Autonomous Agricultural System Including a Guidance System for Detecting a Combine Harvester Via a SWIR Sensor and Causing the Autonomous Agricultural System to Align with the Combine Harvester, and Related Methods

A method of monitoring and controlling operation of a cart of an autonomous agricultural system, the cart being operably coupled to an agricultural vehicle of the autonomous agricultural system, the method comprising:

• capturing, via a SWIR camera and in real-time, sensor data of a combine harvester;
• analyzing the sensor data to detect the combine harvester;
• determining an operating aligned position relative to the combine harvester;
• and
• responsive to determining the operating aligned position, causing the autonomous agricultural system to automatically align with the combine harvester at the operating aligned position.

A guidance system for monitoring and controlling operation of a cart of an autonomous agricultural system, the cart being operably coupled to an agricultural vehicle of the autonomous agricultural system, the guidance system comprising:

• an array of sensors mounted on at least one the agricultural vehicle or the cart;
• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the guidance system to:
• capture, via the SWIR camera and in real-time, sensor data of a combine harvester;
• analyze the sensor data to detect the combine harvester;
• determine an operating aligned position relative to the combine harvester;
• and
• responsive to determining the operating aligned position, cause the autonomous agricultural system to automatically align with the combine harvester at the operating aligned position.