JP7160889B2 - air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an air conditioner.

In recent years, air conditioners equipped with "additional function operations" such as automatic filter cleaning and heat exchanger sterilization/cleaning operations have been proposed.

JP-A-11-14121

However, since the additional function operation cannot be performed at the same time as the normal air conditioning operation such as the cooling operation and the heating operation, for example, when the additional function operation is performed while the user is in the air-conditioned space, the user of the air-conditioned space may cause discomfort to

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can perform an additional function operation without causing discomfort to the user of the air-conditioned space.

An air conditioner of one aspect is capable of operating in an air conditioning operation and an additional function operation different from the air conditioning operation. The air conditioner has a sensor, a presence/absence prediction unit, a storage unit, and a recommendation unit. A sensor detects the presence or absence of a person in the air-conditioned space. The presence/absence prediction unit predicts the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space using the past detection result of the sensor. The storage unit stores the prediction result of the presence/absence prediction unit. A recommendation unit selects additional function operation to be recommended to the user based on at least the prediction result of the presence/absence prediction unit.

As one aspect, by extracting a time period during which the additional function operation can be performed from the time period predicted as a result of the absence of the user, the additional function operation can be performed without giving discomfort to the user.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an air conditioning system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an air conditioner. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a communication adapter. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a prediction result of presence/absence. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a terminal device. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server device. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of data used to generate presence/absence patterns. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of patterns of users predicted using presence/absence patterns. FIG. 9A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a timer setting screen of the terminal device. FIG. 9B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a recommendation screen of the terminal device. FIG. 9C is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen for changing the recommended time of the terminal device. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a timing chart of each process during heat sterilization operation. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a timing chart of each process during filter cleaning operation. FIG. 12A is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation of the CPU of the server device involved in the generation processing of generating the presence/absence pattern. FIG. 12B is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing operation of the CPU of the server device related to update processing for updating the presence/absence pattern. FIG. 13A is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing operation of the CPU of the communication adapter involved in recommended processing. FIG. 13B is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation of the controller of the indoor unit related to the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the living room. FIG. 13C is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation of the controller of the indoor unit related to the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the living room. FIG. 13D is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation of the controller of the indoor unit related to the air conditioning operation recommendation processing in the bedroom. FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an air conditioner according to the second embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of an air conditioner and an air conditioning system disclosed in the present application will be described in detail based on the drawings. Note that the disclosed technology is not limited by the present embodiment. Further, each embodiment shown below may be modified as appropriate within a range that does not cause contradiction.

<Configuration of air conditioning system>
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an air conditioning system 1 according to the first embodiment. An air conditioning system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an air conditioner 2 , a communication adapter 3 , a router 4 , a server device 5 , a relay device 6 , a terminal device 7 and a communication network 8 .

<Configuration of air conditioner>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the air conditioner 2. As shown in FIG. The air conditioner 2 shown in FIG. 2 has an indoor unit 21, an outdoor unit 22, and a remote control 23. The indoor unit 21 is, for example, a part of the air conditioner 2 that is placed indoors and heats or cools the indoor air that is the air-conditioned space. It is assumed that the indoor unit 21 is provided for each air-conditioned space such as a living room and a bedroom, for example. The indoor unit 21 has a main body 21A, a sensor 21B, a light receiving section 21C, a control section 21D, and a memory 21E. The main body 21A is provided with an indoor fan and an indoor heat exchanger (not shown), and the indoor air that has exchanged heat with the refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit 22 in the indoor heat exchanger is blown out by the indoor fan. The room is heated, cooled, dehumidified, etc. The sensor 21B detects the presence or absence of people in the air-conditioned space. The sensor 21B is, for example, a pyroelectric sensor using infrared rays. When the air conditioner 2 is connected to a commercial power source and supplied with power after the air conditioner 2 is installed, the sensor 21B starts detecting the presence or absence of a person. After that, unless the power supply is stopped, the presence/absence of people in the air-conditioned space is continuously detected regardless of whether the air conditioner 2 is on or off. The light receiving section 21C receives a command signal from the remote controller 23 and transmits the received command signal to the control section 21D. The memory 21E is, for example, an area for storing various information such as indoor use. The indoor use is, for example, information identifying the use of the air-conditioned space such as a living room or a bedroom. Indoor use is information used to predict user behavior. The controller 21D controls the indoor unit 21 as a whole. The controller 21D executes various commands based on the command signal. The outdoor unit 22 includes, for example, an outdoor fan, a compressor, and the like. The remote controller 23 is a remote control unit that remotely controls the indoor unit 21 according to user's operation.

The control unit 21D has an action prediction unit 21D2, a recommendation unit 21D0, and an extraction unit 21D1. The behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the behavior of the user based on the presence/absence prediction result of predicting the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space and the indoor use information for identifying the indoor use of the air-conditioned space. The presence/absence prediction result is information obtained from a presence/absence prediction unit 34E in the communication adapter 3, which will be described later, and is information obtained by accumulating the prediction results of the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space every 10 minutes for 24 hours.

The recommending unit 21D0 selects driving to be recommended to the user based on the action prediction result of the action predicting unit 21D2. The operation includes, for example, normal air conditioning operation such as cooling operation and heating operation, as well as additional function operation such as heating sterilization operation and filter cleaning operation. The heat sterilization operation is an operation in which the indoor heat exchanger in the indoor unit 21 is heated to 55 degrees or higher to sterilize. The filter cleaning operation is an operation for cleaning the filter inside the indoor unit 21 . The recommending unit 21D0, for example, transmits a signal to the effect that driving is recommended to the user's terminal device in order to recommend the user to execute the selected driving. The recommendation unit 21D0 transmits to the terminal device 7 of the user a recommendation for various air conditioning operations via the communication adapter 3, the router 4, the communication network 8, and the router 4. FIG.

The behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the behavior of the user in the air-conditioned space based on the user's presence/absence prediction result in the air-conditioned space by the presence/absence prediction unit 34E, which will be described later, and the indoor use information. Based on the action prediction result of the action prediction section 21D2, the recommendation section 21D0 sends the contents of the air conditioning operation recommended to the user, such as the setting of the start time of the air conditioning operation or the stop time of the air conditioning operation, to the terminal device 7 of the user. Send. The content of the recommended air conditioning operation is, for example, content that recommends setting the timer time for starting the air conditioning operation according to the time to wake up, the time to go home, the time to go out, or the time to go to bed. Based on the action prediction result of the action prediction section 21D2, the recommendation section 21D0 transmits to the user's terminal device 7 a signal to the effect that the additional function operation different from the air conditioning operation is recommended. The content of recommending the additional function operation is, for example, the content of proposing a timer time for starting the heat sterilization operation.

The extraction unit 21D1 extracts a time period during which an additional function operation different from the normal air-conditioning operation can be performed from the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results in the air-conditioned space. The period of time during which the additional function operation can be performed is, for example, five hours or more of absence. The absence time is the absence time of the user in the air-conditioned space extracted from the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results predicted by the presence/absence prediction unit 34E, which will be described later. The extraction unit 21D1 calculates the operable time from the absence time, and compares the operable time with the pre-stored additional function operation time. Then, when the operable time is equal to or longer than the operating time, the extracting unit 21D1 extracts the time period during which the additional function operation can be performed from the absence time.

The communication adapter 3 has a communication function for connecting the indoor unit 21 in the air conditioner 2 and the router 4 by wireless communication, and a control function for AI (Artificial Intelligence) control of the indoor unit 21 . The communication adapter 3 is arranged for each indoor unit 21 . The router 4 is, for example, an access point that connects the communication adapter 3 and the communication network 8 by wireless communication using WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) or the like, and connects the terminal device 7 and the communication network 8 by wireless communication. device. The communication network 8 is, for example, a communication network such as the Internet. The server device 5 has a function of generating an presence/absence pattern applied to the indoor unit 21, a database that stores operation history data, and the like. The server device 5 is arranged in, for example, a data center. The relay device 6 has a function of communicating with the communication network 8 and communicating with the server device 5 . The relay device 6 transmits the driving history data and the like used for generating or updating the presence/absence pattern applied to the indoor unit 21 from the communication adapter 3 to the server device 5 via the communication network 8 . The relay device 6 also transmits the presence/absence pattern generated or updated by the server device 5 to the communication adapter 3 via the communication network 8 . Incidentally, the relay device 6 is arranged, for example, in a data center or the like.

The relay device 6 has a first relay section 6A, a second relay section 6B, and a third relay section 6C. The first relay unit 6A transmits various data (hereinafter referred to as driving history data) related to presence/absence patterns from the communication adapter 3 to the server device 5 via the communication network 8, and the server device 5 generates or updates The presence/absence pattern is transmitted to the communication adapter 3 via the communication network 8. - 特許庁The second relay unit 6B acquires the operating conditions of the indoor unit 21 (operating mode such as cooling/heating, set temperature, etc.) set by the user using the terminal device 7 from outside, and transmits the operating conditions to the indoor unit 21. Send to The third relay unit 6</b>C acquires external data such as weather forecasts and calendar information (mainly holiday information) from a communication network 8 such as the Internet, and transmits the acquired external data to the server device 5 . Further, the third relay unit 6C transmits external data to the communication adapter 3 via the communication network 8. FIG.

<Communication adapter configuration>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the communication adapter 3. As shown in FIG. The communication adapter 3 shown in FIG. 3 has a first communication section 31, a second communication section 32, a storage section 33, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) . The first communication unit 31 is a communication IF (Interface) such as a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) that connects the control unit 21D in the indoor unit 21 and the CPU 34 for communication. The second communication unit 32 is a communication unit such as a communication IF such as WLAN that connects the router 4 and the CPU 34 for communication. The storage unit 33 has, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), and stores various information such as data and programs. The CPU 34 controls the communication adapter 3 as a whole.

Storage unit 33 in communication adapter 3 shown in FIG. 3 has history memory 33A, presence/absence pattern memory 33B, prediction result memory 33C, and external memory 33D. The history memory 33A temporarily stores operation history data acquired from the indoor unit 21 . The driving history data is, for example, the detection result of the presence/absence of people in the indoor space detected by the sensor 21B every 10 minutes. The presence/absence pattern memory 33B stores the presence/absence pattern acquired from the server device 5 .

