ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


 The author wishes to express sincere appreciation to Dr. Roy C. Harrell, his major

advisor and friend, for guidance and assistance provided during the graduate program. For the

enormous amounts of time Dr. Harrell invested reviewing this dissertation, the author is

especially grateful.

 Thanks are also due to the professors who graciously gave of their time to serve on the

graduate committee: Dr. Keith Doty, Dr. John Staudhammer, Dr. Robert Peart, and Dr. Carl

Crane. These men provided necessary excitement and instruction for making the author capable

of completing this project.

 Mr. Ralph Hoffman provided some very necessary assistance with the tests which are

described within this dissertation. He was always available with an encouraging word, never

even once refusing to assist with even the most mundane chores. For all of this, the author is

grateful.

 Mr. Phil Adsit, a fellow graduate student, assisted with many of the programming

tasks which were undertaken in this work. He gave much-needed encouragement and advice as

he worked so closely with the author. Much appreciation is extended to Mr. P.

 Financial assistance was awarded to the author in the form of a fellowship under the

USDA Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate Fellowships Grants Program.

For this assistance, the author is also grateful.

 Funding for the citrus picking robot was provided by Agricultural Industrial

Development, SpA, Catania, Italy.

 Most importantly, the author expresses sincere thanks to his parents, Mr. and Mrs.

William H. Pool, for their encouragement and support during this project. Their leadership

and guidance proved invaluable to the completion of this work.

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