Autonomous Agricultural System Including a Cart Management System for Determining an Orientation of a Cart Relative To an Agricultural Vehicle of the Autonomous Agricultural System and Local Path Planner 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 the array of sensors mounted on the cart and in real-time, sensor data of the cart;
• analyzing the captured sensor data to determine a position and an orientation of the cart relative to the agricultural vehicle;
• and
• based at least partially on the determined position and the determined orientation of the cart relative to the agricultural vehicle, adjusting operation of the agricultural vehicle.

A cart management 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 cart management system comprising:

• an array of sensors mounted on the cart and at least partially facing the agricultural vehicle;
• 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 cart management system to:
• capture, via the array of sensors and in real-time, sensor data of the cart;
• analyze the captured sensor data to determine a position and an orientation of the cart relative to the agricultural vehicle;
• and
• based at least partially on the determined position and the determined orientation of the cart relative to the agricultural vehicle, adjust operation of the agricultural vehicle.