JP2021183885A - Air-conditioning control system, air-conditioning system, air-conditioning control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an air-conditioning control system and the like that are excellent in both maintaining an air conditioning environment and saving energy.SOLUTION: A cloud server 10 includes a trial run control unit 101, a score calculation unit 103, an energy saving object determining unit 104 and an energy saving control unit 105. The trial run control unit 101 runs each of the multiple indoor units for conditioning air of indoor spaces one by one on trial. The score calculation unit 103 calculates an active score indicating impact exerted by one of the indoor units on the other indoor units respectively from the trial run and a passive score indicating impact exerted on one of the indoor units by the other indoor units from the respective trial run for each of the indoor units. The energy saving object determining unit 104 determines one of the indoor units which is subjected to energy saving control on the basis of the active score and the passive score. The energy saving control unit 105 controls the indoor unit which is determined to be subjected to energy saving control by the energy saving object determining unit 104 in an energy saving manner.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to air conditioning control systems, air conditioning systems, air conditioning control methods and programs.

There is known a technique for saving energy while maintaining an air-conditioned environment in an indoor space by controlling energy saving for some of the indoor units among a plurality of indoor units that air-condition the indoor space. For example, in Patent Document 1, the degree of influence of one indoor unit on the other indoor unit is obtained for any pair of indoor units, and the pair with the smallest degree of influence is one indoor unit by rotation control. Disclosed is a technology for saving energy without significantly damaging the air-conditioned environment by stopping the operation of the air conditioner for a certain period of time.

International Publication No. 2019/043834

The technique described in Patent Document 1 is based on the premise that the two indoor units have the same influence on each other. Therefore, for example, when one indoor unit has a large influence on the other indoor unit, but the other indoor unit has a small influence on the one indoor unit, energy saving cannot be achieved with high accuracy.

Further, for example, consider a case where several indoor units are installed at positions close to each other and one indoor unit is installed at a position away from those outdoor units. In this case, the indoor unit at a distant position is not easily affected by other indoor units. Therefore, if the technique described in Patent Document 1 is applied, the energy saving control is applied. However, since the space around the indoor unit is not easily affected by the air conditioning effect of other indoor units, if the indoor unit is subject to energy saving control, the air conditioning environment around the indoor unit will be impaired.

That is, the technique described in Patent Document 1 is still insufficient in terms of saving energy while maintaining an air-conditioned environment.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an air conditioning control system or the like that is excellent in both maintenance of an air conditioning environment and energy saving in view of the above circumstances.

In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioning control system according to the present disclosure is
A test run control means for trial running each indoor unit of a plurality of indoor units that air-conditions the indoor space.
An active score showing the influence of the indoor unit of 1 on each of the other indoor units by the test run, and a passive score showing the influence of the indoor unit of 1 on each of the other indoor units by the test run. With the score calculation means for calculating each indoor unit,
An energy saving target determining means for determining an indoor unit to be targeted for energy saving control among the plurality of indoor units based on the active score and the passive score.
An energy-saving control means for energy-saving control of the indoor unit subject to energy-saving control by the energy-saving target determining means,
To prepare for.

According to the present disclosure, it is excellent in both maintenance of the air-conditioned environment and energy saving.

The figure which shows the structure of the air-conditioning system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this disclosure. The figure which shows the functional configuration of the cloud server which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this disclosure. The figure which shows an example of the passive score and the active score which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this disclosure. The figure which shows an example of the total passive score, the total active score and the influence degree score which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this disclosure. A graph showing an example of the distribution of the total passive score and the total active score according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The figure which shows an example of the hardware configuration of the cloud server which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this disclosure. A flowchart showing an example of the operation of calculating the impact score by the cloud server according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. A flowchart showing an example of the operation of energy saving control by the cloud server according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The figure which shows the functional configuration of the cloud server which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this disclosure. The figure which shows an example of the plan view which looked at the indoor unit which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this disclosure from the bottom. The figure which shows an example of the positional relationship estimation by the cloud server which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this disclosure. A flowchart showing an example of the operation of calculating the wind direction score by the cloud server according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. A flowchart showing an example of the operation of energy saving control by the cloud server according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, the air conditioning system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or equivalent parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

(Embodiment 1)
The air conditioning system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The air conditioning system 1 is an air conditioning system that controls air conditioning of a plurality of indoor units installed in the same indoor space to air-condition the indoor space. The air conditioner system 1 includes an indoor unit 2a-indoor unit 2e, an outdoor unit 3, a controller 4, and a cloud server 10. The indoor unit 2a-indoor unit 2e are connected to the outdoor unit 3 via a communication line and a refrigerant pipe, respectively. The outdoor unit 3 is communicably connected to the controller 4 via a communication line. The controller 4 is communicably connected to the cloud server 10 via the Internet NT. The indoor unit 2a-indoor unit 2e is installed in the same indoor space. Hereinafter, the indoor unit 2a-indoor unit 2e may be simply referred to as an indoor unit 2 as needed. The air conditioning system 1 is an example of the air conditioning system according to the present disclosure.

