Robotics Institute,

I dedicate this thesis to my parents: I couldn’t have asked for more. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my advisor, Prof. Tsuhan Chen. Thank you for your support and guidance through out the four years, and for your optimism and confidence in me every step along the way. I would also like to thank my thesis committee: Dr. Larry Zitnick (it has been a lot of fun and a great learning and productive experience working with you), Dr. Rahul Sukthankar (thank you for taking the time and effort to go out of your way to guide and advise me anytime I needed it, even though you didn’t have to), and Prof. Vijayakumar Bhagavatula and Prof. Martial Hebert (thank you for your input on this thesis). I am grateful for the intellectually stimulating environment at Carnegie Mellon. I have benefited immensely from the seminars and talks and reading groups that I attended almost daily. The unending discussion