A genetic methodology for configuration design

摘要

I would like to thank my two advisors, Dr. Robert Sturges, Jr. and Dr. William “Red ” Whittaker for guiding my research. Bob has provided key technical insights, has critically read through severals drafts of this work and has made himself readily accessible. Red has provided both the finincial backing for this work and a far-reaching vision of the future of robotics and this work. My thesis owes much to this unique combination of advisors. I would also like to thank the other members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Dwight Baumann, Dr. Jonathan Cagan and Mr. John Wiss for their technical counsel and critical reviews of this work. I would also like to thank Dr. Subhas Desa for starting me down the road that has led to this thesis. I would not have been able to have done this work without the support of the CMU planetary rover group. This group has both generously given of their time and assistance. In addition, it was through the needs of this group that the need for this work first became apparent. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Eric Krotkov, Dr. Reid Simmons and Mr. Kevin Dowling for their support. Much of this work was done under NASA contracts to CMU. I wish to thank Mr.