For example, the presence/absence pattern of the user in the air-conditioned space is determined by using the past detection result of the sensor 21B, for example, the detection result of the presence/absence of the past 30 days, the day of the week information, and the holiday information. This is a pattern generated for each day of the week showing the tendency of In this embodiment, a maximum of five types of presence/absence patterns are generated, and the presence/absence patterns are associated with each day of the week so that it can be determined which presence/absence pattern the user tends to behave in each day of the week. . For example, on Mondays and Tuesdays, there is a tendency to behave according to the presence/absence pattern 1, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, there is a tendency to behave according to the presence/absence pattern 2, on Thursdays and Fridays, there tends to be a tendency to behave according to the presence/absence pattern 3, and on Saturdays, there is a tendency to behave according to the presence/absence pattern 3. There is a tendency to behave according to absence pattern 4, and there is a tendency to behave according to absence pattern 5 on Sundays. Here, the reason why the detection results of the sensor 21B for the past 30 days are used when generating the presence/absence pattern is as follows. When generating the presence/absence pattern, the more detection results of the sensor 21B, the more accurate the prediction using the presence/absence pattern is. On the other hand, if the presence/absence pattern is generated using, for example, the detection results for the past 90 days so as to acquire many detection results of the sensor 21B, the installation timing of the air conditioner 2 is set so that the cooling operation is frequently performed. When the summer season starts or the winter season when the heating operation is frequently performed, the summer or winter season passes while the presence/absence pattern is being generated, resulting in the prediction result of the user's absence described later. Prediction of user's behavior and recommendation of air-conditioning operation based on this cannot be performed in summer and winter. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to ensure the accuracy of the presence/absence pattern, and to provide user behavior prediction and air conditioning operation recommendation at an appropriate time based on the user's presence/absence prediction result. Considering, presence/absence detection results of the sensor 21B for the past 30 days are used to generate the presence/absence pattern. The presence/absence detection result for the past 30 days is information obtained by accumulating the presence/absence detection result every 10 minutes for 30 days. Further, in this embodiment, the case where the detection results of the sensor 21B for the past 30 days are used when generating the presence/absence pattern is exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this. You may make it change suitably according to the period from the time of installation of the air conditioner 2 to the time of frequent use.

The day of the week information is information on the day of the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and is obtained by calculation by the CPU 34 . The holiday information is information identifying a holiday among the days of the week of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and is acquired from the outside via the second communication unit 32 . The reason for obtaining the holiday information from the outside is that the holiday may change from year to year. Prediction result memory 33C stores presence/absence prediction results for 24 hours, which are results of predicting the presence/absence of users every 10 minutes for 24 hours in the air-conditioned space predicted by the presence/absence pattern, for each indoor application. . The indoor use is, for example, information identifying the use of the air-conditioned space such as a living room or a bedroom. The indoor use is information used when predicting the behavior of the user using the presence/absence prediction result. The CPU 34 can refer to the prediction result memory 33C to recognize the presence/absence prediction results for 24 hours for each air-conditioned space. The external memory 33D stores external data obtained from the outside, such as the above-mentioned holiday information and weather forecast.

The CPU 34 has a collection unit 34A, a transmission unit 34B, a reception unit 34C, a setting unit 34D, and a presence/absence prediction unit 34E.

The collection unit 34A acquires the presence/absence of people in each air-conditioned space from the indoor unit 21 at predetermined intervals, for example, every 10 minutes. The air-conditioned space is, for example, an air-conditioned space such as a living room or a bedroom. The collection unit 34A collects the current detection results of the presence/absence of people in the air-conditioned space obtained every 10 minutes by the sensor 21B. The presence/absence detection results include, for example, three types of variables: absence, room presence, and indefinite. Among the presence/absence detection results, "absence" is a detection result when a person cannot be detected in the air-conditioned space. This "absence" detection result is the second detection value. Among the presence/absence detection results, "in room" is a detection result when a person is detected in an air-conditioned space. The detection result of this "occupied room" is the first detection value. Among the presence/absence detection results, “indefinite” is a third detection value that does not correspond to either presence or absence, that is, does not correspond to either the first detection value or the second detection value. are detection results that are not used to generate presence/absence patterns. The collection unit 34A stores the presence/absence detection results of each air-conditioned space acquired every 10 minutes in the history memory 33A.

For example, when the presence/absence detection results for two days are stored in the history memory 33A, the transmission unit 34B sends the presence/absence detection results for two days stored in the history memory 33A to the server device 5 via the communication network 8. Send to In the server device 5, using the presence/absence detection results for the past 30 days sequentially received from the communication adapter 3, up to five types of presence/absence patterns are generated. The receiving unit 34C receives the presence/absence pattern for each air-conditioned space from the server device 5 via the communication network 8, and stores the received presence/absence pattern in the presence/absence pattern memory 33B. The setting unit 34D applies the stored presence/absence pattern to the presence/absence prediction unit 34E.

Presence/absence prediction unit 34E uses the current detection result of sensor 21B, that is, the detection result of presence/absence from the time of predicting the presence/absence of sensor 21B for a predetermined time before, the current day of the week information, and the current presence/absence detection result. Holiday information is used to select an presence/absence pattern to be used for prediction from a plurality of presence/absence patterns applied by the setting unit 34D. The presence/absence prediction unit 34E predicts the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space using the selected presence/absence pattern, and obtains a 24-hour presence/absence prediction result. The predetermined time is the time required to obtain the number of data that can guarantee the accuracy when selecting the optimum presence/absence pattern from among a plurality of presence/absence patterns by looking at the previous presence/absence detection result.

The selection of the presence/absence pattern used for prediction and the method of predicting the presence/absence of the user using the selected presence/absence pattern will be described in detail below. In the following description, the user's presence/absence is predicted at 8:00 every day, and the user's presence/absence is predicted for 24 hours from 8:00 on the day to 8:00 on the next day. do. In the present embodiment, the 24-hour prediction is divided into two periods, 1) from 8:00 on the day to 0:00 on the next day, and 2) from 0:00 on the next day to 8:00 on the next day. Together, they are the prediction results for 24 hours.

<1) Prediction of presence/absence of users from 8:00 on the day to 0:00 on the next day>
First, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E predicts the user's presence/absence at a time, for example, 8:00 on the day, a predetermined time before the predicted time, for example, 21:00 on the day before the day to be predicted. to 8:00 on the day, the presence/absence detection result of the user detected by the sensor 21B is obtained. Next, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E compares the plurality of presence/absence patterns and determines whether there is a difference between the presence/absence patterns. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the difference between presence/absence patterns is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. More specifically, the presence/absence of the user every 10 minutes from 0:00 to 8:00 in each presence/absence pattern is compared, and the location where the presence/absence is different (hereinafter referred to as "time period") is set to a predetermined value. , for example, less than 10, it is determined that the difference between the presence/absence patterns is within an allowable range (there is no difference between the presence/absence patterns from 0:00 to 8:00). On the other hand, if there are 10 or more time slots in which the user's presence/absence differs every 10 minutes from 0:00 to 8:00, the difference in each presence/absence pattern exceeds the allowable range (0:00 There is a difference in the presence/absence pattern up to 8:00).

Next, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E selects a presence/absence pattern to be used for prediction based on the comparison result of each presence/absence pattern. If the difference between the presence/absence patterns is less than a predetermined value (there is no difference between the presence/absence patterns from 0:00 to 8:00), the presence/absence pattern associated with the predicted day of the week is selected. In addition, if the difference between each presence/absence pattern is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (if there is a difference in the presence/absence pattern from 0:00 to 8:00), the presence/absence of the user acquired from 0:00 to 8:00 The detection results are compared with the presence/absence patterns from 0:00 to 8:00 in each presence/absence pattern, and the presence/absence pattern closest to the detection results is selected. Then, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E extracts the presence/absence from 8:00 to 0:00 in the selected presence/absence pattern as a prediction result of the user's presence/absence from 8:00 on the day to 0:00 on the next day. do. In this way, each presence/absence pattern is associated with the day of the week information, and the presence/absence of the user is predicted according to the comparison result of each presence/absence pattern. Presence/absence of the user can be accurately predicted while reducing the number of users.

Ideally, the presence/absence pattern should be generated for each day of the week, and the presence/absence pattern to be used should be selected according to the day of the week on which the user's presence/absence is actually predicted. This is because if the presence/absence pattern is generated for each day of the week, the prediction accuracy can be expected to be improved accordingly. However, as the number of presence/absence patterns increases, the amount of communication between the communication adapter 3 and the server device 5 increases, and the memory capacity required by the communication adapter increases. heavy load.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, up to five types of presence/absence patterns are used, and the same pattern is applied to the days of the week on which the predicted presence/absence patterns can be regarded as the same. For example, presence/absence pattern 1 applies to Monday and Tuesday, presence/absence pattern 2 applies to Wednesday and Thursday, presence/absence pattern 3 applies to Thursday and Friday, and presence/absence pattern 4 applies to Saturday. , the presence/absence pattern 5 is applied on Sunday. However, if the presence/absence pattern is generated so that it can be applied to a plurality of days of the week in this way, it is possible to predict the presence/absence of the user by using the presence/absence pattern generated for each day of the week. Accuracy may decrease.

Therefore, in order to deal with such a situation, in this embodiment, the selection method of the presence/absence pattern used for predicting the presence/absence of the user is changed according to the comparison result of each presence/absence pattern. If the difference between each presence/absence pattern is less than a predetermined value, it is not possible to determine which presence/absence pattern should be used using the user's presence/absence information acquired up to the predicted time (8:00). If the presence/absence pattern that matches the current day of the week is selected, the prediction accuracy will not drop. If the difference between each presence/absence pattern is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, each presence/absence pattern can be distinguished. Prediction accuracy is ensured by selecting the closest presence/absence pattern.

<2) Prediction of presence/absence of users from 0:00 to 8:00 the next day>
First, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E reads the day of the week following the day on which the presence/absence of the user is predicted from the external memory 33D. Next, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E selects the presence/absence pattern corresponding to the read day of the week from the plurality of presence/absence patterns. Then, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E extracts the prediction result of the user's presence/absence from 0:00 the next day to 8:00 the next day from the selected presence/absence pattern.

At the stage of predicting the presence/absence of the user at 8:00 on the day, 1) unlike the case of predicting the presence/absence of the user from 8:00 on the day to 0:00 on the next day, the sensor 21B after 8:00 on the day. It does not have the detection result of the presence or absence of the user detected in . Therefore, in predicting the presence/absence of the user from 0:00 the next day to 8:00 the next day, the presence/absence pattern to be used for prediction is selected based on the day of the week of the next day, and the selected presence/absence pattern is used for the next day. The presence/absence of the user from 0:00 to 8:00 the next day is predicted.

Then, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E predicts the user's presence/absence from 8:00 on the day to 0:00 on the next day obtained in 1) and Predict the presence/absence of users for 24 hours from 8:00 on the current day to 8:00 on the following day by combining with the prediction results of the presence/absence of users in , and use the predicted results as the presence/absence prediction results for 24 hours. to the prediction result memory 33C. The prediction result memory 33C stores presence/absence prediction results for 24 hours. The presence/absence prediction unit 34E obtains a 24-hour presence/absence prediction result in the air-conditioned space, regarding the time period to be the same as a holiday, when a holiday is included in the predicted time period. In addition, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E selects an “indefinite” presence/absence detection result (first 3 detection values) are excluded. In other words, since the detection results of presence/absence that are "indefinite" are excluded and not used for generating or updating the presence/absence pattern, it is possible to improve the accuracy of prediction based on the generated/updated presence/absence pattern.

