JP2012197985A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve high comfortability with low electric power consumption by air-conditioning both a zone where the presence of a human body is detected and a zone where a probability that the human body may move to is high, at an air conditioner with a human body position detecting means.SOLUTION: The air conditioner includes: the human body position detecting means which detects a human body position based on an image data acquired by an image input means; a human body positions per time slot accumulating means which accumulates information of human body position at each time slot per an area region based on information of the human body position and information of time when the image data is acquired; a living area region determining means which determines a living area region to be air-conditioned based on cumulative frequency of each area region; an air-conditioning controlling means which generates an air-conditioning signal based on information of the living area regions and the information of the human body positions; and air conditioning means which operates air condition based on an air-conditioning controlling signal.

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner provided with a human body position detecting means.

  In order to realize comfortable air conditioning with an air conditioner and further reduce power consumption, not only control by indoor temperature, but also detect the position of a person in the room with a camera or infrared sensor, and the floor temperature at that position It is necessary to perform air-conditioning ON / OFF control and wind direction control based on the above (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 4589371

  In conventional air conditioners, air conditioning is performed only in areas where people are detected by cameras and infrared sensors, so when a person moves indoors, the destination is not air-conditioned, which reduces comfort. there were.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. By air-conditioning both a region where a person is detected and a region where a person is likely to move, high comfort is achieved with low power consumption. It aims to realize.

  An air conditioner according to the present invention includes a human body position detecting unit that generates human body position information from image data acquired by an image input unit, and human body position information in each time zone from the time information and human body position information at which the image data is acquired. Human body position accumulating means for each time zone, living area determining means for determining a living area to be air-conditioned from the cumulative frequency of each area, and air conditioning for generating an air conditioning control signal from living area information and human body position information Control means and air conditioning means for performing air conditioning based on an air conditioning control signal are provided.

  According to the present invention, the human body position detecting means for generating the human body position information from the image data acquired by the image input means, and the human body position information in each time zone from the information on the time when the image data was acquired and the human body position information Human body position accumulating means for each time zone accumulated every time, living area determining means for determining a living area to be air-conditioned from the cumulative frequency of each area, and air conditioning control means for generating an air-conditioning control signal from living area information and human body position information And air conditioning means for performing air conditioning based on the air conditioning control signal, it is possible to achieve high comfort with low power consumption.

It is an application example of the air conditioner by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the air conditioner by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an example of the process of the human body position detection means of the air conditioner by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an example of the process of the human body position accumulation means according to time slot | zone by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an example of the process of the living area determination means by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the air conditioner by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is an example of the process of the human body position detection means of the air conditioner by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the air conditioner by Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the air conditioner by Embodiment 4 of this invention.

Embodiment 1
FIG. 1 shows an example of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The air conditioner 1 is equipped with an image input means 2 such as a camera, and the image input means 2 acquires an image of a space where the air conditioner performs air conditioning.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The image input means 2 includes a color visible camera, a gray scale visible camera, a near infrared camera, an infrared camera, a thermopile sensor in which sensors are arranged in an array, a thermopile sensor in a line, and a plurality of pyroelectric sensors. Any information can be used as long as it can acquire information that can identify the position of the human body. The image input apparatus 2 may have a mechanism that can acquire a wide range of information, such as a swing mechanism. Image data photographed by the image input device 2 is output to the human body position detecting means 3.

  The human body position detection means 3 detects the human body in the image from the image data output from the image input means 2 and outputs human body position information.

  The operation of the human body position detection unit 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The human body position detection means 3 compares the images 9 and 10 which are two images acquired at different times. An area where data changes in these two images is detected. For example, in the difference image 11 between the image 9 and the image 10, an area in which the value of the image data is equal to or greater than a preset value is extracted as the human body area 12, and positions such as the center of gravity, lower end, and upper end of the area are output as the human body position 13. To do. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the lower end portion of the human body region 12 is the human body position 13.

  When a device that detects the heat of the human body, such as an infrared camera, is used as the image input unit 2, the human body position detection unit 3 sets the region where the value of the image data output from the image input unit 2 is large as the human body region. The position of the center of gravity, the lower end, the upper end, etc. of the area may be output as the human body position 13.

  Further, when a device that outputs a color image is used as the image input means 2, the human body position detection means 3 takes out the skin color area in the image data output from the image input means 2 as the human body area 12, and the area The positions of the center of gravity, the lower end, the upper end, etc. may be output as the human body position 13.

  The time information acquisition unit 4 outputs information on the time when the image input unit 2 acquired the image data to the human body position information accumulation unit 5 and the living area determination unit 6 according to time zones.

  The time zone human body position accumulating means 5 accumulates the human body position information output from the human body position detecting means 3 for each time zone based on the time information output from the time information acquisition means 4.

