We consider the problem of minimizing \hbox{$\int_{0}^\ell \sqrt{\xi^2 +K^2(s)}\, {\rm d}s $}
for a planar curve having fixedinitial and final positions and directions. The total length ℓ is free. Heres is thearclength parameter, K(s) is the curvature of the curveand ξ > 0 is a fixed constant. This problem comes from a model of geometry ofvision due to Petitot, Citti and Sarti. We study existence of local and global minimizersfor this problem. We prove that if for a certain choice of boundary conditions there is noglobal minimizer, then there is neither a local minimizer nor a geodesic. We finally giveproperties of the set of boundary conditions for which there exists a solution to theproblem.