Travel control systems, work vehicles, travel control methods, and computer programs

A method, to be executed by one or more computers, of controlling travel of a work vehicle having an implement linked thereto in a manner that permits turning relative to the work vehicle, the method comprising:

• determining a position of a characteristic point of the implement based on point cloud data acquired from one or more LiDAR sensors attached to the work vehicle to output point cloud data representing a surrounding environment of the work vehicle including at least a portion of the implement;
• and
• calculating an angle between an orientation of the work vehicle and an orientation of the implement based on a position of the characteristic point.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium including a computer program to be executed by a processor in a controller that controls travel of a work vehicle having an implement linked thereto in a manner that permits turning relative to the work vehicle, the computer program being executable to cause the processor to perform:

• determining a position of a characteristic point of the implement based on point cloud data acquired from one or more LiDAR sensors attached to the work vehicle to output point cloud data representing a surrounding environment of the work vehicle including at least a portion of the implement;
• and
• calculating an angle between an orientation of the work vehicle and an orientation of the implement based on a position of the characteristic point.