Distributed area coverage path planning subject to the inclusion of a headland path

A deterministic method for the problem of distributed area coverage path planning subject to the inclusion of a headland path is presented. Given a, in general, non-convex area to be covered that may, in general, include obstacle areas, multiple robots, at least one robot depot, and constraints on each machinery such as a working width, work capacity limits, travel capacity limits, nonholonomic dynamical constraints and, possibly, a robot start and end depot assignment, distributed paths for each machinery are calculated that collectively enable full area coverage. Variations are discussed, in particular, a scenario where unconstrained depots assignment can attain a global optimal solution to the problem. The importance of inclusion of a headland path for area coverage, as well as the benefits in comparison to an alternative Boustrophedon-pattern based approach are highlighted.