Method and stereo vision system for managing the unloading of an agricultural material from a vehicle

A system for facilitating the transfer of agricultural material from a harvesting vehicle to a receiving vehicle, the system comprising:

• a receiving vehicle comprising a propelled portion for propelling the receiving vehicle and a storage portion for storing agricultural material;
• a stereo imaging device facing towards the storage portion of the receiving vehicle, the imaging device collecting image data;
• a fill level estimator estimating a plurality of fill levels of a plurality of corresponding subdivided volumes or cells, the fill levels associated with respective heights of the agricultural material in the cells of the container;
• a spout identification module for identifying a spout of the harvesting vehicle in the collected image data;
• and
• an alignment module for determining the relative position of the spout and the cells in the container such that the spout is aligned within a target fill zone of the cells in accordance with a fill sequence or fill plan instructions in which:
• (a) first, the alignment module is adapted to direct the spout to fill the container with the material in a first mode to a first target level that is less than a peak height of the container;
• (b) second, the fill level estimator is adapted to estimate the number of cells that are below the first target level after directing the spout to fill in the first mode;
• and (c) third, the alignment module is adapted to direct the spout to fill the container in the second mode to a second target level that is greater than the first target level if less than a first threshold number of adjacent cells are below the first target level.