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I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Srinath V. Ekkad. I am forever grateful for the wealth of knowledge he has imparted to me over the years. I deeply appreciate his guidance and advice, his limitless patience and good humor, and the encouragement he has given me. I also thank Dr. Ekkad for the financial support I received while at LSU. I thank Dr. Sumanta Acharya and Dr. Dimitris E. Nikitopoulos for their help and advice, contributions to my education, and suggestions regarding this thesis. I also thank them for serving as members of my committee. I am grateful to all of my colleagues past and present. I thank Hasan for his assistance with the ANSYS models in this thesis, assistance in the lab, and advice regarding course work. I also thank Gautam Pamula for his assistance in the lab, advice on course work, and for helping me learn to use the visual processing system. I would like to thank Dr. Huitao Yang for his assistance in setting up the experimental test rig. This project was funded by a grant from the NSF. Thanks to GE and Ron Bunker for the information they provided. Finally, I thank my entire family and all of my friends. Thanks to my parents for their constant support and the guidance they hav