A Bayesian Framework for Target Tracking using Acoustic and Image Measurements

Thank you for your love, encouragement, and support. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I probably could have written an acknowledgement chapter that is of comparable size to the tracking parts of this thesis. In life, sometimes it is not the end result that matters, but the journey that leads to it that does. This dissertation is an important step in my life; however, what is more important to me are the connections that I made with some of the brightest people coming from all around the world. I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. James H. McClellan, for being the person that he is. Should you meet him, you will see that a great intellectual can also be modest and humble. Throughout my time here at Georgia Tech, rather than giving me a road to follow, he showed me a map and helped me understand how to use it. I am grateful to have had him as my advisor. I also would like to thank Dr. Aaron Lanterman for getting me started with the particle filters that occupy so much of this thesis. I would like to thank him for taking his time to teach me particle filters and for lending me so many of his books – he is like a second library in GCATT. Next, I would like to thank Dr. Lance Kaplan for all of his discussions. He has helped me improve my presentations and papers (and eventually this thesis). I am also fortunate to have had both Aaron and Lance on my thesis reading committee and their comments are greatly appreciated. Maria Ponomarenko, and Sébastien Prangère. Their friendship and help were a major part of this thesis. I also wish to thank my close friends for their patience, support, and kindness. I am iv especially indebted to Soner¨Ozgür who is, in many ways, a man of great proportions (0.1 metric ton). I truly enjoyed my daily conversations with him on all matters of life. I am also grateful to my roommate Yetkin ˙ Ileri and Deniz Do˜gan for their great friendship. Some people say that Yetkin and I are inseparable; I hope that this will be true after I graduate. Next, I would like to thank Can Uslay for his insightful comments on life; Cansu Altınbüken for reminding me of the reasons why I work so hard; and Tsuyoshi and Zhuqing Yamashita for their close friendship. helping me …