Presence/absence prediction unit 34E predicts presence/absence at predetermined times, for example, 8:00 and 20:00 every day until 24 hours after the predetermined time (hereinafter referred to as "second predetermined period"). ), the presence or absence of users in the air-conditioned space may be predicted. Specifically, the prediction unit 34E obtains the presence/absence prediction result for 24 hours, which is the prediction result of the user's presence/absence. The reason why the predetermined time is set to 8:00 is that the behavior pattern of the user after that is likely to be going out → (absent) → returning home. This is for recommending the start of operation. Also, the reason why the predetermined time is set to 20:00 is that it is likely that the behavior pattern of the user after that will often change from going to bed to waking up, so that it is recommended to start driving during good night driving or when waking up. . It should be noted that the good night operation is an air conditioning operation that makes the room temperature of the bedroom comfortable in order to provide the user with a comfortable sleeping environment. In addition, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E obtains presence/absence prediction results for 24 hours from each predetermined time every half day, thereby improving the prediction accuracy. The 24-hour presence/absence prediction result is, for example, a prediction result of the user's presence/absence in the air-conditioned space every 10 minutes (hereinafter referred to as "third predetermined period"). FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a 24-hour presence/absence prediction result. The presence/absence prediction result shown in FIG. 4 is a prediction result of presence/absence for each 10 minutes from a predetermined time to 24 hours later for each air-conditioned space. The data indicating the presence/absence prediction result is "1" if the person is in the room, and "0" if the person is absent.

Next, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the user's presence/absence in the air-conditioned space and the indoor use information (living room or bedroom) of the air-conditioned space, based on the user's daily behavior in the living space (for example, , wake-up time, going out time, returning home time, going to bed). Then, the recommending unit 21D0 selects driving to be recommended to the user based on the behavior predicted by the behavior predicting unit 21D2. Further, the recommending unit 21D0 recommends to the user to perform driving that should be recommended to the user. Hereinafter, for example, when the indoor unit 21 of the air conditioner 2 is installed in the living room or the bedroom, using the prediction result of the presence or absence of the user in the living room or the bedroom, the control unit 21D of the indoor unit 21 A method for predicting daily behavior in a living space (for example, time to wake up, time to go out, time to return home, time to go to bed), selecting recommended driving, and recommending the user to perform recommended driving will be described. .

For example, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 of the control unit 21D in the indoor unit 21 in the living room predicts the wake-up time from the presence/absence prediction result, and determines the user's wake-up time zone (hereinafter referred to as "first time zone"). ) and a period (hereinafter referred to as "fourth predetermined period") used as a criterion for judging whether or not the user is absent from the living room. The first time period is a time period set in advance, for example, 0:00 to 10:50, assuming the time when the user wakes up, leaves the bedroom, enters the living room, and starts the air conditioning operation. is. The fourth predetermined time period is, for example, three hours or more of continuous absence used to determine that the user is asleep in the bedroom. If there is a timing in the first time zone in the presence/absence prediction result in the living room where the person is absent for a fourth predetermined period or longer and then changes to being in the room, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the timing as the wake-up time. . The recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the air-conditioning operation 15 minutes before the wake-up time predicted by the behavior prediction unit 21D2.

When predicting the bedtime from the presence/absence prediction result, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 selects a period during which the user leaves the living room (hereinafter referred to as a "fourth time period") or a period during which the user enters the bedroom (hereinafter referred to as a "fourth time period"). "Fifth Predetermined Period"). The behavior prediction unit 21D2 determines whether or not there is a timing of changing from being in the room to being absent for a fifth predetermined period or longer in the fourth time slot in the presence/absence prediction result. The fourth time slot is a preset time slot, for example, 17:00 to 23:50, assuming that the user stops the air conditioning operation in the living room and leaves the living room at night. The fifth predetermined period is, for example, three hours or more of continuous absence used to determine that the user is asleep. The behavior prediction unit 21D2 determines that the user leaves the living room when there is a timing in the fourth time period in the presence/absence prediction result that the user is absent from the living room for a fifth predetermined period or longer. It predicts that the timing when it disappears is bedtime. Then, when predicting the bedtime, the recommendation unit 21D0 sends a recommendation signal to the terminal of the user to the effect that the air conditioning operation will start 15 minutes before the wake-up time from one hour before the bedtime to the bedtime. Send to device 7 . In addition, if there is no timing in the fourth time period in the presence/absence prediction result to change from being in the room to being absent for the fifth predetermined period or longer, the recommendation unit 21D0 Then, a recommendation signal to start the air-conditioning operation 15 minutes before the wake-up time is transmitted to the terminal device 7 of the user.

In addition, the action prediction unit 21D2 uses the user's time zone for returning home (hereinafter referred to as "second time zone") and a fourth predetermined period in predicting the time to return home from the presence/absence prediction result. The second time slot is a preset time slot, for example, 13:00 to 22:50, assuming the time when the user returns home, enters the living room, and starts the air conditioning operation. be. If the second time period in the presence/absence prediction result has a timing of changing from being absent for a fourth predetermined period or longer to being in the room, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts that timing as the return home time. The recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the air-conditioning operation 15 minutes before the home time predicted by the behavior prediction unit 21D2. Then, the recommendation unit 21D0 transmits a recommendation signal to the user's terminal device 7 between 11:00 and 12:00 to start the air-conditioning operation 15 minutes before the time of returning home.

In addition, the behavior prediction unit 21D2, in predicting the time to go out from the presence/absence prediction result, determines the time period during which the user goes out (hereinafter referred to as a "third time period") and whether or not the user is out. A period (hereinafter referred to as "sixth predetermined period") used as a criterion for determining is used. The third time period is a time period, for example, 8:00 to 16:50, which is set in advance assuming that the air conditioning operation stops for a long time due to the user going out. The sixth predetermined period is, for example, five hours or more of continuous absence used to determine that the user is out of the house. If there is a timing of changing from being in the room to being absent for a sixth predetermined period or longer in the third time period in the presence/absence prediction result, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts that timing as going out. Then, the recommendation unit 21D0 executes the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation before the predicted absence time, and when three days or more have passed since the previous heat sterilization operation, the heating starts one hour after the time of going out. A recommendation signal to start the disinfection operation is generated. Then, the recommendation unit 21D0 transmits a recommendation signal for starting the heat sterilization operation to the terminal device 7 of the user.

In addition, the behavior prediction unit 21D2, in predicting the time to go out from the presence/absence prediction result, determines the time period during which the user goes out (hereinafter referred to as a "third time period") and whether or not the user is out. A period (hereinafter referred to as "seventh predetermined period") used as a criterion for determining is used. The seventh predetermined period is a continuous absence time of, for example, one hour or more and less than five hours, which is used to determine that the user is out of the house. If there is a timing of changing from being in the room to being absent for a seventh predetermined period or longer in the third time zone in the presence/absence prediction result, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the timing as going out. Then, when the accumulated operation time of the indoor unit 21 is 200 hours or more, the recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the filter cleaning operation one hour after the time when the person goes out. The recommendation unit 21D0 then transmits a recommendation signal for starting the filter cleaning operation to the terminal device 7 of the user.

It should be noted that the user may be recommended to perform the above-described heat sterilization operation and filter cleaning operation after the user leaves the living room to go to bed. In this case, after the time when the user leaves the living room in the fourth time period, if there is a continuous absence time of the sixth predetermined period or more, the superheat disinfection operation is recommended, and the continuous operation of the seventh predetermined period If there is an absence time, filter cleaning operation should be recommended.

Further, for example, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 of the indoor unit 21 in the bedroom predicts the bedtime from the presence/absence prediction result. A fifth predetermined period is used, which is the period in which The behavior prediction unit 21D2 determines whether or not there is a timing of changing from being absent for a fifth predetermined period or longer to being in the bedroom in the fourth time slot in the presence/absence prediction result. The behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts that the user is present in the bedroom when there is a timing in the fourth time slot in the presence/absence prediction result that the user is absent from the bedroom for a fifth predetermined period or longer and then changes to being present. This timing is predicted to be the bedtime. Then, when the timing is predicted to be bedtime, the recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the air conditioning operation at bedtime. The recommendation unit 21D0 transmits to the user's terminal device 7 a recommendation signal to start the air conditioning operation at bedtime from one hour before bedtime to bedtime.

Further, for example, the action prediction unit 21D2 of the control unit 21D in the indoor unit 21 in the bedroom predicts the time to leave the room from the presence/absence prediction result. A third time period and a sixth predetermined period, which is a period used as a criterion for determining whether or not the user has left the bedroom, are used. The behavior prediction unit 21D2, if there is a timing in the third time zone in the presence/absence prediction result, which changes from being in the bedroom to being absent for a sixth predetermined period or longer, determines the timing as the exit time of the bedroom. I predict. If the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation is performed before the time of leaving the room, and three days or more have passed since the previous heat sterilization operation, the recommendation unit 21D0 starts the heat sterilization operation one hour after the time of leaving the room. generate a recommendation signal to start Then, the recommendation unit 21D0 transmits a recommendation signal for starting the heat sterilization operation to the terminal device 7 of the user. The exit time when the air-conditioned space is the bedroom corresponds to the exit time when the air-conditioned space is the living room.

Further, in predicting the room exit time (wake-up time) from the presence/absence prediction result, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 sets a third time zone, which is the time zone for the user to leave the bedroom, and A seventh predetermined period, which is a period used as a criterion for determining whether or not the player has left the room from the beginning, is used. The behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts that when there is a timing of changing from being in the bedroom to being absent for a seventh predetermined period or more in the third time period in the prediction result of the presence/absence in the bedroom, the timing is predicted to be the time to leave the room. do. Then, when the accumulated operation time of the indoor unit 21 is 200 hours or more, the recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the filter cleaning operation one hour after the room exit time. The recommendation unit 21D0 then transmits a recommendation signal for starting the filter cleaning operation to the terminal device 7 of the user.

<Configuration of terminal device>
The terminal device 7 is, for example, a communication terminal such as a smartphone of a user who is an administrator among a plurality of users who use the air conditioning system 1 . The administrator is a registered user of the air conditioning system 1 who has the authority to check updates and execute updates. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the terminal device 7. As shown in FIG.

The terminal device 7 shown in FIG. 5 has a communication section 41 , an operation section 42 , a display section 43 , a storage section 44 and a CPU 45 . The communication unit 41 communicates with the communication adapter 3 via the communication network 8 and router 4 . The operation unit 42 is an input interface for inputting various commands. The display unit 43 is an output interface that displays various information. The storage unit 44 stores various information. The CPU 45 controls the terminal device 7 as a whole. The operation unit 42 has a change unit 42A that changes the second timer time, which is the recommended time on the recommendation screen shown in FIG. 9B to be described later, according to a predetermined operation.

<Structure of server device>
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server device 5. As shown in FIG. The server device 5 shown in FIG. 6 has a communication section 51 , a storage section 52 and a CPU 53 . The communication unit 51 is a communication IF that connects the relay device 6 and the CPU 53 for communication. The storage unit 52 has, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), ROM, RAM, etc., and stores various information such as data and programs. The CPU 53 controls the server device 5 as a whole.

The storage unit 52 in the server device 5 shown in FIG. 6 has a history data memory 52A and a pattern storage unit 52B. The history data memory 52A stores the operation history data received from the communication adapter 3, such as the results of detection of presence/absence of the air-conditioned space for two days. The pattern storage unit 52B stores the presence/absence pattern generated by the server device 5, updates the generated presence/absence pattern using the acquired data, and stores the updated presence/absence pattern.

The CPU 53 in the server device 5 has a receiver 53A, an acquirer 53B, a generator 53C, and a transmitter 53D.

