JP2005233490A - Environment control method and device, and database device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly and viscerally perform the setting to have the comfortable environment desired by residents, and to allow the residents to experience the environment of a desired place while staying home. <P>SOLUTION: Service depots 10 are established at every corner of the world (sightseeing areas). The environment information (temperature, humidity, wind speed, lighting intensity and image (view)) are sent to a server 17 through Internet 9 to be accumulated in the environmental information DB18. A desired place (service depot) can be selected by a display setting unit 7 of a residence 1. When the desired place is selected, a controller 3 reads out the environment information of the place from the environment information DB18 through the Internet 9, and controls the environment of a dwelling space 1A on the basis of the read-out environment information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an environment control method, an environment control device, and a database device that control an environment such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, and illuminance in a living space.

  Conventionally, the control of the environment of the living space has been performed by controlling the temperature of the living space so as to be the set temperature, for example, when the resident sets the temperature. That is, the user terminal is installed in the living space, and when the temperature is set from the user terminal, the temperature of the living space is controlled to be the set temperature. The temperature setting method includes a method of directly inputting a temperature set value, a method of changing the set temperature according to the number of button operations such as “warm” and “cool” depending on the occupant's experience (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-181495 A

  However, according to the conventional environment control method for living space, it is difficult to understand the specific temperature sensation in the method of directly inputting the temperature setting value. Hard to understand. In the method of changing the set temperature based on the sensation of the resident, there is a time delay from when the button is operated until the actually set temperature is reached. For this reason, before confirming the actual effect, the button operation is performed again, and there is a possibility that an over-operation of over-cooling / over-warming may occur.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and the object of the present invention is to provide a residence that can be instantly and intuitively set so as to provide a comfortable environment desired by a resident. An object is to provide a space environment control method, an environment control device, and a database device.

  In order to achieve such an object, the environmental control method of the present invention includes a step of displaying a plurality of locations on a user terminal installed in a living space, and a step of selecting a desired location from the displayed plurality of locations. A step of reading out environmental information of a selected desired place from a database via a communication line, and a step of performing environmental control of a living space based on the read out environmental information of the desired place . The present invention can also be configured as an environment control device to which this method is applied.

  According to the present invention, when a desired location (for example, Banff) is selected from a plurality of locations (for example, San Francisco, Sydney, Banff, Waikiki) displayed on a user terminal installed in a living space, the selected desired The environmental information (temperature, humidity, wind speed, illuminance, etc. of the living space) is read from the database via the communication line, and the environmental control of the living space is performed based on the read environmental information of the desired location. Done. As a result, the resident can instantly understand the location by selecting the location without directly inputting the temperature setting value and without operating the buttons such as “warm” and “cool”. It is possible to make a setting that provides a comfortable environment, and to experience the environment of a desired place while staying.

  In the present invention, the environment information of a desired place may be read out from the environment information at the same local time as the current time of the living space. For example, if the current time of the living space is 10:00 and the current time of the desired location is 12:00 due to the time difference between the living space and the desired location, the current time “12: Instead of “00”, the environment information of the local time “10:00” of the desired location that is the same as the current time “10:00” of the living space is read out. Thereby, the resident can experience the environment of the desired place at the same time as the living space, and can experience the environment of the desired place more realistically.

  In the present invention, the environmental information of the desired location does not necessarily have to be the environmental information of the local time of the desired location that is the same as the current time of the living space. For example, an arbitrary time may be specified, and environment information at the same local time as the specified arbitrary time may be read. Further, instead of the environmental information at the local time, environmental information representative of a desired place (for example, the average temperature, average humidity, average wind speed, average illuminance, etc. of the season) may be read.