The indoor unit 2 operates in cooperation with the outdoor unit 3 to air-condition the indoor space. The indoor unit 2 is, for example, a ceiling-embedded indoor unit installed on the ceiling of a living room of an office building. In this case, the living room is an indoor space to be air-conditioned. The indoor unit 2 operates based on the air conditioning control of the controller 4 via the outdoor unit 3. As will be described later, since the controller 4 controls the indoor unit 2 based on the instruction transmitted from the cloud server 10, the indoor unit 2 is controlled by the cloud server 10. Under the control of the cloud server 10, the indoor unit 2 executes operations such as cooling operation and heating operation, changes the set temperature, and transmits information indicating the suction temperature. The indoor unit 2 is an example of the indoor unit according to the present disclosure.

The outdoor unit 3 cooperates with the indoor unit 2 to air-condition the indoor space in which the indoor unit 2 is installed, based on the air-conditioning control of the controller 4. The outdoor unit 3 is, for example, an outdoor unit installed on the roof of an office building. The outdoor unit 3 communicates with the indoor unit 2 as necessary, and relays the communication related to the control of the indoor unit 2 by the controller 4.

The controller 4 controls the outdoor unit 3 and the indoor unit 2 to air-condition the indoor space in which the indoor unit 2 is installed. In particular, the controller 4 receives a command regarding the control of the indoor unit 2 from the cloud server 10, and controls the indoor unit 2 based on the received command. The controller 4 is, for example, a centralized controller installed in a management room of an office building.

The cloud server 10 communicates with the controller 4 and controls the indoor unit 2 via the controller 4. Although the details will be described later, the cloud server 10 determines some of the indoor units 2a-indoor units 2e as energy-saving targets, and controls the indoor units 2 determined as energy-saving targets for energy saving. The cloud server 10 is, for example, a cloud server operated by a manufacturer of the indoor unit 2, the outdoor unit 3, and the controller 4. The cloud server 10 is an example of the air conditioning control system according to the present disclosure.

Next, the functional configuration of the cloud server 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The cloud server 10 includes a control unit 100, a communication unit 110, and a storage unit 120.

The communication unit 110 communicates with the controller 4 via the Internet NT. The storage unit 120 stores various scores described later.

The control unit 100 controls the cloud server 10 in an integrated manner and controls the indoor unit 2. The control unit 100 includes a test run control unit 101, a suction temperature acquisition unit 102, a score calculation unit 103, an energy saving target determination unit 104, and an energy saving control unit 105.

The trial run control unit 101 controls each indoor unit 2 and causes each indoor unit 2 to perform a trial run necessary for determining the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving. Specifically, the test run control unit 101 causes only one indoor unit 2 to be cooled or heated for a certain period of time, and stops the operation of the other indoor unit 2 to execute the test run of the one indoor unit 2. , Is performed until all the indoor units 2 execute the trial run. The details will be described later, but various scores described later are calculated based on the change in the suction temperature of the other indoor unit 2 due to the trial run of one indoor unit 2, and the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving is calculated based on the various scores. It is determined. It is preferable that the trial run of each indoor unit 2 is performed in the same environment as much as possible. Therefore, the test run control unit 101 controls each indoor unit 2 so as to execute the test run, for example, in the midnight / early morning time zone when there are few people coming and going. The test run control unit 101 is an example of the test run control means according to the present disclosure.

The suction temperature acquisition unit 102 acquires information indicating the suction temperature from each indoor unit 2. In particular, the suction temperature acquisition unit 102 acquires information indicating the suction temperature of each indoor unit 2 immediately before the test run is performed by the test run control unit 101 and information indicating the suction temperature of each indoor unit 2 immediately before the end of the test run. .. The change in the suction temperature before and after the test run is an index showing the influence of the indoor unit 2 that has been tested on the other indoor units 2 or the influence that each of the other indoor units 2 has on the indoor unit 2 that has been tested. It becomes.

