JP5188324B2 - Air conditioner control system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to air conditioning technology, and more particularly to an air conditioner control system.

In a living space such as a building, the air conditioner measures the indoor temperature and the like, and the air conditioner supplies air at an appropriate temperature to the room with an appropriate air volume so that there is no difference from the set temperature. In addition, the air conditioner supplies a certain amount of outside air into the room so that the carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) concentration in the room does not increase. However, in order to drive the air conditioner more efficiently, it is required to grasp the number of people in the room and control the air conditioner based on the number of persons. This is because if the intake of outside air into the room is minimized according to the number of people, the energy consumption of the air conditioner can be minimized. In an elevator or the like, a method has been proposed in which the number of people in an elevator is estimated from a change in load, and an air conditioner is controlled according to the estimated number of people (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, estimating the number of persons from the change in load is likely to cause an error due to the difference in weight of each individual and the presence or absence of luggage. In addition, there is a method of obtaining the number of people in the room by using a surveillance camera, but there is a problem that the privacy of the resident is infringed.

In addition, the occupants in the room are stationary or move around. Therefore, the activity level of the occupants varies arbitrarily depending on the intentions of the occupants. Since the higher the activity level, the more comfortable the person feels the lower temperature, it is also required to grasp the activity level of the occupants and control the air conditioner based on the activity level. As a method for obtaining the activity level of a person, a method of measuring infrared rays emitted by a person using a human sensor has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 2). However, the method of measuring infrared rays tends to cause an error in estimation of human activity due to the difference in the amount of clothes of people and the presence of warm objects such as OA equipment and food and drink. In addition, there is a method of monitoring the movement of a person with a monitoring camera (see, for example, Patent Document 3), but there is a problem that the privacy of the occupant is infringed. Furthermore, a method has been proposed in which an occupant is attached with an acceleration sensor and the activity level of the occupant is measured based on the output of the acceleration sensor (see, for example, Patent Document 4). However, it is not realistic to attach an acceleration sensor to all occupants.
JP 9-269262 A Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-166335 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-121542 JP 2006-247410 A

  An object of this invention is to provide the air-conditioner control system which can control an air-conditioner appropriately according to the increase / decrease in the number of persons in a room, or the activity level of a person.

  The features of the present invention are: (a) a transmitter that radiates a wave propagating in space, (b) a receiver that receives the wave, and (c) an amplitude monitor that monitors the amplitude of the wave received by the receiver. And (d) an air conditioner control system including a control module that controls an indoor air conditioner based on a change in the amplitude of the monitored wave. The inventor has found that the amplitude of the wave radiated into the room changes according to the number of people in the room. Therefore, according to the air conditioner control system of the present invention, the air conditioner is controlled based on the change in the amplitude of the wave radiated into the room. Be properly controlled.

  Other features of the present invention include (a) a transmitter that radiates a wave propagating in space, (b) a receiver that receives the wave, and (c) a frequency of the wave received by the receiver. The gist of the invention is an air conditioner control system comprising a frequency monitor to be monitored and (d) a control module for controlling an indoor air conditioner based on a change in the frequency of the monitored wave. The inventor has found that the frequency characteristics of waves radiated into the room change according to the activity level of the person in the room. Therefore, according to the air conditioner control system of the present invention, the air conditioner is controlled based on the change in the frequency of the wave radiated into the room. Be controlled.

  Further, other features of the present invention are as follows: (a) a transmitter that radiates a modulated wave modulated with a spread code into the room, (b) a receiver that receives the modulated wave, and (c) a received modulated wave. A demodulating module that demodulates with a despreading code and generates a demodulated wave; (d) a demodulated wave monitor that monitors the signal strength of the demodulated wave; The gist of the present invention is an air conditioner control system including a control module for controlling an indoor air conditioner. The inventor has found that the signal strength of the demodulated wave changes according to the number of people in the room. Therefore, according to the air conditioner control system of the present invention, since the air conditioner is controlled based on the change in the signal intensity of the demodulated wave, the air conditioning in the room is appropriately controlled according to the increase or decrease in the number of people in the room. Is done.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the air conditioner control system which can control an air conditioner appropriately according to the increase / decrease in the number of people in a room or the activity level of a person can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals. However, the drawings are schematic. Therefore, specific dimensions and the like should be determined in light of the following description. Moreover, it is a matter of course that portions having different dimensional relationships and ratios are included between the drawings.