Further, the database device of the present invention includes a collecting means for collecting environmental information of each place via a communication line, a storage means for storing environmental information collected by the collecting means, and a living space via the communication line. In response to a request for designating a desired location, the environmental information of the designated location is read from the storage means, and the environmental information return means for returning the read environmental information to the living space via the communication line is provided. It is a thing.
In the present invention, the database device collects and stores environmental information of each place via a communication line. When there is a request for designating a desired location from the living space via the communication line, the database device reads the environmental information of the designated location from the storage means, and this read environmental information is transmitted via the communication line. And return it to the living space. Thereby, in the living space, the environmental control of the living space is performed based on the environmental information of the desired place sent from the database device.
In this database apparatus, when the read environmental information is out of the predetermined comfortable environment range, information indicating that the environmental information is out of the predetermined comfortable environment range is transmitted instead of returning the environmental information to the living space. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the environmental control from deviating from the comfortable environment range in the living space. In addition, the resident can be informed that the environment is not comfortable, and can be prompted to select another location.

  According to the present invention, when a desired place is selected from a plurality of places displayed on the user terminal, environment information of the selected desired place is read via the communication line, and the read desired place Environmental control of the living space is performed based on the environmental information of the place, without directly entering the temperature setting value, and without operating the buttons such as “warm” and “cool” It is possible to intuitively set a comfortable environment desired by a resident, and to experience the environment of a desired place while staying.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of an environment control system for a living space used for carrying out the environment control method according to the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a house, and a living space 1A of the house 1 includes an air conditioner 2, a controller 3, a lighting controller 4, a lighting device 5, a temperature / humidity sensor 6, a display / setting device (user terminal) 7, a television. 8 etc. are installed.

  The air conditioner 2 has functions of air conditioning / ventilation / humidification / dehumidification, and inputs set values such as temperature / humidity / wind speed from the controller 3 and temperature / humidity detection values from the temperature / humidity sensor 6 to enter the residence. It controls the air volume, temperature, humidity, etc. of the supply air to the space 1A.

  The controller 3 is connected to an air conditioner 2, an illumination controller 4, a display / setting device 7, and a television 8 installed in the living space 1A, and sends set values such as temperature, humidity, and wind speed to the air conditioner 2 for lighting. An illuminance setting value (setting illuminance value) for the living space 1A is sent to the controller 4, and a “place selection screen”, “location confirmation screen”, “control-in-progress screen”, etc., which will be described later, are sent to the display / setting device 7. The controller 3 is connected to the Internet (communication line) 9.

  The controller 3 is realized by hardware including a processor and a storage device, and a program that realizes various functions as a control device in cooperation with these hardware, and the function of the living space 1A as a function peculiar to the present embodiment. Has an environmental control function. The environmental control function of the controller 3 will be described later.

The lighting controller 4 receives the set illuminance value from the controller 3 as input, and controls the indoor lighting by the lighting device 5 so that the illuminance in the living space 1A becomes the set illuminance value.
The display / setting device 7 includes a touch screen type screen display unit, and displays a “location selection screen”, a “location confirmation screen”, a “controlling screen”, and the like from the controller 3. Touch switches are displayed on screens such as “location selection screen”, “location confirmation screen”, and “controlling screen”. The display / setting device 7 transmits to the controller 3 a command from the user that is input via the touch switch displayed on this screen.
The television 8 normally receives and displays a television broadcast, but preferentially displays an image sent from the controller 3.

  An information collection terminal 11 provided in service bases 10 (10-1 to 10-n) around the world is connected to the Internet 9. In the present embodiment, the service base 10 is provided in a sightseeing spot such as San Francisco, Sydney, Banff, Waikiki. A camera 12, an illuminance sensor 13, a temperature / humidity sensor 14, and a wind speed sensor 15 are connected to the information collection terminal 11. The camera 12 captures a scene at the service base 10 (an image of the service base). The illuminance sensor 13 measures the illuminance at the service base 10. The temperature / humidity sensor 14 measures the temperature / humidity at the service base 10. The wind speed sensor 15 measures the wind speed at the service base 10.

  A server 17 provided in the database center 16 is connected to the Internet 9. A database (hereinafter referred to as an environment information DB) 18 is connected to the server 17, and a database device 19 is configured by the server 17 and the environment information DB 18.