The score calculation unit 103 calculates various scores based on changes in the suction temperature before and after the test run and stores them in the storage unit 120. The score calculation unit 103 is an example of the score calculation means according to the present disclosure. Hereinafter, the score calculation by the score calculation unit 103 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 as specific examples.

First, the score calculation unit 103 actively indicates the influence of the indoor unit 2 of 1 on the other indoor unit 2 by changing the suction temperature caused by the trial run of the indoor unit 2 of 1. The score and the passive score indicating the influence of the other indoor unit 2 on the indoor unit 2 of 1 are calculated and stored in the storage unit 120. The “giving side” and “receiving side” in the example shown in FIG. 3 indicate the indoor unit 2 that affects the other indoor unit 2 by the trial run and the indoor unit 2 that is affected by the trial run of the other indoor unit 2.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, when the indoor unit 2 on the “giving side” makes a test run, the change that occurs in the suction temperature of the indoor unit 2 on the “receiving side” is the active score of the “giving side” with respect to the “receiving side”, respectively. And the passive score of the "receiver" with respect to the "giver". For example, in FIG. 3, the active score of the “giving side” indoor unit 2a with respect to the “receiving side” indoor unit 2c is 0.2, and the passive score of the “receiving side” indoor unit 2c with respect to the “giving side” indoor unit 2a is also It is also 0.2.

Next, the score calculation unit 103 calculates and stores the total active score, which is the sum of the active scores for the other indoor units 2, and the passive score, which is the sum of the passive scores for the other indoor units 2, for each indoor unit 2. Store in unit 120. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the sum of the scores of the entire row is the total active score, and the sum of the scores of the entire column is the total passive score.

Then, the score calculation unit 103 calculates an influence degree score, which is a value obtained by dividing the total passive score by the total active score, for each indoor unit 2, and stores it in the storage unit 120. The example shown in FIG. 4 summarizes the total passive score, the total active score, and the impact score. Since the influence degree score is a value obtained by dividing the total passive score by the total active score, the larger the value, the less likely it is to affect the other indoor unit 2, and the more easily it is affected by the other indoor unit 2. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the indoor unit 2a having the highest influence score is less likely to affect the other indoor unit 2 and is easily affected by the other indoor unit 2.

With reference to FIG. 5, the distribution of the total passive score and the total active score for each indoor unit 2 will be described. FIG. 5 is a graph in which the total passive score and the total active score shown in FIG. 4 are plotted for each indoor unit 2 with the horizontal axis as the total passive score and the vertical axis as the total active score. The point located at the lower right of the graph has a higher impact score. From the graph of FIG. 5, it can be seen that the indoor unit 2a has the highest influence score.

See FIG. 2 again. The energy saving target determination unit 104 determines the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving controlled based on the influence degree score calculated by the score calculation unit 103 for each indoor unit 2 and stored in the storage unit 120. For example, the energy saving target determination unit 104 determines 21 indoor units having the highest impact score as energy saving control targets. Alternatively, for example, the energy saving target determination unit 104 determines the indoor unit 2 whose impact score is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value as the target of energy saving control. Alternatively, for example, the energy saving target determination unit 104 determines the indoor unit 2 whose impact score is within a predetermined order as the target of energy saving control. The energy saving target determination unit 104 determines the indoor unit 2 that is unlikely to affect the other indoor unit 2 and is easily affected by the other indoor unit 2 as the target of the energy saving control. The energy saving target determination unit 104 is an example of the energy saving target determination means according to the present disclosure.

The energy saving control unit 105 controls the indoor unit 2 determined by the energy saving target determination unit 104 as an energy saving target. Since the energy saving control unit 105 changes the set temperature of the indoor unit 2 which is hard to affect the other indoor unit 2 and is easily affected by the other indoor unit 2 to save energy, the energy saving control unit 105 saves energy without damaging the air conditioning environment. be able to. The energy saving control unit 105 is an example of the energy saving control means according to the present disclosure.

