a wide field, like the comparative study of automatic control systems, mechanical, biological (living), social and economical systems, communication theory, signal processing, information technology, control theory, the theory of adaptive systems, and the theory of complex systems (game theory, operational research). On the other hand, this research allows for finding common roots and common behavior among this broad field. This dichotomy between a broad overarching topic and the focus on computational cybernetics establishes the basis for interesting talks and discussions between scientists of different disciplines. We have selected 11 papers from the conference covering the fields of system design and modeling, neural networks, control theory, robotics and pattern recognition, which resemble the great variety of computational cybernetics. After the conference, each of these papers has undergone another peer review cycle in which the papers had been improved in order to fit this journal's topic and quality. It is our hope that the papers in this issue will inspire and help our readers in the development of advanced intelligent systems at the service of mankind.