Monitoring bale shape

A system for monitoring bale shape in an agricultural baler, the system comprising:

• a camera for capturing a series of bale images, the bale image comprising:
• a view of at least an outlet of a bale chamber of the agricultural baler,
• a view of a bale being ejected from the outlet, and
• a view of a field travelled by the agricultural baler during the ejection of the bale from the outlet;
• and
• a controller operatively coupled to the camera, wherein the controller is configured to:
• receive the series of bale images from the camera,
• identify the bale in the bale images,
• determine at least one bale shape parameter of the identified bale based on at least one of the bale images,
• provide an electronic signal representative of the at least one bale shape parameter, and
• fit the identified bale to a quadrilateral bounding box for determining the at least one bale shape parameter.

An agricultural baler comprising:

• a bale chamber for forming a bale therein, the bale chamber comprising an outlet for ejection of the bale from the bale chamber;
• a camera positioned to capture a series of bale images, the bale images comprising:
• a view of the outlet;
• a view of the bale while being ejected from the outlet;
• and
• a view of a field travelled by the agricultural baler during the ejection of the bale from the outlet;
• a controller operatively coupled to the camera, wherein the controller is configured for:
• receiving the series of bale images from the camera;
• identifying the bale in the bale images;
• based on at least one of the bale images, determining at least one bale shape parameter of the identified bale;
• providing an electronic signal representative of the at least one bale shape parameter;
• and
• fitting the identified bale to a quadrilateral bounding box for determining the at least one bale shape parameter.