[Collecting environmental information at service bases]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing environment information collection processing executed by the information collection terminal 11 at the service base 10. In the service bases 10 around the world, the information collection terminal 11 collects environmental information at a cycle of 1 minute according to this flowchart and sends it to the database center 16.

  First, the information collection terminal 11 collects images of service bases from the camera 12 and temporarily stores them in its own memory (step 201). Next, the measurement value of the illuminance from the illuminance sensor 14 is collected and temporarily stored in its own memory (step 202). Further, the temperature / humidity measurement values from the temperature / humidity sensor 14 are collected and temporarily stored in its own memory (step 203). Further, the wind speed measurement value from the wind speed sensor 15 is collected and temporarily stored in its own memory (step 204).

  Then, the information collection terminal 11 connects to the server 17 of the database center 16 via the Internet 9 (step 205), and transmits the name of the service base (place name of the sightseeing spot) and time information (collection time) to the server 17. (Step 206). Also, the collected data (environment information: service base image, illuminance measurement value, temperature / humidity measurement value, wind speed measurement value) temporarily stored in its own memory is transmitted to the server 17 (step 207).

[Storage of environmental information in the database center]
The server 17 stores the environment information sent from the information collection terminals 11 of the service bases 10 around the world in the environment information DB 18 with the name of the service base (tourist place name) and time information (collection time). That is, the server 17 collects environmental information at the service bases 10 around the world via the Internet 9 and stores the environmental information in the environmental information DB 18 in time series for each service base.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing environmental information collection processing in the server 17. When there is a connection from the information collection terminal 11 at the service base 10 (YES in Step 301), the server 17 receives the name of the service base (name of the tourist destination) and time information (collection) sent from the information collection terminal 11 (Time) is received (step 302), and the storage index of the environment information DB 19 is sought. Then, the incoming environmental information is received, and the received environmental information is stored in the environmental information DB 19 (step 303).

[Environmental control in living space]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an environmental control process in the living space executed by the controller 3. The controller 4 displays a place selection screen on the display / setting device 7 in response to a request from the resident through the display / setting device 7 (step 401). FIG. 5 illustrates a place selection screen displayed on the display / setting device 7.

  On this place selection screen G1, a plurality of touch switches TS are displayed so as to be scrollable in the vertical direction. A place name is written on the touch switch TS. In this example, “San Francisco” is written on the touch switch TS1, “Sydney” on the touch switch TS2, “Banff” on the touch switch TS3, and “Waikiki” on the touch switch TS4. Further, a message M1 “Please select a location” is displayed on the selection screen G1.

  When the resident wants to change the environment in the living space 1A, the resident selects a desired place on the place selection screen G1 (YES in Step 402). For example, when it is desired to change the environment in the living space 1A to the “banff” environment, the touch switch TS3 is pressed on the place selection screen G1. Then, a place confirmation screen is displayed on the display / setting device 7 instead of the place selection screen G1 (step 403). FIG. 6 shows an example of a place confirmation screen displayed on the display / setting device 7.

  The location confirmation screen G2 displays a message M2 indicating that a location has been selected with a place name, a graph GF showing the temperature / humidity trend of the selected location, and the environment to the selected location. Touch switches BT1 and BT2 for confirming whether or not to set to be displayed. The temperature / humidity trend of the selected location on the graph GF is displayed by, for example, yesterday's temperature / humidity stored in the environment information DB 7 when the controller 3 makes an inquiry to the server 17 via the Internet 9. This is done by reading out the measured value as a temperature / humidity profile.

  The resident refers to the temperature / humidity trend displayed on the graph GF, and determines whether or not the environment for the selected location can be set. If it is determined that the environment for the selected location may be set, the touch switch BT1 is pressed (YES in step 404). If the setting of the environment for the selected location is to be cancelled, the touch switch BT2 is pressed.