The receiving unit 53A is connected to the communication adapters 3 of the plurality of indoor units 21, and via the router 4, the communication network 8 and the relay device 6, from the communication adapters 3, detection results of presence/absence for two days for each air-conditioned space. is received, and the detection result of presence/absence received for two days is stored in the history data memory 52A. The receiving unit 53A receives day-of-the-week information and holiday information from the communication adapter 3 . The day of the week information may be calculated by the CPU 53 of the server device 5, and the holiday information may be directly acquired by the server device 5 from the outside. Acquisition unit 53B acquires the day-of-the-week information and holiday information received by reception unit 53A. Acquisition unit 53B acquires the day-of-the-week information and holiday information received by reception unit 53A.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of data used to generate presence/absence patterns. The data used to generate the presence/absence pattern includes presence/absence detection results as sensor data, day-of-week information as day-of-the-week data, and holiday information as holiday data. The presence/absence detection result is, as described above, the presence/absence detection result of the sensor 21B in the air-conditioned space every 10 minutes. Also, as described above, the presence/absence detection result of "indefinite" shall not be used for generating or updating the presence/absence pattern.

The generation unit 53C uses the presence/absence detection results, day of the week information, and holiday information shown in FIG. A user presence/absence pattern in the air-conditioned space of the indoor unit 21 is generated. Generation unit 53C stores the generated presence/absence pattern in pattern storage unit 52B. If a holiday is included in the time zone of the presence/absence detection result, generation unit 53C regards the time zone as being the same as a holiday. After storing the presence/absence pattern in the pattern storage unit 52B, the generation unit 53C uses the presence/absence detection results for, for example, 6 days unused for generation in the history data memory 52A and stores them in the pattern storage unit 52B. The presence/absence pattern inside is updated, and the updated presence/absence pattern is stored in the pattern storage unit 52B.

For example, when the air conditioner 2 is installed in the living room, the generation unit 53C selects a weekday, for example, Monday (excluding holidays) from the detection result of presence/absence in the living room stored in the history data memory 52A. Extract presence/absence detection results. Furthermore, the generation unit 53C extracts the presence/absence detection results other than “indefinite” from the above-extracted presence/absence detection results on Monday, and based on the extracted presence/absence detection results in the living room, Generating an presence/absence pattern that predicts the presence/absence of a person. In addition, when the air conditioner 2 is installed in a bedroom, for example, the generation unit 53C selects from the bedroom presence/absence detection result stored in the history data memory 52A on weekdays, for example, Mondays (excluding holidays). ) to extract the presence/absence detection results. Furthermore, the generation unit 53C extracts the presence/absence detection results other than "indefinite" from the above-extracted presence/absence detection results on Monday, and based on the extracted detection results of the presence/absence of the bedroom, in the bedroom on Monday Generating an presence/absence pattern that predicts the presence/absence of a person.

Further, the generation unit 53C extracts the presence/absence detection results on holidays and Sundays from the detection results of presence/absence in the living room being stored in the history data memory 52A. Furthermore, the generation unit 53C extracts the presence/absence detection results other than “indefinite” from the extracted presence/absence detection results on holidays and Sundays, and based on the extracted presence/absence detection results in the living room, Generate an presence/absence pattern that predicts the presence/absence of a person in In addition, the generation unit 53C extracts the presence/absence detection results on holidays and Sundays from the bedroom presence/absence detection results stored in the history data memory 52A. Furthermore, the generation unit 53C extracts the presence/absence detection results other than “undefined” from among the extracted presence/absence detection results on holidays and Sundays, and based on the extracted detection results of the presence/absence of the bedroom, the bedroom on Sunday Generate an presence/absence pattern that predicts the presence/absence of a person in

That is, the generator 53C generates presence/absence patterns for each day of the week in the air-conditioned space where the indoor unit 21 is installed. For convenience of explanation, the case of generating presence/absence patterns for each day of the week has been exemplified. and Sunday may be set as a holiday, and a presence/absence pattern for each air-conditioned space on a holiday may be generated. In addition, holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays have been exemplified as holidays, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, Tuesdays may be set as holidays regardless of holidays and holidays on the calendar, and can be changed as appropriate. .

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a generated user presence/absence pattern. Pattern 1 of the presence/absence patterns shown in FIG. 8 is an presence/absence pattern indicating the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space on Monday and Tuesday. Although not shown, the presence/absence pattern of users in the air-conditioned space from Wednesday to Saturday other than holidays is also predicted. Pattern 2 is an presence/absence pattern indicating the presence/absence of users in the air-conditioned space on Sundays and holidays.

The generation unit 53C generates or updates an presence/absence pattern for each day of the week for each air-conditioned space based on the presence/absence detection result, the day of the week information, and the holiday information, and stores the generated/updated presence/absence pattern in the pattern storage unit 52B. do. The transmission unit 53D transmits the presence/absence pattern for each day of the week for each air-conditioned space stored in the pattern storage unit 52B to the communication adapter 3 via the relay device 6, the communication network 8, and the router 4. FIG.

<Display form of terminal device>
FIG. 9A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the timer setting screen 70 of the terminal device 7. FIG. The timer setting screen 70 shown in FIG. 9A includes an operation mode display section 71 that displays the operation mode currently being operated, a set temperature display section 72 that displays the current set temperature, and a set air volume display that displays the current set air volume. 73, a first timer display unit 74 for displaying the content of the reserved operation set by the user, and a second timer display unit for displaying the content of the reserved operation (AI operation proposal) recommended by the air conditioner 2. 75 are displayed. The operation mode display unit 71 displays the current operation mode such as normal air conditioning operation such as cooling, heating, blowing, and drying, and additional function operation such as filter cleaning operation and heat sterilization operation. The first timer display section 74 is a first display section that displays timer times such as the start time and end time of the air conditioning operation according to the user's setting operation. The second timer display unit 75 is a second display unit that displays a timer time such as the air conditioning operation start time recommended by the recommendation unit 21D0 of the air conditioner 2 . By separately displaying the first timer display portion 74 and the second timer display portion 75 on the timer setting screen 70, the user can operate the timer set by the user using the first timer display portion 74. It can be easily distinguished from the AI driving suggestion by the second timer display unit 75 . As a result, the user can prevent an erroneous operation such as erroneously erasing the AI driving suggestion, as compared to the case where the two are displayed without being distinguished from each other.

FIG. 9B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the recommendation screen 80 of the terminal device 7. As shown in FIG. When the user selects the second timer display section 75 on the timer setting screen 70 shown in FIG. 9A, the terminal device 7 displays the recommendation screen 80 shown in FIG. 9B. The recommendation screen 80 includes a reservation execution presence/absence selection section 81, a second timer time display section 82 that displays the timer setting time of the AI driving proposal, and a recommendation content display section 83 that displays text explaining the content of the AI driving proposal. , and a recommended setting presence/absence selection portion 84 are displayed. The reservation execution presence/absence selection unit 81 is an operation unit that instructs the air conditioner 2 whether to execute the reservation. The second timer time display section 82 displays the timer time recommended by the recommendation section 21D0 of the air conditioner 2 . The recommended content display unit 83 pops up the recommended content recommended by the recommendation unit 21D0. The contents of the recommendation are, for example, "It looks like it will be cold tomorrow morning. Would you like to set a driving reservation so that it will be comfortable at 6:00 am?" The recommended setting presence/absence selection unit 84 is an operation unit that instructs the air conditioner 2 whether or not to set the recommended content.

FIG. 9C is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the recommended time change screen 90 of the terminal device 7 . When the user selects the second timer time display section 82 on the recommendation screen 80 shown in FIG. 9B, the terminal device 7 displays the change screen 90 shown in FIG. 9C. The second timer time display section 82 corresponds to the change section 42A, and displays a change screen 90 according to the user's selection operation. The terminal device 7 can freely adjust the second timer time according to the user's operation to change the second timer time 91 on the change screen 90 . As a result, the user can freely adjust the recommended AI driving timer time.

For convenience of explanation, the case where the timer setting screen 70 shown in FIG. 9A, the recommended screen 80 shown in FIG. 9B, and the change screen 90 shown in FIG. The screen 80 and the change screen 90 may be displayed on the remote controller 23, respectively. Further, in the above description, the case where the first timer display unit 74 and the second timer display unit 75 are provided in advance in the terminal device 7 has been described. 2, one of the plurality of first timer display units 74 may be replaced with the second timer display unit 75 when AI operation proposals can be made by updating the program or the like.

<Recommendation of additional function operation>
Next, a recommendation from the air conditioner 2 to the user for additional function operation, which is different from normal air conditioning operation, will be described. The additional function operation of this embodiment includes a heat sterilization operation and a filter cleaning operation. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a timing chart of each process during heat sterilization operation. The recommendation unit 21D0 in the air conditioner 2 obtains the presence/absence prediction result for 24 hours, which is the prediction result of the presence/absence prediction unit 34E, and selects a sixth predetermined period, for example, 5 hours or more from the prediction result. Detect expected time of absence. Then, the recommendation unit 21D0 indicates that the cooling operation or the dehumidification operation was performed until immediately before the detected absence time of 5 hours or more (for example, 1 hour before), and 3 days or more have passed since the previous execution of the heat sterilization operation. Heat disinfection operation is recommended to users only when The air conditioner 2 notifies the terminal device 7 of the recommendation of the heat sterilization operation when the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation is stopped. If the user who received the recommendation notification of the heat sterilization operation does not refuse the execution of the heat sterilization operation, the air conditioner 2 executes the heat sterilization operation during the detected absence time of 5 hours or more. Note that the heat sterilization operation is performed through the following procedure. First, the air conditioner 2 performs a monitoring operation, which will be described later, from the time when the cooling operation or dehumidifying operation is stopped until the first hour of the five hours or more of absence. After the monitoring operation is completed, the heat sterilization operation is performed for 1 hour, and the remaining 3 hours are used as a cooling period for reducing the indoor temperature and humidity that have increased due to the heat sterilization operation.

The monitoring operation described above is an operation for monitoring whether or not a person is actually present in the air-conditioned space using the presence/absence detection result of the sensor 21B. When the additional function operation is heat sterilization operation, the monitoring time is from the time when the cooling operation or dehumidifying operation is stopped to the time when the heat sterilization operation is performed, and the presence or absence of the user in the air-conditioned space during the monitoring time. Executes a monitoring operation to monitor the Then, when a person is detected in the air-conditioned space during the monitoring operation, the air conditioner 2 does not perform the heating sterilization operation, and the user notifies the user that the heating sterilization operation will not be performed. is notified to the terminal device 7 of Note that FIG. 10 shows a case where the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation is stopped at a time when no one is present, and the monitoring time starts.

