Three-dimensional reachability set for a Dubins car: reduction of the general case of rotation constraints to the canonical case (Q6178152)

The three-dimensional reachable set for a Dubins car model is studied. The corresponding state variables are the coordinates \(x\) and \(y\) in the two-dimensional plane and the angle \(\varphi\) of inclination of the velocity vector. It is assumed that rotations are possible both to the left and to the right. Applying the Pontryagin maximum principle, it is shown that the boundary of the reachability set can be obtained by using only six types of piecewise constant controls with at most two switchings. This result is extended to points from the interior of the reachable set under an appropriate restriction of the control constraints. Moreover, it is also shown that any \(\varphi\)-section for the general asymmetric case is related by some one-to-one affine correspondence with an \(\varphi\)-section for the canonical case. As a result, the construction of the reachability set for the Dubins car in the asymmetric case is reduced to the canonical case.