A Tractor Formation Coverage Path Planning Method Based on Rotating Calipers and Probabilistic Roadmaps Algorithm

Severe labor shortages and rising daily wages are forcing farmers to use heavy tractors to sow seeds, which increases efficiency and saves labor costs. But driving heavy tractors on soil for growing plants causes permanent damage to the soil, leading to crop failures. In order to reduce the damage to soil fertility, a formation of several light tractors can replace a single heavy tractor for field operations. However, multiple tractors require multiple operators, which adds to labor costs. In order to solve the above problems, this paper presents an algorithm for coverage path planning of tractors formation based on the Rotating Calipers and Probabilistic Roadmaps. First, the algorithm uses five light tractors to form a reverse “V” formation, which not only reduces damage to soil fertility, but also ensures operational efficiency. In addition, this algorithm can achieve autonomous path coverage and obtain time-optimal coverage trajectory, which lays a foundation for realizing autonomous operation of tractors and reduces labor cost. And this method can be used to coverage path planning of both convex and concave polygons.