Further, the heat sterilization operation is an operation in which the indoor heat exchanger of the indoor unit 21 is heated to 55 degrees to sterilize as described above. The indoor temperature and indoor humidity in the air-conditioned space rise due to the execution of the heat sterilization operation. Therefore, after the heat sterilization operation is performed, a cooling period is provided as a period of time until the indoor temperature and the indoor humidity, which have been increased by the heat sterilization operation, decrease. The cooling period is a preparatory time that should be provided from the end of the heat sterilization operation to the start of the normal air conditioning operation. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the user in the air-conditioned space is uncomfortable due to the heat sterilization operation.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a timing chart of each process during filter cleaning operation. The recommendation unit 21D0 in the air conditioner 2 detects an absence time of 1 hour or more and less than 5 hours in the 24-hour presence/absence prediction result of the presence/absence prediction unit 34E, and , the filter cleaning operation is recommended to the user when the cumulative operation time of the indoor unit 21 is 200 hours or more. When the user accepts the recommended filter cleaning operation, the air conditioner 2 performs the monitoring operation for the first hour and the filter cleaning operation for the next 20 minutes within the absence time of 1 hour or more and less than 5 hours. to run. The monitoring operation is an operation for monitoring whether or not there is actually a person in the air-conditioned space using the presence/absence detection result of the sensor 21B. Specifically, of the absence time of 1 hour or more and less than 5 hours, the first 1 hour is the monitoring time before the filter cleaning operation is started, and the user is absent in the air-conditioned space during the monitoring time. Executes a monitoring operation to monitor the Then, it notifies the terminal device 7 that a person has been detected in the air-conditioned space during the monitoring operation. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the filter cleaning operation causes discomfort to the user in the air-conditioned space.

As described above, in the air conditioning system 1 of the present embodiment, execution of the additional function operation, which may cause discomfort to the user if executed while the user is in the room, is predicted. Recommended according to the length of the user's absence. As a result, sterilization of the indoor heat exchanger of the indoor unit 21 and cleaning of the filter can be automatically performed without giving discomfort to the user.

<Generation of Presence/Absence Pattern in Air Conditioning System>
Next, generation of presence/absence patterns in the air conditioning system 1 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 12A is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation of the CPU 53 of the server device 5 involved in the generation processing of generating the presence/absence pattern. The generation process is a process of first generating the presence/absence pattern after the air conditioner 2 is later installed in the air-conditioned space. In FIG. 12A, the receiving unit 53A in the CPU 53 of the server device 5 communicates with the communication adapter 3 periodically, for example, at 0:00 every day, and receives the presence/absence detection results for each air-conditioned space for two days from the communication adapter 3. It is determined whether or not it has been received (step S11). It is assumed that the communication adapter 3 stores the presence/absence detection results for two days in the history memory 33A until the results are obtained. If the receiving unit 53A has received two days' worth of presence/absence detection results (step S11: Yes), the receiving unit 53A stores the received two days' worth of presence/absence detection results in the history data memory 52A of the storage unit 52 (step S12). The generation unit 53C in the CPU 53 determines whether or not the presence/absence detection results for 30 days have been stored in the history data memory 52A (step S13). If the presence/absence detection results for 30 days have already been stored (step S13: Yes), the generation unit 53C stores each day of the week for each air-conditioned space based on the presence/absence detection results being stored, the day information, and the holiday information. A presence/absence pattern is generated (step S14). When acquiring the presence/absence detection results for two days, the acquisition unit 53B in the CPU 53 also acquires day-of-the-week information and holiday information on the detection dates of the presence/absence detection results for two days. Alternatively, the server apparatus 5 associates the weekday information and holiday information acquired by itself with the acquired presence/absence detection results for two days. In addition, the generation unit 53C exemplifies the case where the presence/absence pattern for each day of the week is generated, but two presence/absence patterns for holidays and weekdays may be generated, and can be changed as appropriate.

The generation unit 53C stores the generated presence/absence pattern in the pattern storage unit 52B (step S15). The transmission unit 53D in the CPU 53 transmits the presence/absence pattern being stored in the pattern storage unit 52B to the communication adapter 3 (step S16), and ends the processing operation of FIG. 12A.

If the reception unit 53A does not receive the presence/absence detection results for two days for each air-conditioned space in the process of step S11 (step S11: No), the process returns to step S11. Further, when the presence/absence detection results for 30 days have not been stored in the processing of step S13 (step S13: No), the receiving unit 53A returns to the processing of step S11.

When the CPU 53 of the server device 5 stores the presence/absence detection results for 30 days for each air-conditioned space from the communication adapter 3, based on the presence/absence detection results for 30 days for each air-conditioned space, the day of the week information, and the holiday information, , to generate presence/absence patterns for each day of the week that predict the presence/absence of users in the air-conditioned space. The CPU 53 then transmits the generated presence/absence pattern to the communication adapter 3 . As a result, the server device 5 can provide the communication adapter 3 with presence/absence patterns for each day of the week used in the air-conditioned space.

FIG. 12B is a flow chart showing an example of the processing operation of the CPU 53 of the server device 5 involved in the updating process of updating the already generated presence/absence pattern. The update process is a process of updating the contents of the presence/absence pattern being stored in the pattern storage unit 52B. In FIG. 12B, the receiving unit 53A communicates with the communication adapter 3 periodically, for example, at 0:00 every day, and determines whether the presence/absence detection results for each air-conditioned space for two days have been received from the communication adapter 3. (step S21). It is assumed that the communication adapter 3 stores the presence/absence detection results for two days in the history memory 33A until the results are obtained. When the reception unit 53A receives two days' presence/absence detection results for each air-conditioned space (step S21: Yes), the reception unit 53A stores the received two days' presence/absence detection results in the history data memory 52A of the storage unit 52. Store (step S22). The generating unit 53C determines whether or not the presence/absence detection results for six days that have not been used for generation have already been stored in the history data memory 52A (step S23).

If the presence/absence detection results for six days that have not been used for generation have already been stored (step S23: Yes), the generation unit 53C creates an air-conditioned space based on the stored presence/absence detection results, day of the week information, and holiday information. The presence/absence pattern for each day of the week is updated (step S24). The generation unit 53C stores the updated presence/absence pattern for each day of the week for each air-conditioned space in the pattern storage unit 52B (step S25). The transmission unit 53D transmits the presence/absence pattern for each day of the week for each air-conditioned space stored in the pattern storage unit 52B to the communication adapter 3 (step S26). Then, the receiving unit 53A returns to the process of step S21 in order to determine whether the presence/absence detection results for two days for each air-conditioned space have been received.

If the reception unit 53A does not receive the presence/absence detection results for two days in the process of step S21 (step S21: No), the process returns to step S21. Further, when the presence/absence detection results for six days that have not been used for generation have not been stored in the processing of step S23 (step S23: No), the receiving unit 53A returns to the processing of step S21.

After generating the presence/absence pattern, every time the CPU 53 obtains the presence/absence detection results for six days from the communication adapter 3, based on the presence/absence detection results for six days for each air-conditioned space, the day of the week information, and the holiday information, Update the presence/absence pattern for each day of the week for each air-conditioned space. The CPU 53 then transmits the updated presence/absence pattern to the communication adapter 3 . As a result, the server device 5 can provide the communication adapter 3 with the latest presence/absence pattern for each day of the week used in the air-conditioned space.

FIG. 13A is a flow chart showing an example of the processing operation of the CPU 34 of the communication adapter 3 involved in the recommended process. In FIG. 13A, the presence/absence prediction unit 34E in the CPU 34 in the communication adapter 3 determines whether or not the current time is the predicted time (step S30). The predicted time is a predetermined time such as 8:00 or 20:00, which is set in advance, every day. If the current time is the predicted time (step S30: Yes), the presence/absence prediction unit 34E outputs the presence/absence detection result from the current predicted time to the indoor unit of the air conditioner 2 for a predetermined time, for example, 24 hours. 21 is determined (step S31). For convenience of explanation, the predetermined time is 24 hours, but it is not limited to this. , can be changed as appropriate.

When the presence/absence detection result from the current prediction time to 24 hours ago is acquired (step S31: Yes), the presence/absence prediction unit 34E calculates the acquired presence/absence detection result from a plurality of presence/absence patterns in the air-conditioned space. And the day of the week information is used to select a presence/absence pattern to be used for presence/absence prediction in the air-conditioned space (step S32). The presence/absence prediction unit 34E predicts the presence/absence of the user 24 hours from now using the selected presence/absence pattern (step S33). The behavior prediction unit 21D2 of the control unit 21D in the indoor unit 21 determines whether or not the installation location of the indoor unit 21 is the bedroom based on the indoor usage information (step S34).

When the installation location of the indoor unit 21 is not the bedroom (step S34: No), the action prediction unit 21D2 executes the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the living room (step S35), and returns to the process of step S30. If the installation location of the indoor unit 21 is the bedroom (step S34: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 executes the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the bedroom (step S36), and returns to the process of step S30. If the current time is not the predicted time (step S30: No), the presence/absence prediction unit 34E returns to step S30. If the presence/absence prediction unit 34E does not acquire the presence/absence detection result from the current prediction time to 24 hours ago (step S31: No), the process returns to step S31.

The communication adapter 3 predicts the presence/absence of the user for 24 hours from the predicted time using the presence/absence pattern selected using the current detection result of the sensor and the day of the week information, and then determines the installation location of the indoor unit 21. When is the bedroom, air conditioning operation recommendation processing in the bedroom is executed, and when the installation location of the indoor unit 21 is not the bedroom, air conditioning operation recommendation processing in the living room is executed. As a result, it is possible to recommend air-conditioning operation to the user according to the user's action prediction result, which will be described later with reference to FIGS. 13B to 13D. For convenience of explanation, a bedroom and a living room are exemplified as the air-conditioned space, but the air-conditioned space is not limited to this.

Next, the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the living room in step S35 of FIG. 13A will be described. 13B and 13C are flowcharts showing an example of the processing operation of the controller 21D of the indoor unit 21 involved in the air conditioning operation recommendation processing in the living room. Note that the indoor unit 21 described in FIGS. 13B and 13C is an indoor unit installed in the living room. In FIG. 13B, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 in the control unit 21D in the indoor unit 21 performs a fourth predetermined period, for example, It is determined whether or not there is a timing to change from being absent in the living room for three hours or more to being in the room (step S41). As described above, the first time period is the time period in which the user is expected to get up, leave the bedroom, enter the living room, and start the air-conditioning operation.

When there is a timing in the first time period at which the absence for the fourth predetermined period or more changes to the presence in the room (step S41: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the timing as the wake-up time (step S42). ). After estimating the wake-up time, the recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the air-conditioning operation 15 minutes before the wake-up time (step S43). Next, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 sets the fourth time slot (17:00 to 23:50) in the presence/absence prediction result for a fifth predetermined period, for example, three hours or more after being in the living room. It is determined whether or not there is a timing to change to absent (step S44). In addition, the fourth time zone is a time zone when it is assumed that the user stops the air conditioning operation in the living room at night and leaves the living room, for example, 17:00 to 23:50, or It is a time period, for example, 17:00 to 23:50, assuming the time to enter the bedroom after starting the air conditioning operation of the bedroom.

When there is a timing in the fourth time period at which the person is absent for a fifth predetermined period or longer (step S44: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the timing as bedtime. Then, when the behavior prediction unit 21D2 can predict the bedtime, the recommendation unit 21D0 sends the recommendation signal generated in step S43 to the communication adapter 3, router 4, The user's terminal device 7 is transmitted via the communication network 8 and the router 4 (step S45), and the living room air conditioning operation recommendation process shown in FIG. 13B ends. As a result, the user can easily set the second timer time to start the air conditioning operation 15 minutes before the wake-up time in the living room based on the recommended content on the display screen of the terminal device 7 .