  When the touch switch BT2 is pressed (NO in step 404), the controller 3 cancels the setting and returns to the display of the location selection screen G1 shown in FIG. When the touch switch BT1 is pressed (YES in step 404), the controller 3 displays a screen during control on the display / setting device 7 (step 405). FIG. 7 shows an example of the in-control screen displayed on the display / setting device 7.

  This in-control screen G3 includes a message M3 indicating that environmental control is being performed based on the environmental information of the selected place, a time display unit M4 that displays the current time in the living space 1A, and an environment to another place A touch switch BT3 that enables control setting change is displayed. In addition, a bar BL that displays the current time in the living space 1A as a line orthogonal to the time axis is displayed in the graph GF showing the temperature / humidity trend of the selected place.

  Then, the controller 3 accesses the server 17 via the Internet 9, and the temperature / humidity at the local time of the selected desired location (in this example, Banff) that is the same as the current time of the living space 1 </ b> A from the environment information DB 18. The wind speed is read and set in the air conditioner 2 (step 406). For example, if the current time of the living space 1A is 10:00 and the current time of the desired location is 12:00 due to the time difference between the living space 1A and the desired location, the current time “ The measured values of temperature, humidity, and wind speed at the local time “10:00” at the desired location that is the same as the current time “10:00” of the living space are read out and set in the air conditioner 2 instead of “12:00”.

  Similarly, the controller 3 accesses the server 17 via the Internet 9, reads out the measured value of the illuminance at the local time of the selected desired location that is the same as the current time of the living space 1A from the environment information DB 18, and The controller 4 is set (step 407). In addition, an image of the local time at the selected desired location that is the same as the current time of the living space 1A is read from the environment information DB 18 and displayed on the screen of the television 8 (step 408). FIG. 8 shows a display example on the television 8.

  FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of the environment information providing process in the server 17. When there is a request from the controller 3 (YES in step 901), the server 17 analyzes the request (step 902). In this case, the request is analyzed, and the current time of the living space 1A where the request is issued and the necessary data (temperature / humidity / wind speed, illuminance, image) requested by the controller 3 are known. Then, taking into account the time difference between the living space 1A and the selected desired location, the necessary data of the local time that is the same as the current time of the living space 1A is read from the environment information DB 18 and returned to the controller 3 (step 903). ).

  Although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9, the server 17 reads these values when the measured values such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, and illuminance read from the environment information DB 18 are out of the predetermined comfortable environment range. Instead of returning the measured value to the controller 3, information indicating that the measured value is out of the predetermined comfortable environment range is transmitted. In this example, information that “setting is not recommended” is returned. Thereby, it can prevent that the environmental control which remove | deviates from the comfortable environment range in 1 A of living spaces is performed. In addition, the resident can be informed that the environment is not comfortable, and can be prompted to select another location.

  The controller 3 repeats the processing operations in steps 405 to 409 shown in FIG. As a result, the temperature, humidity, wind speed, and illuminance of the living space 1A become the same as the temperature, humidity, wind speed, and illuminance of the desired location at the desired location. While watching the image, you can experience the real life and enjoy the resort feeling while staying in the environment of the desired place. Residents can immediately comfortably use the intuitive and easy-to-understand method of selecting a place without directly entering the temperature setting value or operating buttons such as “warm” or “cool”. Can be set to create a comfortable environment.

  When the setting change button BT3 is pressed on the in-control screen G3 (YES in Step 409), the controller 3 returns to Step 401 and displays the place selection screen G1. By re-selecting a desired place on the place selection screen G1, the place that the user wants to experience can be changed in the same manner as described above.

  Moreover, although not demonstrated above, the server 17 is located in the 1 minute period of the environmental information stored in the environmental information DB 18 when the current time of the living space 1 </ b> A is located. Either one (for example, the closer one) is read out as necessary data at the same local time as the current time in the living space 1A. If for some reason the environmental information is missing in the environmental information DB 18 and the necessary data having the same local time as the current time of the living space 1A cannot be read, the server 17 is out of the comfortable environment range. In the same manner as the case, information “setting is not recommended” is returned to the controller 3.