For example, when there is only one indoor unit 2 determined as an energy saving target, the energy saving control unit 105 performs energy saving control by changing the set temperature by 1 ° C. when the indoor unit 2 is operated. That is, the energy saving control unit 105 raises the set temperature of the indoor unit 2 determined as the energy saving target by 1 ° C. when each indoor unit 2 performs the cooling operation, and sets the indoor unit 2 as the energy saving target when the cooling operation is performed. The determined set temperature of the indoor unit 2 is lowered by 1 ° C. Further, for example, when there are a plurality of indoor units 2 determined as energy saving targets, the energy saving control unit 105 selects one of the indoor units 2 determined as energy saving targets and changes the set temperature by 1 ° C. for a certain period of time. , Energy saving control is performed by rotation control such as selecting one of the other indoor units 2 after a certain period of time and changing the set temperature by 1 ° C. for a certain period of time.

Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the cloud server 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The cloud server 10 shown in FIG. 6 is realized by a computer such as a personal computer or a server computer.

The cloud server 10 includes a processor 1001, a memory 1002, an interface 1003, and a secondary storage device 1004, which are connected to each other via a bus 1000.

The processor 1001 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Each function of the cloud server 10 is realized by the processor 1001 reading the operation program stored in the secondary storage device 1004 into the memory 1002 and executing the program.

The memory 1002 is, for example, a main storage device configured by a RAM (Random Access Memory). The memory 1002 stores an operation program read from the secondary storage device 1004 by the processor 1001. Further, the memory 1002 functions as a work memory when the processor 1001 executes an operation program.

The interface 1003 is an I / O (Input / Output) interface such as a serial port, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, and a network interface. The function of the communication unit 110 is realized by the interface 1003.

The secondary storage device 1004 is, for example, a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or an SSD (Solid State Drive). The secondary storage device 1004 stores an operation program executed by the processor 1001. The function of the storage unit 120 is realized by the secondary storage device 1004.

Next, an example of the operation of calculating the impact score by the cloud server 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 7. The operation shown in FIG. 7 is preferably executed periodically, such as every month or every three months. This is because which indoor unit 2 is likely to affect which indoor unit 2 can change depending on the season, the indoor environment, and the like. Further, as described above, it is preferable that the test run of each indoor unit 2 is performed in the same environment as much as possible. Therefore, the operation shown in FIG. 7 is executed, for example, in the midnight / early morning hours when there are few people coming and going. Is preferable.

The test run control unit 101 of the control unit 100 of the cloud server 10 selects one indoor unit 2 that has not yet been tested (step S101). "The test run has not been performed yet" here means that the test run has not been performed in the calculation of the impact score this time. Therefore, it is irrelevant whether or not there is a test run in the past impact score calculation.

The test run control unit 101 stops the operation of the other indoor unit 2 not selected in step S101, and causes the selected indoor unit 2 to test run for a certain period of time (step S102).

The suction temperature acquisition unit 102 of the control unit 100 acquires the suction temperature of each indoor unit 2 whose operation is stopped at the start and end of the trial operation, so that the trial operation of each indoor unit 2 whose operation is stopped is acquired. The change in the suction temperature before and after is detected (step S103).

The score calculation unit 103 calculates an active score and a passive score for each indoor unit 2 based on the change in the suction temperature detected in step S103, and stores the active score and the passive score in the storage unit 120 (step S104). For example, when the indoor unit 2a is test-run, the score calculation unit 103 calculates and saves the active score for each of the other indoor units 2 of the indoor unit 2a and the passive score of each of the other indoor units 2 for the indoor unit 2a. do.

The test run control unit 101 determines whether or not there is an indoor unit 2 that has not yet been test run (step S105). When there is an indoor unit 2 that has not yet been tested (step S105: Yes), the test run control unit 101 repeats the operation from the selection of the indoor unit 2 in step S101.

When there is no indoor unit 2 that has not been tested (step S105: No), that is, when all the indoor units 2 have been tested, the score calculation unit 103 of each indoor unit 2 saved in step S104. Based on the active score and the passive score, the influence degree score of each indoor unit 2 is calculated and stored in the storage unit 120 (step S106). Then, the control unit 100 ends the operation of calculating the influence degree score.

Next, an example of the operation of energy saving control by the cloud server 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The operation shown in FIG. 8 is executed, for example, when the air conditioning control of each indoor unit 2 is started by the cloud server 10. However, the "air conditioning control" referred to here does not include the control for the above-mentioned test run. Further, in the operation shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of indoor units 2 are determined as targets for energy saving control, and the indoor units 2 subject to energy saving control are rotated and controlled one by one. The case where one indoor unit 2 is determined as energy saving control will be described later.