  The operation of the human body position accumulating means 5 according to time zone will be described with reference to FIG. The human body position accumulating unit 5 detects and inputs the human body position 15 in the image data acquisition area 14 from the human body position detecting unit 3. The time information acquisition unit 4 sends information “8:45:30” as the time when the image input unit 2 acquired the image data. In the time zone human body position accumulating means 5, for example, a memory area 17 corresponding to each time every hour is secured. The time zone human body position accumulating means 5 refers to the 8 o'clock memory area 18 that stores the 8 o'clock information from the memory area 17 based on the input time information 16. A counter corresponding to each area of the image data acquisition area is prepared in the memory area at each time, and the human body position information is obtained by counting up the counter of the area corresponding to the time corresponding to the detection of the human body position. Are accumulated and stored as a cumulative frequency. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the counter 19 corresponding to the human body position 15 where the human body is detected is counted up and the cumulative frequency is stored in the 8 o'clock memory area 18 in which 8 o'clock information is accumulated. In the example shown in FIG. 4, a memory area corresponding to each hour of each hour is secured, but information such as date, day of the week, and time is output from the time information acquisition unit 4 to correspond to the day of the week and time. Human body position information may be accumulated by securing a memory area, or human body position information may be accumulated by securing a memory area corresponding to the season, day of the week, and time. Any device may be used as long as it secures a memory area corresponding to a certain time zone that can be specified by the time information acquired by the time information acquisition unit 4 and accumulates human body position information.

  The living area determination unit 6 determines a living area based on the time information output from the time information acquisition unit 4 and the information accumulated in the human body position information accumulation unit 5 according to time zone.

  The operation of the living area determination unit 6 will be described with reference to FIG. The living area determination unit 6 acquires “8:45:30” as time information 20 for air conditioning by the air conditioning unit 8 from the time information acquisition unit 4. As the time information, for example, the time when the living area determination unit 6 performs processing, the time when the image data is acquired by the image input unit 2, and the like are acquired. The living area determination unit 6 extracts the information in the 8 o'clock memory area 18 that stores the 8 o'clock information corresponding to the time information 20 from the memory area 17 of the human body position accumulating unit 5 according to time zone. Next, the value of the counter that is the cumulative frequency corresponding to each area of the 8:00 am memory area 18 is confirmed, and an area with a large cumulative frequency is determined as a living area. For example, when the cumulative frequency of the area 21 and the area 22 is large, the position of these areas is output as the position of the living area. As means for determining the living area, the cumulative frequency of each area may be thresholded using a value obtained by multiplying the sum of the cumulative frequencies of all areas by a constant as a threshold, or the cumulative of each area. A predetermined number of areas in descending order of frequency may be determined as living areas.

  The air conditioning control means 7 generates an air conditioning control signal based on the human body position information detected by the human body position detection means 3 and the living area information determined by the living area determination means 6. For example, the wind direction may be controlled so as to go around the position where the human body is detected and the entire living area. Further, when the entire living area is visited, the position where the human body is detected may be overlapped.

  The air conditioning unit 8 controls the fan, the upper and lower vanes, the left and right vanes, and the like based on the air conditioning control signal that is the output of the air conditioning control unit 7, and controls the air temperature, the wind direction, the wind speed, and the like to perform the air conditioning.

  In this way, by performing air conditioning control based on the outputs of the human body position detecting means 3 and the living area determining means 6, the current human area is air-conditioned and the living area where the person is likely to move is selected. It becomes possible to air-condition ahead. This makes it possible to air-condition areas that are not likely to enter people during that time period and to air-condition areas that are likely to enter people in advance, thus achieving both energy saving and comfort. Can be performed.

  In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the same value is input to both the human body position information accumulating unit 5 and the air conditioning control unit 7 for the output of the human body position detecting unit 3, but the present invention is not limited to this. is not. For example, the output from the human body position detecting means 3 is input only to the human body position information accumulating means 5 for each time zone and accumulated in the human body position information accumulating means 5 for each time zone by the mode switching by the user or the automatic switching by the time zone. Only the information update may be performed, or the output from the human body position detection unit 3 may be input only to the air conditioning control unit 7 and the information stored in the human body position information accumulation unit 5 by time zone may not be updated. . The input to the air conditioning control means 7 may be only the output of the human body position detection means 3 or only the output of the living area determination means 6 by mode switching by the user or automatic switching by time zone.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Comparing FIG. 6 with FIG. 2, which is a diagram showing the configuration of the air conditioner according to Embodiment 1, it is the same except that the human body position detecting means 3 is replaced with the human body position floor coordinate detecting means 23.

  The operation of the human body position floor coordinate detection means 23 will be described with reference to FIG. The human body position floor coordinate detection means 23 creates a difference image 24 from the images 22 and 23 which are two images acquired by the image input means 2 at different times. Next, an area where data is changed in the difference image 24 is detected as a human body area 25, and a lower end of the human body area 25 is detected as a human body position 26.

  Further, the floor area 27 in the image 22 is specified by the relationship between the mounting position of the image input means 2 and the floor surface, the application of the image recognition technique to the image 22 acquired by the image input means 2, or the like. Next, the information on the human body position 26 detected in the difference image 24 is converted from the coordinates on the floor area 27 in the difference image 24 to the coordinates on the image 28 in the coordinate system when the floor is viewed from directly above. A new human body position 30 is output.