(First embodiment)
The air conditioner control system according to the first embodiment is a system for controlling the air conditioner 5 for the room 10 shown in FIG. The air conditioner 5 is a device that can adjust the temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) concentration, and the like of the room 10. The air conditioner 5 can send air controlled to an appropriate temperature and humidity into the room 10 so that the temperature and humidity of the room 10 become the set temperature and humidity. The air conditioner 5, when the CO ₂ concentration in the chamber 10 was raised by the breath of the person in the room, and ventilating the room 10, it is possible to reduce the CO ₂ concentration in the chamber 10.

  The air conditioner control system according to the first embodiment is connected to a transmitter 1 that radiates waves propagating in space into the room 10, a receiver 2 that receives the waves, a receiver 2, and an air conditioner 5. A central processing unit (CPU) 300 is provided. The CPU 300 includes an amplitude monitor 301 that monitors the amplitude of the wave received by the receiver 2, and a control module 302 that controls the air conditioner 5 based on a change in the amplitude of the monitored wave. Note that the wave propagating in space refers to radio waves, ultrasonic waves, and the like. In the following, an example in which radio waves are used as waves propagating in space will be described.

  In FIG. 1, the transmitter 1 and the receiver 2 are arranged behind the ceiling 11 with a certain interval. For example, the interval between the transmitter 1 and the receiver 2 is 5 m. However, the transmitter 1 and the receiver 2 may be arranged on the room 10 side of the ceiling 11. The transmitter 1 emits a radio wave having a constant amplitude at a constant interval or continuously. Fig. 2 shows the result of simulating the trajectory of a radio wave when a 2.4 GHz radio wave is radiated from a single receiver in a 20m x 12m x 3m room. As is clear from the simulation results, the radio waves radiated from the transmitter 1 shown in FIG. 1 are radiated to all the spaces in the room 10 and reflected by the walls of the room 10, the person 3, and the like. Therefore, the receiver 2 receives a combined wave of a direct wave that has propagated through the ceiling 11 without any interference and a plurality of reflected waves reflected by the wall of the room 10 or a person 3 or the like.

  Here, the plurality of reflected waves propagate along paths having different path lengths depending on the reflection positions. Therefore, the propagation time until each of the plurality of reflected waves reaches the receiver 2 is different. Therefore, a phase difference occurs in each of the plurality of reflected waves, and the amplitude of the combined wave changes from the amplitude of the direct wave. When the frequency of radio waves is high, for example, 2.4 GHz, the human body also reflects radio waves well. Therefore, when the person 3 enters the room 10, the amplitude of the synthesized wave changes. As more people 3 enter the room 10, the reflected area increases, so the amplitude of the synthesized wave changes more greatly.

  The amplitude monitor 301 monitors the amplitude of the synthesized wave. The monitoring may be performed every second, for example. Note that the amplitude monitor 301 is not necessarily required to directly monitor the amplitude of the combined wave, and may be monitored indirectly from the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the combined wave. FIG. 3 shows an example of the change over time of the received signal strength of the synthesized wave when there is no person 3 in the room 10. When there is no person 3 in the room 10, the received signal strength of the synthesized wave hardly changes. However, as shown in FIG. 4, when the person 3 is present in the room 10, the received signal strength of the synthesized wave changes compared to when the person 3 is not present. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, as the number of people in the room 10 increases, the received signal strength of the combined wave also changes.

  The amplitude monitor 301 shown in FIG. 1 further calculates the standard deviation of the received signal strength of the composite wave within a certain time. FIG. 8 is an example of the standard deviation of the received signal strength of the composite wave calculated by the amplitude monitor 301 when the number of people in the room 10 is 0 to 4 respectively. As shown in FIG. 9, the standard deviation of the received signal strength of the synthesized wave increases as the number of people in the room 10 increases. Conversely, as the number of people in the room 10 decreases, the standard deviation of the received signal strength of the synthesized wave decreases. The unit of standard deviation shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is decibel (dB).