If there is no timing in the fourth time slot to change to the absence for the fifth predetermined period or longer (step S44: No), the recommendation unit 21D0 generates a The recommendation signal is sent to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3, router 4, communication network 8 and router 4 (step S46), and the living room air conditioning operation recommendation process shown in FIG. 13B ends. As a result, the user can easily set the second timer time to start the air conditioning operation 15 minutes before the wake-up time in the living room based on the recommended content on the display screen of the terminal device 7 .

When there is no timing in the first time slot for changing from being absent to being in the room for the fourth predetermined period or longer (step S41: No), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the second time slot in the presence/absence prediction result. In (13:00 to 22:50), it is determined whether or not there is a fourth predetermined period, for example, a timing of changing from being absent in the living room to being in the room for three hours or more (step S47). As described above, the second time period is the time period during which the user is expected to return home, enter, for example, the living room, and start the air conditioning operation.

When the behavior prediction unit 21D2 has a timing of changing from being absent in the living room to being in the room for the fourth predetermined period or more in the second time period (step S47: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the timing as the time to return home ( step S48). After estimating the time to return home, the recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the air conditioning operation 15 minutes before the time to return home (step S49). The recommendation unit 21D0 transmits the generated recommendation signal to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3, router 4, communication network 8 and router 4 between 11:00 and 12:00 (step S50), The air conditioning operation recommendation process in the living room shown in FIG. 13B ends. As a result, the user can easily set the second timer time for starting the air-conditioning operation in the living room 15 minutes before the home time based on the recommended content on the display screen of the terminal device 7 .

Note that the recommendation screen 80 of the terminal device 7 that has received the recommendation signal transmitted in each process of steps S45, S46, and step S50 displays contents such as the recommendation content display section 83 shown in FIG. The user can select whether to receive (set) or not receive (not set) the recommendation of the recommended air conditioning operation.

When there is no timing in the second time slot for changing from being absent to being in the room for the fourth predetermined period or longer (step S47: No), the action prediction unit 21D2 proceeds to M1 shown in FIG. 13C. At M1 shown in FIG. 13C, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts that the third time zone (8:00 to 16:50) in the presence/absence prediction result is the sixth predetermined period, for example, 5 It is determined whether or not there is a timing to change to absence for more than the time (step S51). It should be noted that the third time zone is a time zone in which the air conditioning operation is assumed to be stopped for a long time due to the user going out. If there is a timing in the third time zone where the person is in the living room to be absent for the sixth predetermined period or longer (step S51: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the timing as going out ( step S52). After estimating the timing as going out, the recommendation unit 21D0 determines whether the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation was performed before the absence time, and whether or not three days or more have passed since the previous execution of the heat sterilization operation. Determine (step S53).

If the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation was performed before the absence time, and three days or more have passed since the previous execution of the heat sterilization operation (step S53: Yes), the recommendation unit 21D0 is one hour after the outing time. , a recommendation signal to start the heat sterilization operation is generated (step S54). Then, the recommendation unit 21D0 transmits the generated recommendation signal to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3, the router 4, the communication network 8 and the router 4 (step S55), and the air conditioning operation in the living room shown in FIG. End recommended processing. As a result, the user can easily set the second timer time for starting the heat sterilization operation one hour after the time when the user leaves the living room based on the recommended content on the display screen of the terminal device 7 .

If the recommendation unit 21D0 performs the cooling operation or the dehumidification operation before the absence time in step S53, and three days or more have not passed since the previous execution of the heat sterilization operation (step S53: No), The process proceeds to M2 shown in FIG. 13B and ends the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the living room.

If there is no timing in the third time zone to change from being in the living room to being absent for the sixth predetermined period or longer (step S51: No), the behavior predicting unit 21D2 determines whether the third person in the presence/absence prediction result (step S56). When there is a timing in the third time period when the presence in the living room changes to the absence in the seventh predetermined period (step S56: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the timing as going out ( step S57).

After estimating the timing as going out, the recommendation unit 21D0 determines whether or not the accumulated operation time of the indoor unit 21 is 200 hours or more (step S58). If the accumulated operation time of the indoor unit 21 is 200 hours or more (step S58: Yes), the recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the filter cleaning operation one hour after the time of going out (step S59). The recommendation unit 21D0 returns to the process of step S55 in order to transmit the generated recommendation signal to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3, router 4, communication network 8 and router 4. FIG. As a result, the user can easily set the second timer time for starting the filter cleaning operation one hour after leaving the living room based on the recommended content on the display screen of the terminal device 7 .

On the recommendation screen 80 of the terminal device 7 that has received the recommendation signal transmitted in each process of step S54 and step S59, the recommendation content is displayed on the recommendation content display section 83 (not shown). However, in the case of the recommendation of additional function operation, unlike the recommendation of air conditioning operation, a message to the effect that the additional function operation will be executed is displayed to the user, and unless the user refuses to execute the additional function operation, the additional function operation will not be performed. executed. If the user does not want to execute the additional function operation, the user can select the refusal to execute the additional function operation.

When there is no timing in the third time slot for changing from being in the living room to being absent during the seventh predetermined period (step S56: No), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 performs the air conditioning operation in the living room shown in FIG. 13B. End recommended processing. If the cumulative operation time of the indoor unit 21 is less than 200 hours (step S58: No), the recommendation unit 21D0 advances the process to M2 shown in FIG. 13B and ends the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the living room.

Next, the air-conditioning operation recommendation process in the bedroom in step S36 of FIG. 13A will be described. FIG. 13D is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation of the controller 21D of the indoor unit 21 related to the air conditioning operation recommendation processing in the bedroom. Note that the indoor unit 21 described in FIG. 13D is the indoor unit installed in the bedroom. In FIG. 13D, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 in the control unit 21D in the indoor unit 21 performs a fifth predetermined period, for example, It is determined whether or not there is a timing to change from being absent in the bedroom for three hours or more to being in the room (step S61). As described above, the fourth time zone is a time zone, for example, 17:00 to 23:50, which is assumed to be the time when the user starts the air conditioning operation of the bedroom at night and enters the bedroom.

If there is a timing in the fourth time period at which the absence for the fifth predetermined period or more is changed to the presence in the room (step S61: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 regards the timing at which the user enters the bedroom as bedtime. Predict (step S62). After estimating that it is bedtime, the recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the air conditioning operation at bedtime (step S63). The recommendation unit 21D0 transmits the generated recommendation signal to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3, router 4, communication network 8, and router 4 from one hour before bedtime to bedtime (step S64), the processing operation related to the air conditioning operation recommendation processing in the bedroom shown in FIG. 13D ends. As a result, the user can easily set the second timer time for starting the air conditioning operation at bedtime in the bedroom based on the recommended contents on the display screen of the terminal device 7 .

Note that the recommended screen 80 of the terminal device 7 that has received the recommended signal transmitted in each process of step S64 displays contents such as the recommended content display section 83 shown in FIG. By receiving (setting) the operation recommendation, the recommended air conditioning operation is executed.

When there is no timing in the fourth time slot for changing from being absent to staying in the room for the fifth predetermined period or longer (step S61: No), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the third time slot in the presence/absence prediction result. At (8:00 to 16:50), it is determined whether or not there is a timing to change from being in the bedroom to being absent for a sixth predetermined period, for example, five hours or more (step S65). If there is a timing in the third time period at which the presence in the bedroom changes to the absence for the sixth predetermined period or longer (step S65: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 regards the timing as the time to leave the bedroom. Predict (step S66). After estimating the timing as the exit time, the recommendation unit 21D0 determines whether the cooling operation or the dehumidification operation is performed before the exit time, and whether or not three days or more have passed since the previous execution of the heat sterilization operation. is determined (step S67).

If the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation is performed before the exit time, and three days or more have passed since the previous heat sterilization operation was performed (step S67: Yes), the recommendation unit 21D0 sets the exit time to 1 A recommendation signal to start the heat sterilization operation after a certain period of time is generated (step S68). Then, the recommendation unit 21D0 transmits the generated recommendation signal to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3, the router 4, the communication network 8 and the router 4 (step S69), and the air conditioning operation in the bedroom shown in FIG. End recommended processing. As a result, the user can easily set the second timer time for starting the heat sterilization operation one hour after leaving the bedroom based on the recommended content on the display screen of the terminal device 7 .

On the recommendation screen 80 of the terminal device 7 that has received the recommendation signal transmitted in each process of step S69 and step S73, the recommended content is displayed on the recommended content display section 83 (not shown). However, in the case of the recommendation of additional function operation, unlike the recommendation of air conditioning operation, a message to the effect that the additional function operation will be executed is displayed to the user, and unless the user refuses to execute the additional function operation, the additional function operation will not be performed. executed.

If the recommendation unit 21D0 performs the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation before the room exit time in step S67, and three days or more have passed since the previous execution of the heat sterilization operation (step S67: No), The air-conditioning operation recommendation process in the bedroom shown in 13D ends.

If there is no timing in the third time zone to change from being in the bedroom to being absent for the sixth predetermined period or longer (step S65: No), the behavior predicting unit 21D2 determines whether the third person in the presence/absence prediction result (step S70). If there is a timing in the third time period at which the presence in the bedroom changes to the absence within the seventh predetermined period (step S70: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 regards the timing as the time of leaving the bedroom. Predict (step S71).

After estimating the timing as the exit time, the recommendation unit 21D0 determines whether or not the accumulated operation time of the indoor unit 21 is 200 hours or more (step S72). If the accumulated operation time of the indoor unit 21 is 200 hours or more (step S72: Yes), the recommendation unit 21D0 generates a recommendation signal to start the filter cleaning operation one hour after the room exit time (step S73). . The recommendation unit 21D0 returns to the process of step S69 in order to transmit the generated recommendation signal to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3, router 4, communication network 8 and router 4. FIG. As a result, the user can easily set the second timer time for starting the filter cleaning operation one hour after leaving the bedroom based on the recommended content on the display screen of the terminal device 7 .

When there is no timing in the third time slot for changing from being in the bedroom to being absent during the seventh predetermined period (step S70: No), the behavior prediction unit 21D2 performs the air conditioning operation in the bedroom shown in FIG. 13D. End recommended processing. If the cumulative operation time of the indoor unit 21 is less than 200 hours (step S72: No), the recommendation unit 21D0 ends the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the bedroom shown in FIG. 13D.

<Effect of Example 1>
The communication adapter 3 of the first embodiment selects one presence/absence pattern from among a plurality of presence/absence patterns using at least the current detection result of the sensor 21B. Furthermore, the communication adapter 3 uses the selected presence/absence pattern to predict the presence/absence of the air-conditioned space for 24 hours. Furthermore, the communication adapter 3 transmits to the air conditioner 2 24-hour presence/absence prediction results, which are the presence/absence prediction results. The air conditioner 2 transmits a recommendation signal recommending various air conditioning operations to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3 based on the acquired 24-hour presence/absence prediction results. As a result, the user can obtain a comfortable air-conditioned space by implementing the recommended content of the recommendation signal, thereby achieving air-conditioning operation in accordance with the life rhythm.