  In the time zone human body position information accumulating means 5, the counter 29 corresponding to the human body position 30 where the human body is detected is counted up in the memory area for storing information.

  In this way, by converting the human body position information detected by the human body position floor coordinate detection means 23 from the coordinate system of the floor surface on the captured image to the coordinate system in which the floor surface is viewed from directly above, and outputting it. Further, it is possible to detect the position of a person who is away from the air conditioner with the same fineness as that of a person near the air conditioner, and more finely controlled air conditioning. In addition, air conditioning control according to the distance from the air conditioner is possible, such as sending strong wind to people away from the air conditioner and sending weak wind to people near the air conditioner. .

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. Comparing FIG. 8 with FIG. 2, which is a diagram showing the configuration of the air conditioner according to Embodiment 1, it is the same except that the output of the temperature information acquisition means 31 is input to the air conditioning control means 6.

  In the air conditioning control means 6 in the air conditioner according to Embodiment 3, the human body position information detected by the human body position detection means 3, the living area information determined by the living area determination means 6, and the air conditioning area acquired by the temperature information acquisition means 31 Based on the air temperature information, an air conditioning control signal is generated. For example, a target temperature is set in advance and air conditioning is started. When the temperature acquired from the temperature information acquisition unit 31 does not reach the target temperature, the human body position detected by the human body position detection unit 3 is repeatedly passed. The entire living area is controlled so as to avoid the human body position detected by the human body position detecting means 3 when the wind direction control is performed so as to go around the entire living area and the temperature acquired from the temperature acquisition means 31 approaches the target temperature. The wind direction is controlled so as to go around.

  As a result, the target temperature can be reached in a short time, and uncomfortable feeling can be reduced by directing the wind to the human body.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. FIG. 9 is the same as FIG. 2, which is a diagram showing the configuration of the air conditioner according to Embodiment 1, except that the output of the bed temperature distribution acquisition means 32 is input to the air conditioning control means 6. The floor temperature distribution acquisition means 32 is realized by acquiring the distribution of the indoor deep temperature with an infrared sensor, for example.

  In the air conditioning control means 6 in the air conditioner according to Embodiment 4, the human body position information detected by the human body position detection means 3, the living area information determined by the living area determination means 6, and the air conditioning acquired by the floor temperature distribution acquisition means 32. An air conditioning control signal is generated based on the temperature information of the area. For example, a target floor temperature is set in advance and air conditioning is started. When the floor temperature at the human body position detected by the human body position detection means 3 does not reach the target floor temperature, the floor at the human body position or the human body position is used. The wind direction is controlled so that the wind reaches the surface, and when the floor temperature at the human body position detected by the human body position detection means 3 approaches the target floor temperature, the floor temperature becomes the target floor temperature in the living area. Wind direction control is performed toward a remote area.

  As a result, the floor temperature in the area where the person is present can reach the target value in a short time, and the floor temperature in the living area where the person is likely to move is proactively controlled, so that It is possible to adjust the floor temperature of the area where people are likely to enter without adjusting the air conditioning in the area where the possibility of entering is low, and it is possible to perform air conditioning that achieves both energy saving and comfort It becomes.

2 Image input means 3 Human body position detection means 4 Time information acquisition means 5 Time zone human body position information accumulation means 6 Living area determination means 7 Air conditioning control means 8 Air conditioning means 23 Human body position floor coordinate detection means 31 Air temperature information acquisition means 32 Floor temperature Distribution acquisition means

Claims (4)

Human body position detecting means for generating human body position information from the image data acquired by the image input means;
Human body position accumulating means for each time zone for accumulating the human body position information in each time zone from the information on the time when the image data was acquired and the human body position information;
Living area determination means for determining a living area to be air-conditioned from the cumulative frequency of each area;
Air conditioning control means for generating an air conditioning control signal from the information on the living area and the human body position information;
An air conditioner comprising air conditioning means for performing air conditioning based on the air conditioning control signal. Human body position floor coordinate detection means for generating human body position information in floor surface coordinates from image data acquired by the image input means;
Human body position accumulating means for each time zone for accumulating the human body position information in each time zone from the information on the time when the image data was acquired and the human body position information;
Living area determination means for determining a living area to be air-conditioned from the cumulative frequency of each area;
Air conditioning control means for generating an air conditioning control signal from the information on the living area and the human body position information;
An air conditioner comprising air conditioning means for performing air conditioning based on the air conditioning control signal. Equipped with temperature information acquisition means to measure the temperature,
The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the air conditioning control means further uses the output of the temperature information acquisition means for generating an air conditioning control signal. Equipped with a bed temperature distribution acquisition means for measuring the bed temperature distribution;
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the air conditioning control means further uses the output of the floor temperature distribution acquisition means for generating an air conditioning control signal.

Images