When the standard deviation calculated by the amplitude monitor 301 increases from near 0.36 to 1.84 as shown in FIG. 8, the control module 302 shown in FIG. 1 assumes that one person 3 has entered the room 10, and the standard deviation is Compared with the case where it is in the vicinity of 0.36, the cooling of the air conditioner 5 is strengthened or the heating is weakened. When the air conditioner 5 is operating with the cooling function, the control module 302 specifically decreases the temperature of the wind supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 or causes the air conditioner 5 to supply the room 10 to the room 10. The air volume is increased and the temperature of the room 10 is maintained at the set temperature. When the standard deviation calculated by the amplitude monitor 301 further increases, the control module 302 considers that the number of people in the room 10 has further increased, and further increases the temperature of the wind supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10. The air volume supplied to the room 10 from the air conditioner 5 is further decreased, and the temperature of the room 10 is maintained at the set temperature. In addition, the air conditioner 5 may ventilate the room 10 in preparation for an increase in the CO ₂ concentration accompanying an increase in the number of people in the room. Furthermore, the humidity of the wind supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 may be reduced in preparation for an increase in humidity accompanying an increase in the number of people in the room.

  When the standard deviation calculated by the amplitude monitor 301 decreases, the control module 302 considers that the number of people in the room 10 has decreased, and weakens the cooling of the air conditioner 5 or increases the heating. When the air conditioner 5 is operating with a cooling function, the control module 302 specifically increases the temperature of the wind supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 or supplies it from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10. Reduce the air volume and keep the temperature of the room 10 at the set temperature. Further, when the standard deviation calculated by the amplitude monitor 301 is close to 0.36 as shown in FIG. 8, the control module 302 considers that the number of people in the room 10 shown in FIG. Reduce the output of 5 or stop the air conditioner 5.

The person 3 in the room 10 generates heat and emits CO ₂ by exhalation. Therefore, in the absence of the air conditioner control system according to the first embodiment, the indoor temperature increases and the CO ₂ concentration also increases as the number of people in the room 10 increases. Conventionally, it has been difficult to accurately grasp the number of people in the room 10, so the increase in the number of people in the room 10 is not directly detected, and the room 10 I was sending cold air. For this reason, the temperature of the room 10 temporarily rises from the set temperature, and the thermal comfort of the occupants has been lost. Conventionally, the room 10 is ventilated in accordance with the increase in the CO ₂ concentration in the room 10. However, even if temporarily, the increase in the CO ₂ concentration has problems such as bringing sleepiness to the occupants. It was.

  In contrast, if the air conditioner control system according to the first embodiment is used, an increase in the number of people in the room 10 is instantaneously detected, and the air conditioner 5 It is possible to supply cold air to the room 10 and keep the temperature of the room 10 at the set temperature. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a temporary increase in the temperature of the room 10 accompanying the increase in the number of occupants, and it is possible to improve the thermal comfort of the occupants.

Further, maintained by detecting the occupants increase in the number of indoor 10, and without waiting for the rise of the CO ₂ concentration in the room 10, the room 10 is ventilated air conditioner 5, the CO ₂ concentration in the chamber 10 lower It becomes possible to do. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a temporary increase in the CO ₂ concentration in the room 10 due to the increase in the number of people in the room, and it is possible to improve the working efficiency of the people in the room.

  Conventionally, since the decrease in the number of occupants in the room 10 could not be detected, the same cold air as before the decrease was supplied to the room 10 even when the number of occupants as heat generating elements decreased. For this reason, there is a problem that the temperature of the room 10 temporarily decreases from the set temperature and causes chills to the people who remain in the room 10. On the other hand, if the air conditioner control system according to the first embodiment is used, a decrease in the number of people in the room 10 is detected instantaneously, and the air conditioner 5 It becomes possible to weaken the cooling and keep the temperature of the room 10 at the set temperature.

  As shown in the simulation result of FIG. 2, the room 10 shown in FIG. 1 is filled with a very large number of reflected waves reflected by walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, and the like. Therefore, there is no restriction on the arrangement of the transmitter 1 and the receiver 2. Therefore, even if there is no person 3 on the straight line connecting the transmitter 1 and the receiver 2, that is, on the direct wave path, the person 3 can be detected.

