Aerial Robot Navigation in Cluttered Urban Environments
Dongqing Shi · 2006
ii To Haiyan and Sophia iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Knowledge is in the end based on acknowledgement. –Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) I would first like to acknowledge sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Emmanuel G. Collins for his introducing me to the exciting field of artificial intelligence, especially intelligent control for autonomous vehicles. He provided great support and guidance, while ensuring freedom during the whole work. I would like to thank Dr. Carl A. Moore for offering me the chance to pursue Ph.D. in USA and serving on my committee. My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Anjaneyulu Krothapalli and Dr. Srinivas Palanki for accepting to be my committee members and for their valuable comments. I want to thank my colleagues, Dr. Majura Selekwa, Camilo Ordonez, and Damion Dunlap for their helpful advise during this project. I also thank the administrative staff of