Gaussian processes for prediction of homing pigeon flight trajectories

  • Richard Mann
  • , Robin Freeman
  • , Michael Osborne
  • , Roman Garnett
  • , Jessica Meade
  • , Chris Armstrong
  • , Dora Biro
  • , Tim Guilford
  • , Stephen Roberts

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We construct and apply a stochastic Gaussian Process (GP) model of flight trajectory generation for pigeons trained to home from specific release sites. The model shows increasing predictive power as the birds become familiar with the sites, mirroring the animal's learning process. We show how the increasing similarity between successive flight trajectories can be used to infer, with increasing accuracy, an idealised route that captures the repeated spatial aspects of the bird's flight. We subsequently use techniques associated with reduced-rank GP approximations to objectively identify the key waypoints used by each bird to memorise its idiosyncratic habitual route between the release site and the home loft.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationBayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering - 29th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering
Pages360-367
Number of pages8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
Event29th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering - Oxford, MS, United States
Duration: Jul 5 2009Jul 10 2009

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume1193
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Conference

Conference29th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityOxford, MS
Period07/5/0907/10/09

Keywords

  • Avian
  • Gaussian process
  • GP
  • Navigation
  • Pigeon

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Gaussian processes for prediction of homing pigeon flight trajectories'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this