The server device 5 generates an presence/absence pattern using the past presence/absence detection results detected by the sensor 21B during a first predetermined period, for example, 30 days, day of the week information, and holiday information. As a result, a highly accurate presence/absence pattern in the air-conditioned space can be obtained.

Using the selected presence/absence pattern, the communication adapter 3, for example, at a predetermined time such as 8:00 or 20:00 every day, the user in the air-conditioned space from the predetermined time for a second predetermined period, for example, up to 24 hours. 24-hour presence/absence is predicted. Furthermore, the communication adapter 3 transmits to the air conditioner 2 24-hour presence/absence prediction results, which are the presence/absence prediction results. Then, the air conditioner 2 transmits a recommendation signal recommending various air-conditioning operations to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3 based on the acquired 24-hour presence/absence prediction results. As a result, the user can receive recommendations for air-conditioning operation in accordance with the lifestyle rhythm using the presence/absence prediction result from the predetermined time to 24 hours later.

Using the selected presence/absence pattern, the communication adapter 3 predicts the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space every 10 minutes for 24 hours during a third predetermined period, for example, every 10 minutes. Furthermore, the communication adapter 3 transmits to the air conditioner 2 24-hour presence/absence prediction results, which are the presence/absence prediction results. Then, the air conditioner 2 transmits a recommendation signal recommending various air-conditioning operations to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3 based on the acquired 24-hour presence/absence prediction results. As a result, the user can receive recommendations for air-conditioning operation in accordance with the life rhythm using the presence/absence prediction results for every 10 minutes for 24 hours.

The air conditioner 2 transmits a recommendation signal recommending the setting of the start time of the air conditioning operation or the stop time of the air conditioning operation based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction result in the air-conditioned space predicted by the communication adapter 3 to the user's terminal device. Send to 7. As a result, the user can realize a comfortable air-conditioned space that conforms to the rhythm of life by following the recommendations according to the recommendation signal, without having to look for the operating hours of the air-conditioning operation, such as sleep driving.

The air conditioner 2 transmits to the user's terminal device 7 a recommendation signal that recommends additional function operation different from the air conditioning operation based on the predicted 24-hour presence/absence prediction result in the air-conditioned space. As a result, even if the user does not search for the driving time zone of the additional function driving, the user can follow the recommended contents according to the recommendation signal, thereby conforming to the life rhythm and without feeling uncomfortable. can be realized.

When the air conditioner 2 is a room such as a living room where the user spends most of the time other than bedtime, the air conditioner 2 is used in the presence/absence prediction result for 24 hours in the air conditioned space. The timing at which the person changes from being absent to being in the room is predicted as the user's wake-up time or return home time. Then, the air conditioner 2 transmits a recommendation signal to the user's terminal device 7 for recommending the setting of the start time of the air conditioning operation based on the timing when the user changes from absent to present in the living room, for example. As a result, the user can easily set the start time of the air conditioning operation in the living room at the wake-up time.

The air conditioner 2 predicts the timing at which the user changes from being in the room to being absent as the user's going out time or going to bed in the 24-hour presence/absence prediction result in the air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor usage information. Then, the air conditioner 2 transmits to the user's terminal device 7 a recommendation signal that recommends additional function operation different from the air conditioning operation based on the timing when the user changes from being present in the living room to being absent. As a result, the user can easily set the additional function operation in the living room at the time of going out or going to bed without searching for the operation time zone of the additional function operation by himself/herself.

For example, when the air-conditioned space is a room such as a bedroom where the user sleeps, the air conditioner 2 predicts whether the user will be present or absent in the air-conditioned space for 24 hours. The changing timing is predicted as the user's bedtime. Then, the air conditioner 2 transmits a recommendation signal to the terminal device 7 of the user, which recommends setting the start time of the air conditioning operation, based on, for example, the timing at which the user changes from absent to present in the bedroom. As a result, the user can easily set the air conditioning operation start time in the bedroom at bedtime.

The air conditioner 2 predicts the timing at which the user changes from being in the room to being absent as the wake-up time of the user in the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results in the air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor use information. Then, the air conditioner 2 transmits to the user's terminal device 7 a recommendation signal that recommends additional function operation different from the air conditioning operation, based on the timing at which the user changes from being present in the bedroom to being absent. As a result, the user can easily set the additional function operation in the bedroom at the wake-up time without searching for the operation time period for the additional function operation.

Based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction result for each air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor use information, the air conditioner 2 is predicted to be absent from a state in which the period is predicted to be a fourth predetermined period, for example, 3 hours or longer. The timing of changing to the room is predicted as the user's wake-up time or homecoming time. As a result, the air conditioner 2 can predict the user's wake-up time or homecoming time with high accuracy.

The air conditioner 2 is predicted to be absent for a fifth predetermined period, for example, the start of an absence that continues for 3 hours or more based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction result for each air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor use information. The timing is predicted to be the user's going-out time or bedtime. As a result, the air conditioner 2 can predict the user's going-out time or bedtime with high accuracy.

Based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results for each air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor use information, the air conditioner 2 is configured to operate air conditioning when the predicted absence period is a sixth predetermined period, for example, five hours or longer. A recommendation signal recommending additional function operation different from operation is transmitted to the terminal device 7 of the user. As a result, the user can easily set the additional function operation in a time period during which the user does not feel uncomfortable without searching for the additional function operation time period.

<Modification of Example 1>
In the communication adapter 3 of the first embodiment, the presence/absence pattern to be used for prediction is selected from among a plurality of presence/absence patterns by using the detection result of the presence/absence, the day of the week information, and the holiday information, and the selected presence/absence pattern is used to predict the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space, the server device 5 may predict the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space. In this case, the server device 5 detects presence/absence of a user from a plurality of presence/absence patterns from a predetermined time to a predetermined time before predicting the presence/absence of a user in an air-conditioned space, day of the week information, and holiday information. is used to select the presence/absence pattern used for prediction, and the selected presence/absence pattern is used to predict the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space. Then, the server device 5 transmits the presence/absence prediction result to the air conditioner 2 via the communication adapter 3 . As a result, the presence/absence pattern can be generated and the presence/absence prediction can be executed in the server device 5, so that the processing load on the communication adapter 3 side can be reduced.

In the air conditioning system 1 of Embodiment 1, the indoor unit 21 of the air conditioner 2 transmits the recommended signal to the user's terminal device 7 via the communication adapter 3, but the remote controller 23 of the air conditioner 2 It may be transmitted and can be changed as appropriate.

The presence/absence prediction unit 34E selects and selects an presence/absence pattern to be used for prediction from a plurality of presence/absence patterns using detection results of presence/absence a predetermined time before a predetermined time, day information, and holiday information. A case of predicting presence/absence for 24 hours in an air-conditioned space using presence/absence patterns is illustrated. However, even if there is no holiday information, the prediction unit 34E may select the presence/absence pattern to be used for prediction using the presence/absence detection result from the predetermined time to the predetermined time before and the day of the week information.

The recommendation unit 21D0 selects recommended driving to be recommended to the user based on the user's behavior prediction results (time to go home, time to go out, time to sleep, etc.) predicted by the behavior prediction unit 21D2, and executes the selected recommended driving. is recommended. However, the recommendation unit 21D0 may select recommended driving to be recommended to the user based on the user's behavior prediction result and execute the selected recommended driving. As a result, the user can save the trouble of confirming the recommended driving to be recommended.

In the air conditioning system 1, the air conditioner 2, the communication adapter 3, and the server device 5 are used. The case where the indoor unit 21 of the air conditioner 2 is made to share the processing of transmission is illustrated. However, the communication adapter 3 may be caused to execute presence/absence prediction and transmission of a recommendation signal to start air-conditioning operation, that is, all the processing in FIGS. It is possible.

For convenience of explanation, a person who works during the daytime is exemplified as a user. A case where it is predicted is shown as an example. However, in the case of a user who works late at night, the timing may be predicted as the time to return home, and can be changed as appropriate.

In addition, the air conditioner 2 may be caused to generate presence/absence patterns, predict presence/absence, and generate and transmit a recommendation signal for starting air conditioning operation. explain. In addition, by attaching the same reference numerals to the same configurations as those of the first embodiment, redundant descriptions of the configurations and operations will be omitted.

<Configuration of air conditioner>
FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an air conditioner 2A according to the second embodiment. The indoor unit 210 in the air conditioner 2A shown in FIG. and a prediction unit 21H. Acquisition unit 21E acquires day-of-the-week information. The presence/absence pattern 21F is a pattern in which an presence/absence pattern indicating the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space is generated for each day of the week.

The generation unit 21G generates the presence/absence pattern 21F using the presence/absence detection result of the sensor 21B, the day information, and the holiday information. If a holiday is included in the time zone of the presence/absence detection result of the sensor 21B, the generating unit 21G considers the time zone to be the same as a holiday. Among the presence/absence detection results, the presence/absence detection results of "indefinite" are not used for the presence/absence pattern 21F. The presence/absence prediction unit 21H uses the presence/absence detection results from a predetermined time to a predetermined time before the user's presence/absence is predicted from among the plurality of presence/absence patterns 21F to determine the presence/absence to be used for prediction. Select an absence pattern. Furthermore, the presence/absence prediction unit 21H predicts the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space using the selected presence/absence pattern. The action prediction section 21D2 in the control section 21D transmits a recommendation signal recommending various air conditioning operations to the terminal device 7 of the user based on the presence/absence prediction result of the user in the air-conditioned space by the presence/absence prediction section 21H.

The generation unit 21G generates the presence/absence pattern 21F using the presence/absence detection results detected by the sensor 21B during a first predetermined period, for example, 30 days. The generation unit 21G stores the presence/absence detection result of the sensor 21B in a storage unit (not shown) without going through the communication adapter 3, and uses the stored presence/absence detection result to generate the presence/absence pattern 21F. To update, the generation process shown in FIG. 12 is executed.

The presence/absence prediction unit 21H uses the selected presence/absence pattern to predict the air-conditioned space at a predetermined time, such as 8:00 or 20:00 every day, for a second predetermined period, such as 24 hours after the predetermined time. Predict the presence or absence of users in The presence/absence prediction unit 21H predicts the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space for a third predetermined period, for example, every 10 minutes. If the predicted time period includes a holiday, the presence/absence prediction unit 21H regards the time period as the same as a holiday and predicts the presence/absence for 24 hours in the air-conditioned space. In addition, the presence/absence prediction unit 21H excludes "indefinite" presence/absence detection results from the presence/absence detection results of the sensor 21B used when predicting the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space. The presence/absence prediction unit 21H executes the processes of steps S30, S31, S32, S33, and S34 shown in FIG. 13A.

The behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space by the presence/absence prediction unit 21H, and based on the indoor usage information (living room or bedroom) of the air-conditioned space, the user's day in the living space. behavior (for example, time to wake up, time to go out, time to go home, time to go to bed). Then, the recommending unit 21D0 selects driving that should be recommended to the user based on the predicted behavior. Further, the recommending unit 21D0 recommends to the user to perform driving that should be recommended to the user. The recommendation unit 21D0 transmits to the remote control 23 a recommendation signal for recommending to the user. Furthermore, the recommendation unit 21D0 executes the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the living room in step S35 shown in FIG. 13A or the air conditioning operation recommendation process in the bedroom in step S36 shown in FIG. 13A.