The energy saving target determination unit 104 of the control unit 100 of the cloud server 10 determines the energy saving target indoor unit 2 based on the influence degree score of each indoor unit 2 stored in the storage unit 120 (step S201).

The energy-saving control unit 105 of the control unit 100 selects one indoor unit 2 that is the target of energy-saving control determined in step S201 (step S202).

The energy saving control unit 105 changes the set temperature of the indoor unit 2 selected in step S202 by 1 ° C. (step S203). When the selected indoor unit 2 is in the cooling operation, the energy saving control unit 105 raises the set temperature by 1 ° C., and when the selected indoor unit 2 is in the heating operation, the energy saving control unit 105 raises the set temperature by 1 ° C. Lower.

The energy saving control unit 105 operates the selected indoor unit 2 at the set temperature changed in step S203 for a certain period of time (step S204). After a lapse of a certain period of time, the energy saving control unit 105 restores the set temperature changed in step S203 (step S205).

The energy saving control unit 105 selects another indoor unit 2 that is the target of energy saving control (step S206). In selecting "another indoor unit 2", all the indoor units 2 subject to energy saving control are uniformly selected. For example, when the indoor unit 2a, the indoor unit 2b, and the indoor unit 2e are subject to energy saving control, the indoor unit 2a, the indoor unit 2b, the indoor unit 2e, the indoor unit 2a, the indoor unit 2b, the indoor unit 2e, ...・ ・ Make sure to select in the order of.

Then, the energy saving control unit 105 repeats the operation from step S203.

When one indoor unit 2 is determined as energy saving control in step S201, the set temperature may be changed thereafter, and the operation of the indoor unit 2 subject to the energy saving control may be continued at the changed set temperature. ..

The air conditioning system 1 according to the first embodiment has been described above. According to the air conditioner system 1, it is based on an active score showing the influence of 1 indoor unit 2 on each of the other indoor units 2 and a passive score showing the influence of 1 indoor unit 2 on each of the other indoor units 2. The indoor unit 2 to be the target of energy saving control is determined. Therefore, according to the air conditioning system 1, the indoor unit 2 that does not impair the air conditioning environment and has a high energy saving effect when the energy saving control is performed can be appropriately determined as the target of the energy saving control. Therefore, the air conditioning system 1 is excellent in both maintenance of the air conditioning environment and energy saving.

(Embodiment 2)
Hereinafter, the air conditioning system 1 according to the second embodiment will be described. The overall configuration of the air conditioning system 1 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the functional configuration of the cloud server 10 is different from that of the first embodiment. The air conditioning system 1 according to the second embodiment is an air conditioning system in which the cloud server 10 estimates the positional relationship of each indoor unit 2 and performs energy saving control based on the estimated positional relationship. Although the details will be described later, the cloud server 10 causes each indoor unit 2 to perform a test run different from that of the first embodiment in order to estimate the positional relationship of each indoor unit 2.

As shown in FIG. 9, the control unit 100 includes a test run control unit 101A, a score calculation unit 103A, and an energy saving target determination unit 104A in place of the test run control unit 101, the score calculation unit 103, and the energy saving target determination unit 104. The point is different from the first embodiment in that the control unit 100 further includes the positional relationship estimation unit 106A.

In addition to the same functions as in the first embodiment, the test run control unit 101A has a function of gradually changing the wind direction of the indoor unit 2 to cause the indoor unit 2 to test run. The test run control unit 101A controls, for example, the vane provided in the indoor unit 2 to change the wind direction by limiting the outlet from which the wind is sent out.

Hereinafter, a more specific description will be given with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 shows a ceiling-embedded indoor unit 2 having vanes 21 in four directions and capable of sending wind in four directions by opening the vanes 21. In FIG. 10, only the downward vanes 21 are open in a plan view, and the other three-direction vanes 21 are closed. At this time, the indoor unit 2 can send the wind only in the downward direction. The test run control unit 101A performs control in four directions in which only one vane 21 is opened and the other vanes 21 are closed to perform a test run. By such control, the test run control unit 101A can cause the indoor unit 2 to perform a test run in which the wind direction is gradually changed in four directions.

See FIG. 9 again. In the score calculation unit 103A, in addition to the same functions as in the first embodiment, when the test run control unit 101A changes the wind direction stepwise to test run the indoor unit 2, the indoor unit 2 that has performed the test run is another. The wind direction score indicating the influence on each of the indoor units 2 of the above is calculated and stored in the storage unit 120. Like the active score, the wind direction score is calculated based on the change in the suction temperature of the other indoor unit 2 due to the trial run of the indoor unit 2 for each wind direction.