(Second embodiment)
The air conditioner control system according to the second embodiment is a system for controlling the air conditioner 5 for the room 10 shown in FIG. 10, and the waves received by the transmitter 1, the receiver 2, and the receiver 2 are A frequency monitor 303 that monitors the frequency, and a control module 302 that controls the air conditioner 5 for the room 10 based on a change in the monitored wave frequency. The frequency monitor 303 and the control module 302 are included in the CPU 300. Since each of the air conditioner 5, the transmitter 1, and the receiver 2 is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  Here, the relationship between the human activity and the frequency change of the received radio wave will be described. Suppose there is a room with a circumference of 30m x 20m and a height of 3m. Assume that the floor and ceiling of the room are made of concrete and the walls are made of plasterboard. As shown in FIG. 11, a transmitter and a receiver that are vertical dipole antennas are arranged near the ceiling. The frequency of the radio wave transmitted from the transmitter is 2.45 GHz, and the output is 1 mW. If the received signal strength of the received radio wave when the person near the center of the room moves in the direction of the arrow is calculated by the ray tracing method propagation simulation, the result shown in FIG. 12 is obtained. The received signal strength changes according to the movement of the person, but is not completely random, and some periodicity is recognized.

  Therefore, frequency analysis is performed on changes in received signal strength when a person moves in two patterns. In FIG. 13, in condition A, a person moves a distance of 200 mm in 1 second. In Condition B, a person moves in a second over a distance of 400 mm. Therefore, the human activity level is low in the condition A, and the human activity level is high in the condition B. FIG. 14 shows a power spectrum obtained by performing Fourier transform on the received signal strength data acquired under the condition A. Further, FIG. 15 shows a power spectrum obtained by performing Fourier transform on the received signal strength data acquired under the condition B. As shown in FIG. 14, when human activity is low, a peak appears at 2 Hz. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 15, when human activity is high, a peak appears at 5 Hz.

As described above, the peak frequency changes to the high frequency side in proportion to the moving speed of the person. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the activity level of a person in the room by analyzing the frequency of the received signal strength. Here, a person in the room feels comfortable at a low temperature when the activity level increases. Therefore, when the high frequency component of the synthetic wave monitored by the frequency monitor 303 shown in FIG. 10 increases, the control module 302 considers that the activity level of the occupants in the room 10 has increased, and the air conditioner 5 in the room 10 Reduce the set temperature. In addition, the air conditioner 5 may ventilate the room 10 in preparation for an increase in CO ₂ concentration accompanying an increase in the activity level of the occupants. Furthermore, the humidity of the wind supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 may be reduced in preparation for an increase in humidity accompanying an increase in the activity level of the occupants.

  In addition, indoor people feel a high temperature comfortably when the activity level decreases. Therefore, when the high frequency component of the synthetic wave monitored by the frequency monitor 303 decreases, the control module 302 considers that the activity level of the room 10 has decreased, and increases the set temperature of the air conditioner 5 in the room 10.

  The Fourier transform is easily performed by performing discrete Fourier transform (DFT) or fast Fourier transform (FFT) operation using a microcomputer or digital signal processing (DSP). It is feasible. Therefore, according to the air conditioner control system according to the second embodiment, it is possible to instantaneously detect an increase in the activity level of the occupants in the room 10 and to reduce the set temperature of the air conditioner in the room 10 Become. Further, a decrease in the activity level of the occupants in the room 10 can be detected instantaneously, and the set temperature of the air conditioner in the room 10 can be increased.

(Third embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 16, the air conditioner control system according to the third embodiment includes a transmitter 41 that radiates a modulated wave modulated with a spread code into the room 10, a receiver 42 that receives the modulated wave, and a receiver. A CPU 400 connected to the machine 42 is provided. The CPU 400 demodulates the received modulated wave using a despreading code, generates a demodulated wave, a demodulated wave monitor 402 that monitors the demodulated wave signal intensity, and changes in the monitored signal intensity of the demodulated wave Based on this, a control module 403 for controlling the air conditioner 5 for the room 10 is provided.

  The modulated wave transmitted by the transmitter 41 is secondarily modulated by a spreading code. Here, the spreading code is a digital signal also called a pseudo random signal (PN: Psudo Noise). The modulated wave is reflected by the person 3 etc. in the room 10 and reaches the receiver 2. The modulated wave signal received by the receiver 2 is transmitted to the demodulation module 401 of the CPU 400 and demodulated by the demodulation module 401. The despread code used by the demodulation module 401 may be the same as the spread code.