The extracting unit 21D1 extracts a time period during which an additional function operation different from the normal air conditioning operation can be performed from the 24-hour presence/absence prediction result time periods in the air-conditioned space. The period of time during which the additional function operation can be performed is, for example, five hours or more of absence. Based on the presence/absence prediction result of the user in the air-conditioned space by the presence/absence prediction unit 21H, the recommendation unit 21D0 sends a recommendation signal to the remote controller 23 to recommend additional function operations such as heating sterilization operation and filter cleaning operation, which are different from the air-conditioning operation. Send to Although the recommendation unit 21D0 transmits the recommendation signal to the remote controller 23 as an example, if the recommendation unit 21D0 has means for communicating with the user's terminal device 7, the recommendation signal may be transmitted to the user's terminal device 7. Well, it can be changed as appropriate.

<Effect of Example 2>
The air conditioner 2A of Example 2 selects one presence/absence pattern from a plurality of presence/absence patterns using at least the current detection result of the sensor 21B. The air conditioner 2A predicts presence/absence in the air-conditioned space for 24 hours using the selected presence/absence pattern. Furthermore, the air conditioner 2A transmits to the remote control 23 a recommendation signal that recommends various air conditioning operations based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results. As a result, the user can obtain a comfortable air-conditioned space by executing the recommended content according to the recommendation signal, thereby realizing the air-conditioning operation in accordance with the life rhythm.

The air conditioner 2A generates an presence/absence pattern using the presence/absence detection results detected by the sensor 21B during a first predetermined period, for example, 30 days, day of the week information, and holiday information. As a result, a highly accurate presence/absence pattern in the air-conditioned space can be acquired.

Using the selected presence/absence pattern, the air conditioner 2A can be used in the air-conditioned space at a predetermined time, for example, 8:00 or 20:00 every day, for a second predetermined period from the predetermined time, for example, up to 24 hours. Predict the presence or absence of a person for 24 hours. Then, the air conditioner 2A transmits a recommendation signal for recommending various air conditioning operations to the remote controller 23 based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results. As a result, the user can receive recommendations for air-conditioning operation in accordance with the lifestyle rhythm using the presence/absence prediction result from the predetermined time to 24 hours later.

Using the selected presence/absence pattern, the air conditioner 2A predicts the presence/absence of the user in the air-conditioned space every 10 minutes for 24 hours during a third predetermined period, for example, every 10 minutes. Then, the air conditioner 2A transmits a recommendation signal for recommending various air conditioning operations to the remote controller 23 based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results. As a result, the user can receive recommendations for air-conditioning operation in accordance with the life rhythm using the presence/absence prediction results for every 10 minutes for 24 hours.

The air conditioner 2A transmits to the remote controller 23 a recommendation signal for recommending the setting of the start time of the air conditioning operation or the stop time of the air conditioning operation based on the predicted 24-hour presence/absence prediction result in the air-conditioned space. As a result, the user can realize a comfortable air-conditioned space that conforms to the rhythm of life by following the recommended content according to the recommendation signal without searching for the operating time zone of the air-conditioning operation such as the sleep operation.

The air conditioner 2A transmits to the remote control 23 a recommendation signal recommending additional function operation different from the air conditioning operation based on the predicted 24-hour presence/absence prediction result in the air-conditioned space. As a result, even if the user does not search for the driving time zone of the additional function driving, the user can follow the recommended contents according to the recommendation signal, thereby conforming to the life rhythm and without feeling uncomfortable. can be realized.

When the air-conditioned space is, for example, a living room in which the user spends most of the time other than bedtime, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 determines whether the presence/absence prediction result for 24 hours in the air-conditioned space The timing at which the person changes from being absent to being in the room is predicted as the user's wake-up time or return home time. Further, the recommending unit 21D0 transmits to the remote control 23 a recommendation signal recommending the setting of the start time of the air-conditioning operation, for example, based on the timing at which the user changes from absent to present in the living room. As a result, the user can easily set the start time of the air conditioning operation in the living room at the wake-up time.

The behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the timing at which the user changes from being in the room to being absent as the user's going out time or going to bed in the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results in the air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor use information. The recommendation unit 21D0 transmits to the remote control 23 a recommendation signal recommending additional function operation different from the air conditioning operation based on the timing when the user changes from being present in the living room to being absent. As a result, the user can easily set the additional function operation in the living room at the time of going out or going to bed without searching for the operation time zone of the additional function operation by himself/herself.

For example, when the air-conditioned space is a room where the user sleeps, such as a bedroom, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts whether the user will move from being absent to being in the room in the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results in the air-conditioned space. The changing timing is predicted as the user's bedtime. The recommendation unit 21D0 transmits to the remote controller 23 a recommendation signal for recommending the setting of the start time of the air conditioning operation, for example, based on the timing at which the user changes from absent to present in the bedroom. As a result, the user can easily set the air conditioning operation start time in the bedroom at bedtime.

The behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts the timing at which the user changes from being in the room to being absent as the wake-up time of the user in the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results in the air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor usage information. Recommendation unit 21D0 transmits to remote controller 23 a recommendation signal that recommends additional function operation different from air conditioning operation, based on the timing at which the user changes from being present in the bedroom to being absent. As a result, the user can easily set the additional function operation in the bedroom at the wake-up time without searching for the operation time period for the additional function operation.

Based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction results for each air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor usage information, the behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts that the person will be absent from a state in which the predicted absence period is a fourth predetermined period, for example, 3 hours or more. The timing of changing to the room is predicted as the user's wake-up time or homecoming time. As a result, the air conditioner 2A can predict the user's wake-up time or return home time with high accuracy.

The behavior prediction unit 21D2 predicts absence for a fifth predetermined period, for example, the start of absence that continues for 3 hours or longer, based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction result for each air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor usage information. The timing is predicted to be the user's going-out time or bedtime. As a result, the air conditioner 2 can predict the user's going-out time or bedtime with high accuracy.

Based on the 24-hour presence/absence prediction result for each air-conditioned space corresponding to the indoor usage information, the recommendation unit 21D0 determines whether the period in which the absence is predicted is a sixth predetermined period, for example, 5 hours or longer, when the air-conditioning operation is performed. A recommendation signal recommending an additional function operation different from that is transmitted to the remote controller 23. - 特許庁As a result, the user can easily set the additional function operation without searching for the time slot for the additional function operation.

<Modified Example of Example>
The first predetermined period, the second predetermined period, the third predetermined period, the fourth predetermined period, the fifth predetermined period, the sixth predetermined period, and the seventh predetermined period in Examples 1 and 2 are It can be changed as appropriate. Also, the first time period, the second time period, the third time period, and the fourth time period can be changed as appropriate.

In addition, the heat sterilization operation has been exemplified by starting the heat sterilization operation for one hour after the monitoring operation, but the operation time is not limited to this and can be changed as appropriate. In addition, the heat sterilization operation is an example in which the heat sterilization operation is completed after a 1-hour heat sterilization operation and a 3-hour cooling period, but the cooling operation is performed during the cooling period to shorten the cooling period. It can be changed as appropriate.

In addition, the number of presence/absence patterns used for predicting the presence/absence of users is limited to a maximum of 5 in consideration of an increase in the amount of communication between the communication adapter 3 and the server device 5 and an increase in the memory capacity required by the communication adapter. An example of up to the pattern was explained. However, if there is no need to consider the amount of communication and the memory capacity can be increased, an presence/absence pattern is generated for each day of the week, and the presence/absence pattern corresponding to the predicted day of the week is used to determine the presence/absence of the user. Absence may be expected.

Also, each constituent element of each part illustrated does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific form of distribution and integration of each part is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and all or part of it can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in arbitrary units according to various loads and usage conditions. can be configured as

Furthermore, the various processing functions performed by each device are implemented on a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (or a microcomputer such as an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) or MCU (Micro Controller Unit)), in whole or in part. You can make it run. In addition, various processing functions may be executed in whole or in part on a program analyzed and executed by a CPU (or a microcomputer such as an MPU or MCU) or on hardware based on wired logic. Needless to say.

1 air conditioning system 2, 2A air conditioner 3 communication adapter 5 server device 7 terminal device 21, 210 indoor unit 21B sensor 21D0 recommendation unit 21D2 behavior prediction unit 21E acquisition unit 21F presence/absence pattern 21G generation unit 21H presence/absence prediction unit 34E presence Absence prediction unit 53B Acquisition unit 53C Generation unit

Claims (10)

An air conditioner capable of performing an air conditioning operation and an additional function operation different from the air conditioning operation,
a sensor that detects the presence or absence of people in the air-conditioned space;
a presence/absence prediction unit that predicts the presence/absence of a user in the air-conditioned space for a predetermined time period using a presence/absence pattern indicating the tendency of the user's presence/absence in the air-conditioned space;
a storage unit that stores the prediction result of the presence/absence prediction unit;
a recommendation unit that selects additional function operation to be recommended to the user based on at least the prediction result of the presence/absence prediction unit;
The presence/absence prediction unit
When the presence/absence of a plurality of presence/absence patterns for each predetermined time is compared and the number of locations where the presence/absence is different is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the presence/absence of the user is detected by the sensor at a predetermined time before predicting the presence/absence of the user. comparing the detection result of the presence/absence of the user with the plurality of presence/absence patterns, and based on the comparison result, one presence/absence pattern closest to the detection result is selected from the plurality of presence/absence patterns. An air conditioner that uses a pattern to predict the presence or absence of the user in the air-conditioned space for the predetermined time period. The presence/absence pattern is associated with day-of-the-week information,
The presence/absence prediction unit
When the presence/absence patterns are compared for each predetermined time period in the plurality of presence/absence patterns and the number of places where the presence/absence differs is less than a predetermined number, the air conditioning is performed using the presence/absence pattern associated with the predicted day of the week. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein presence/absence of said user in space for said predetermined time period is predicted. The presence/absence pattern is
3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is a pattern indicating a tendency of presence or absence of the user in the air-conditioned space generated using detection results of the sensor for a certain period of time. The recommending unit further:
The additional function operation to be recommended to the user is selected based on the elapsed time from execution of the previous additional function operation or the cumulative operation time of the air conditioner. 1. The air conditioner according to 1. A behavior prediction unit that predicts the behavior of the user for the predetermined time period using the presence/absence pattern, the prediction result of the presence/absence prediction unit, and the indoor usage information of the air-conditioned space. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The recommendation unit
6. The air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein the additional function operation to be recommended to the user is selected based on the behavior of the user predicted by the behavior prediction unit. The recommendation unit
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein execution of the additional function operation is recommended to the user. 8. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein execution of the additional function operation is started after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start time of the user's absence. further comprising an indoor unit having a heat exchanger;
In the additional function operation,
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a heat sterilization operation for heating and sterilizing the heat exchanger. The sensor is
The presence/absence detection operation of the person is started according to power supply to the air conditioner, and the operation of detection of the presence/absence of the person is continued regardless of whether the air conditioning operation is started or stopped. Item 10. The air conditioner according to any one of Items 1 to 9.

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