The positional relationship estimation unit 106A estimates the positional relationship of each indoor unit 2 based on the wind direction score for each indoor unit 2 calculated by the score calculation unit 103A and stored in the storage unit 120. The positional relationship estimation unit 106A is an example of the positional relationship estimation means according to the present disclosure.

An example of positional relationship estimation by the positional relationship estimation unit 106A will be described with reference to FIG. 11. The arrow shown in FIG. 11 (1) and the reference numeral indicated at the tip of the arrow indicate that the wind direction score for the indoor unit 2 corresponding to the reference numeral is the highest in the direction of the arrow. For example, in FIG. 11 (1), the wind direction score of the indoor unit 2a with respect to the indoor unit 2b is highest in the upward direction. That is, in FIG. 11 (1), the indoor unit 2a has the greatest influence on the indoor unit 2b when the wind is sent upward.

It should be noted that each direction of each indoor unit 2 shown in FIG. 11 (1) is based on a reference direction peculiar to each indoor unit 2. Therefore, for example, in FIG. 11 (1), the upward direction of the indoor unit 2a and the upward direction of the indoor unit 2b do not always indicate the same direction in the indoor space. As will be described later, the upward direction in the indoor unit 2b coincides with the downward direction in the indoor unit 2a.

First, as shown in FIG. 11 (1), the positional relationship estimation unit 106A obtains the wind direction that most affects each of the other indoor units 2 for each indoor unit 2. Each arrow and reference numeral shown in FIG. 11 (1) is a wind direction obtained by the positional relationship estimation unit 106A for each indoor unit 2.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11 (2), the positional relationship estimation unit 106A tentatively determines the positional relationship so that the wind directions that most affect each other face each other. For example, in FIG. 11 (1), the positional relationship estimation unit 106A has an upward direction in which the indoor unit 2a has the greatest influence on the indoor unit 2b, and an upper direction in which the indoor unit 2b has the greatest influence on the indoor unit 2a. The position of the indoor unit 2b is tentatively determined with reference to the indoor unit 2a so that the directions are opposite to each other. Therefore, the positional relationship estimation unit 106A is provisionally arranged above the indoor unit 2a as shown in FIG. 11 (2) by rotating the indoor unit 2b half a turn. Similarly, the positional relationship estimation unit 106A rotates the indoor unit 2c by 90 degrees to the left and temporarily arranges it on the left side of the indoor unit 2a. The term "arranged" here does not mean that the indoor unit 2 is actually arranged in the indoor space, but means that the indoor unit 2 is virtually arranged on a virtual plane.

At the time of FIG. 11 (2), since the indoor unit 2b and the indoor unit 2c are only provisionally arranged with the indoor unit 2a as a reference, the positional relationship between the indoor unit 2b and the indoor unit 2c has the greatest influence. It is unnatural in relation to the wind direction. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11 (3), the positional relationship estimation unit 106A corrects the position of the indoor unit 2b and the position of the indoor unit 2c in an oblique direction, and the positional relationship of each indoor unit 2 in relation to the wind direction. The indoor unit 2b and the indoor unit 2c are rearranged so that Since FIG. 11 shows the case where there are three indoor units x, the estimation of the positional relationship is completed.

The positional relationship estimation unit 106A can estimate the positional relationship of each indoor unit 2 by repeating the operations as shown in FIGS. 11 (2) and 11 (3) even when there are four or more indoor units 2. .. Further, in FIG. 11, the size of the wind direction score is not taken into consideration, but by arranging the indoor units 2 so that the distance between the indoor units 2 becomes shorter as the wind direction score becomes larger, the positional relationship estimation unit 106A Can estimate the position more accurately.

The energy saving target determination unit 104A tentatively determines a candidate for the energy saving target indoor unit 2 in the same manner as in the case of determining the energy saving target indoor unit 2 in the first embodiment, and the positional relationship estimation unit 106A. The difference from the first embodiment is that the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving is determined among the candidates tentatively determined based on the positional relationship estimated by. For example, among the candidates for the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving, the energy-saving target determination unit 104A determines the indoor unit 2 close to the center in the estimated positional relationship as the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving. For example, when the impact scores are the same, the indoor unit 2 near the center is more likely to be equally affected and evenly affected by the other indoor units 2 than the indoor unit 2 far from the center. When it is targeted for energy saving control, it is less likely to damage the air conditioning environment than the indoor unit 2 far from the center. Therefore, among the candidates for the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving, the indoor unit 2 near the center is more suitable as the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving than the indoor unit 2 far from the center.