  The demodulated wave monitor 402 monitors the signal strength of the demodulated wave generated by the demodulation module 401. Here, when the person 3 is present in the room 10, there is a difference in propagation time between the modulated wave reflected on the surface of the person 3 and the modulated wave not reflected on the surface of the person 3. Therefore, the signal strength of the demodulated wave decreases as the number of people in the room 10 increases, and increases as the number of people in the room 10 decreases.

When the signal intensity of the demodulated wave monitored by the demodulated wave monitor 402 decreases, the control module 403 considers that the number of people in the room 10 has increased, and the temperature of the wind supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 Or the air volume supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 is increased to maintain the temperature of the room 10 at the set temperature. In addition, the air conditioner 5 may ventilate the room 10 in preparation for an increase in the CO ₂ concentration accompanying an increase in the number of people in the room. Furthermore, the humidity of the wind supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 may be reduced in preparation for an increase in humidity accompanying an increase in the number of people in the room.

  When the signal strength of the demodulated wave monitored by the demodulated wave monitor 402 is increased, the control module 403 considers that the number of people in the room 10 has decreased, and the wind supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 Or the air volume supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 is decreased to maintain the temperature of the room 10 at the set temperature.

  According to the air conditioner control system according to the third embodiment, even if the radio wave radiated from the transmitter 1 is a modulated wave, the air conditioner 5 Can be controlled appropriately.

(Other embodiments)
Although the present invention has been described by the embodiments as described above, it should not be understood that the description and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques should be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  For example, in the first embodiment, an example in which the air conditioner 5 operates the cooling function has been described, but when the heating function of the air conditioner 5 is operated, the number of people in the room 10 It goes without saying that the temperature of the wind supplied from the air conditioner 5 to the room 10 may be increased or decreased in accordance with the increase or decrease. In recent years, a wireless temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a remote controller for the air conditioner 5 and the like are often arranged in the room 10. Therefore, the control module 302 may control the air conditioner 5 by not providing the transmitter 1 exclusively for the detection of the person 3 and monitoring the fluctuation of the characteristics of the communication radio wave emitted by the temperature sensor or the like.

  Thus, it should be understood that the present invention includes various embodiments and the like not described herein. Therefore, the present invention is limited only by the invention specifying matters in the scope of claims reasonable from this disclosure.

It is a mimetic diagram of an air-conditioner control system concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the multipath of the electromagnetic wave which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a 1st graph which shows the received signal strength of the electromagnetic wave which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a 2nd graph which shows the received signal strength of the electromagnetic wave which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a 3rd graph which shows the received signal strength of the electromagnetic wave which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a 4th graph which shows the received signal strength of the electromagnetic wave which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a 5th graph which shows the received signal strength of the electromagnetic wave which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a table | surface which shows the standard deviation of the received signal strength of the electromagnetic wave which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the standard deviation of the received signal strength of the electromagnetic wave which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram of the air-conditioner control system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the simulation conditions which concern on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the received signal strength which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph of the movement of a person concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is a 1st graph which shows the power spectrum which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a 2nd graph which shows the power spectrum which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram of the air-conditioner control system which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 41 ・ ・ ・ Transmitter
2, 42 ・ ・ ・ receiver
3 persons
10 ... Indoor
11 ... Ceiling
300, 400 ... CPU
301 ・ ・ ・ Amplitude monitor
302, 403 ・ ・ ・ Control module
303 ・ ・ ・ Frequency monitor
401: Demodulation module
402 ・ ・ ・ Demodulated wave monitor

Claims (3)

A transmitter that radiates waves propagating in space into the room;
A receiver for receiving the wave;
An amplitude monitor for monitoring the amplitude of the wave received by the receiver;
A control module for controlling the indoor air conditioner based on a change in amplitude of the monitored wave;
Equipped with a,
The amplitude monitor calculates a standard deviation of the intensity of the received wave, and estimates the number of persons existing in the space based on the standard deviation;
Air conditioner control system. When the standard deviation increases, the control module decreases the temperature of the wind supplied from the air conditioner into the room or increases the amount of air supplied from the air conditioner to the room,
When the standard deviation decreases, the control module increases the temperature of the wind supplied from the air conditioner to the room or reduces the amount of air supplied from the air conditioner to the room .
The air conditioner control system according to claim 1 . If the standard deviation is increased, the control module, thereby ventilating the room to the air conditioner, the air conditioner control system according to claim 1 or 2.

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