In the above-described embodiment, the location name to be recorded on the touch switch TS on the location selection screen G1 may be registered in the controller 3 in advance, but if the server 17 is inquired via the Internet 9. It is possible to easily cope with addition / deletion of the service base 10.
Further, the place selection screen G1 does not necessarily have a configuration in which the touch switch TS is arranged so as to be scrollable in the vertical direction. Good.
In the above-described embodiment, the service base 10 is a tourist spot such as San Francisco, Sydney, Banff, Waikiki, etc. Needless to say, it may not be a tourist spot.

  In the above-described embodiment, the environment information of the local time at the desired location that is the same as the current time of the living space 1A is read as the environment information of the desired location. For example, the current time is displayed on the in-control screen G3. An arbitrary time may be specified by moving the bar BL indicating, and the environment information at the same local time as the specified arbitrary time may be read out. Further, instead of the environmental information at the local time, environmental information representative of a desired place (for example, average temperature, average humidity, average wind speed, average illuminance, representative image, etc.) may be read. Further, the environmental information is not limited to temperature, humidity, wind speed, illuminance, and the like.

It is a system configuration figure showing an example of the environmental control system of the living space used for implementation of the environmental control method concerning the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the collection process of the environmental information which the information collection terminal in a service base performs. It is a flowchart which shows the incoming call process in a server. It is a flowchart which shows the environmental control process in the living space performed by the controller. It is a figure which illustrates the selection screen of the place displayed on a display and setting device. It is a figure which illustrates the confirmation screen of the place displayed on a display and setting device. It is a figure which illustrates the screen during control displayed on a display and a setting device. It is a figure which illustrates the image of the local time of the selected desired place displayed on a television. It is a flowchart which shows the provision process of the environment information in a server.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Residence, 1A ... Living space, 2 ... Air conditioner, 3 ... Controller, 4 ... Lighting controller, 5 ... Illumination device, 6 ... Temperature / humidity sensor, 7 ... Display / setting device (user terminal), 8 ... Television, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Internet (communication line), 10 ... Service base, 11 ... Information collection terminal, 12 ... Camera, 13 ... Illuminance sensor, 14 ... Temperature / humidity sensor, 15 ... Wind speed sensor, 16 ... Database center, 17 ... Server, 18 ... Database (environment information DB), 19 ... Database device, G1 ... Location confirmation screen, G2 ... Location confirmation screen, G3 ... In-control screen, TS ... Touch switch, GF ... Graph, BL ... Bar.

Claims (6)

Displaying a plurality of locations on a user terminal installed in a living space;
Selecting a desired location from the displayed plurality of locations;
Reading environmental information of the selected desired location from a database via a communication line;
And a step of performing environmental control of the living space based on the read environmental information of the desired place. The environmental control method according to claim 1,
The step of reading out the environmental information includes reading out environmental information at the same local time as the current time of the living space as the environmental information of the desired place. A user terminal installed in the living space;
A location display means for displaying a plurality of locations on the user terminal;
Environmental information reading means for reading environmental information of the selected desired location from a database via a communication line when a desired location is selected from the displayed plurality of locations;
An environmental control device comprising: control means for performing environmental control of the living space based on the read environmental information of the desired place. In the environmental control device according to claim 3,
The environmental control device is characterized in that the environmental information reading means reads environmental information at the same local time as the current time of the living space as environmental information of the desired place. A collection means for collecting environmental information of each place via a communication line;
Storage means for storing environmental information collected by the collecting means;
In response to a request for designating a desired place from the living space via the communication line, the environment information of the designated place is read from the storage means, and the read environment information is read via the communication line. A database device comprising: environmental information returning means for returning to the living space. In the database apparatus according to claim 5,
If the read environmental information is out of the predetermined comfortable environment range, the environmental information returning means is information that the environmental information is out of the predetermined comfortable environment range instead of returning the environmental information to the living space. A database apparatus characterized by transmitting

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