The functional configuration of the cloud server 10 according to the second embodiment has been described above. Next, various operations by the cloud server 10 according to the second embodiment will be described. First, since the operation of calculating the degree of influence is exactly the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, with reference to FIG. 12, an example of the operation of calculating the wind direction score by the cloud server 10 according to the second embodiment will be described. Similar to the operation shown in FIG. 7, the operation shown in FIG. 12 is preferably executed periodically, and is preferably executed in the midnight / early morning time zone when there are few people coming and going.

The test run control unit 101A of the control unit 100 of the cloud server 10 selects one indoor unit 2 that has not yet been tested (step S301).

The test run control unit 101A selects one vane 21 of the indoor unit 2 selected in step S301 that has not yet been selected (step S302). The test run control unit 101A opens the selected vane 21 and closes the other vanes 21 (step S303).

The test run control unit 101A stops the operation of the other indoor unit 2 not selected in step S301, and causes the selected indoor unit 2 to test run for a certain period of time (step S304).

The suction temperature acquisition unit 102 of the control unit 100 acquires the suction temperature of each indoor unit 2 whose operation is stopped at the start and end of the trial operation, so that the trial operation of each indoor unit 2 whose operation is stopped is acquired. The change in suction temperature before and after is detected (step S305).

The score calculation unit 103A calculates the wind direction score for each of the affected indoor units 2 based on the change in the suction temperature detected in step S305 and stores it in the storage unit 120 (step S306).

The test run control unit 101A determines whether or not there is a vane 21 that has not been selected yet (step S307). When there is a vane 21 that has not been selected yet (step S307: Yes), the test run control unit 101A repeats the operation from the selection of the vane 21 in step S302.

When there is no vane 21 that has not been selected yet (step S307: No), the test run control unit 101A determines whether or not there is an indoor unit 2 that has not yet been test run (step S308). When there is an indoor unit 2 that has not yet been tested (step S308: Yes), the test run control unit 101A repeats the operation from the selection of the indoor unit 2 in step S301.

When there is no indoor unit 2 for which the test run has not been performed yet (step S308: No), the control unit 100 ends the operation of calculating the influence degree score.

Next, an example of the operation of energy saving control by the cloud server 10 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. However, since the operations of steps S404 to S408 shown in FIG. 13 are exactly the same as the operations of steps S202 to S206 in the case of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the description thereof will be omitted.

The energy saving target determination unit 104A of the control unit 100 of the cloud server 10 tentatively determines a candidate for the energy saving target indoor unit 2 based on the influence degree score of each indoor unit 2 stored in the storage unit 120 ( Step S401).

The positional relationship estimation unit 106A of the control unit 100 estimates the positional relationship of each indoor unit 2 based on the wind direction score for each wind direction of each indoor unit 2 stored in the storage unit 120 (step S402).

The energy-saving target determination unit 104A determines the indoor unit 2 near the center among the candidates tentatively determined in step S401 as the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving, based on the positional relationship estimated in step S402. (Step S403). The energy-saving target determination unit 104A determines, for example, the indoor unit 2 whose distance from the central portion is within a certain distance among the candidates as the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving.

Hereinafter, the control unit 100 executes the operation from step S404.

The air conditioning system 1 according to the second embodiment has been described above. According to the air conditioning system 1 according to the second embodiment, the positional relationship of each indoor unit 2 is estimated, and the indoor unit 2 to be energy-saving is determined based on the positional relationship. Therefore, according to the air conditioning system 1 according to the second embodiment, the maintenance of the air conditioning environment is further excellent as compared with the first embodiment.

(Modification example)
In the first and second embodiments, the cloud server 10 performs a test run of the indoor unit 2, calculation of various scores, determination of an energy saving target, energy saving control of the indoor unit 2, and the like. Instead of this, for example, the controller 4 may have the same functions as the cloud server 10, and the controller 4 may perform a test run of the indoor unit 2, calculation of various scores, determination of an energy saving target, energy saving control of the indoor unit 2, and the like. In this case, the controller 4 is an example of the air conditioning control system according to the present disclosure. In addition, the controller 4 has some of the functions of the cloud server 10, and in collaboration with the cloud server 10 and the controller 4, trial operation of the indoor unit 2, various score calculations, determination of energy saving targets, energy saving control of the indoor unit 2, etc. May be done. In this case, the combination of the cloud server 10 and the controller 4 is an example of the air conditioning control system according to the present disclosure.

In the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 6, the cloud server 10 includes the secondary storage device 1004. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the secondary storage device 1004 may be provided outside the cloud server 10 and the cloud server 10 and the secondary storage device 1004 may be connected via the interface 1003. In this form, removable media such as a USB flash drive and a memory card can also be used as the secondary storage device 1004.

Further, instead of the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 6, the cloud server 10 may be configured by a dedicated circuit using an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like. .. Further, in the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 6, a part of the functions of the cloud server 10 may be realized by, for example, a dedicated circuit connected to the interface 1003.

1 Air conditioning system, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e Indoor unit, 3 Outdoor unit, 4 Controller, 10 Cloud server, 21 vanes, 100 Control unit, 101, 101A Trial run control unit, 102 Suction temperature acquisition unit, 103, 103A Score calculation unit, 104, 104A Energy saving target determination unit, 105 Energy saving control unit, 106A Positional relationship estimation unit, 110 communication unit, 120 storage unit, 1000 bus, 1001 processor, 1002 memory, 1003 interface, 1004 secondary storage device, NT the Internet.

Claims (9)

A test run control means for trial running each indoor unit of a plurality of indoor units that air-conditions the indoor space.
An active score showing the influence of the indoor unit of 1 on each of the other indoor units by the test run, and a passive score showing the influence of the indoor unit of 1 on each of the other indoor units by the test run. With the score calculation means for calculating each indoor unit,
An energy saving target determining means for determining an indoor unit to be targeted for energy saving control among the plurality of indoor units based on the active score and the passive score.
An energy-saving control means for energy-saving control of the indoor unit subject to energy-saving control by the energy-saving target determining means,
Air conditioning control system with. The score calculating means calculates the active score and the passive score based on the change caused in the suction temperature of each of the indoor units by the test run by the test run control means.
The air conditioning control system according to claim 1. The score calculating means further calculates an influence score, which is a value obtained by dividing the total of the passive scores by the total of the active scores, for each indoor unit.
The energy saving target determining means determines an indoor unit to be targeted for energy saving control based on the impact score.
The air conditioning control system according to claim 1 or 2. When there are a plurality of indoor units subject to energy saving control, the energy saving control means controls each of the indoor units subject to energy saving control by energy saving control by rotation control.
The air conditioning control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The test run control means changes the wind direction stepwise in the test run of each of the indoor units.
The score calculating means calculates a wind direction score indicating the influence of one indoor unit on each of the other indoor units by the trial run for each wind direction changed stepwise in the trial run by the test run control means.
Further provided with a positional relationship estimation means for estimating the positional relationship of the plurality of indoor units based on the wind direction score,
The energy saving target determining means determines an indoor unit to be targeted for energy saving control based on the positional relationship estimated by the positional relationship estimating means.
The air conditioning control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The test run control means changes the wind direction by controlling the vane provided in the indoor unit to limit the outlet from which the wind is sent out.
The air conditioning control system according to claim 5. Multiple indoor units that air-condition the indoor space,
The air conditioning control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
Air conditioning system with. Test run each of the indoor units of multiple indoor units that air-condition the indoor space.
An active score showing the influence of the indoor unit of 1 on each of the other indoor units by the test run, and a passive score showing the influence of the indoor unit of 1 on each of the other indoor units by the test run. Is calculated for each indoor unit.
Based on the active score and the passive score, the indoor unit to be the target of energy saving control is determined from the plurality of indoor units.
Energy saving control of the indoor unit subject to the energy saving control,
Air conditioning control method. Computer,
A test run control means for trial running each indoor unit of a plurality of indoor units that air-conditions the indoor space.
An active score showing the influence of the indoor unit of 1 on each of the other indoor units by the test run, and a passive score showing the influence of the indoor unit of 1 on each of the other indoor units by the test run. , A score calculation means for calculating each indoor unit,
An energy-saving target determining means for determining an indoor unit to be energy-saving controlled among the plurality of indoor units based on the active score and the passive score.
An energy-saving control means for controlling the indoor unit subject to the energy-saving control by the energy-saving target determining means.
A program that functions as.

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