JP7361636B2 - Position estimation device, position estimation system, position estimation method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a position estimation device, a position estimation system, a position estimation method, and a program.

If you can identify areas where abnormalities are likely to occur before pipe inspection work, you can expect to improve the efficiency of pipe inspection work. Here, locations where abnormalities are likely to occur are often locations where the characteristic impedance changes, and are often locations where reflected waves are generated during TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) measurement. Therefore, various techniques are currently known that use TDR measurement to detect locations where an abnormality is likely to occur or where an abnormality has occurred.

For example, in Embodiment 2 of Patent Document 1, a pulse signal is applied to the piping, a reflected wave of the pulse signal is detected, and based on the delay time of the reflected wave, the piping and the material provided on the outer periphery of the piping are detected. A piping diagnostic device is described that detects an abnormality in at least one of the following. In this piping diagnostic device, when the occurrence of reflected waves is detected at a location other than the end of the piping, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the piping, and the location where the abnormality has occurred is identified.

JP2010-256224A

Branches of piping can be cited as locations where abnormalities such as refrigerant leaks are likely to occur. This is because branch portions of piping are provided by machining the piping, and therefore corrosion is more likely to progress than at unmachined locations.

Since the piping branch is a location where the piping branches, the characteristic impedance changes even when no abnormality has occurred. Therefore, by estimating the position of each branch using TDR measurement, it is possible to support pipe inspection work. For example, when inspecting piping at a site where the construction status of the piping is unknown, the locations to be inspected can be narrowed down by estimating the position of each branch in advance, thereby supporting the inspection work.

On the other hand, the connection between the piping and the indoor unit of the air conditioner is also a location where the characteristic impedance changes even when no abnormality occurs. This is because the connection portion becomes a point where an electrical short circuit occurs due to a metal structure such as a heat exchanger of the indoor unit. Therefore, when estimating the position of each branch by TDR measurement, there is a possibility that the position of the connection part may be mistakenly estimated to be the position of the branch.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a position estimation device and the like that distinguishes and estimates the position of a branch part of a pipe and the position of a connection part between a pipe and an indoor unit of an air conditioner.

In order to achieve the above object, a position estimation device according to the present disclosure includes:
a pulse application means for applying a voltage pulse to conductive piping;
Waveform measuring means for measuring a voltage waveform indicating a change in voltage in the piping;
Based on the voltage waveform, a first waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the branch part of the pipe, and a second waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the connection part between the pipe and the indoor unit of the air conditioner, position estimating means for estimating the position of the branch part of the pipe and the position of the connection part;
Equipped with

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to distinguish and estimate the position of the branch part of the pipe and the position of the connection part between the pipe and the indoor unit of the air conditioner.

A diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioning system to which a position estimation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure is applied. A diagram showing an example of a voltage pulse applied to piping by the pulse application unit of the position estimating device according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. A diagram showing an example of a voltage waveform measured by the waveform measurement unit of the position estimation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. A diagram showing an example of a waveform template stored in the storage unit of the position estimation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. A diagram showing an example of correspondence between voltage waveforms and correlation in Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure A diagram showing a functional configuration of a position estimation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure A diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a position estimation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. Flowchart illustrating an example of position estimation operation by the position estimation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure A diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning system to which a position estimation device according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure is applied. A diagram showing an example of attachment of a regulator according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure A diagram showing the configuration of a regulator according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure A diagram showing a functional configuration of a position estimation device according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure Flowchart showing an example of position estimation operation by the position estimation device according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure A flowchart showing an example of the operation of estimating the position of each connection part in the operation shown in FIG. 13

Hereinafter, an air conditioning system to which a position estimating device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or equivalent parts are given the same reference numerals.

(Embodiment 1)
An air conditioning system 1 to which a position estimating device 10 according to Embodiment 1 is applied will be described with reference to FIG. The air conditioning system 1 is a system that includes piping to be inspected. The air conditioning system 1 is an air conditioning system that adjusts the temperature, humidity, etc. of air in a target area of a building such as a factory or building. The air conditioning system 1 is a system in which an outdoor unit 2 and one or more indoor units 3 are interconnected by a pair of pipes P including a pipe P1 and a pipe P2. The air conditioning system 1 includes piping P, an outdoor unit 2, one or more indoor units 3, and a position estimation device 10. Although details will be described later, in the air conditioning system 1, the position estimation device 10 can estimate the position of the branch part B of the pipe P and the position of the connection part C between the pipe P and the indoor unit 3. According to the air conditioning system 1, by estimating these positions, it is possible to support pipe inspection work.

The pipe P is a metal pipe that circulates refrigerant between the outdoor unit 2 and each indoor unit 3. Since the pipe P is made of metal, it has conductivity. Moreover, the pipe P is covered with a heat insulating material. Piping P includes piping P1 and piping P2. Piping P1 and piping P2 are installed in parallel. The pipe P branches at a branch part B. The pipe P is connected to the indoor unit 3 at a connecting portion C. Piping P is an example of piping according to the present disclosure. Branch B is an example of a branch according to the present disclosure.

The outdoor unit 2 is an air conditioner that is installed outdoors and cooperates with the indoor unit 3 to air condition the indoor space in which the indoor unit 3 is installed. The outdoor unit 2 includes, for example, a compressor and a heat exchanger.

The indoor unit 3 is an air conditioner that is installed in an indoor space and cooperates with the outdoor unit 2 to air condition the indoor space. The indoor unit 3 is connected to the pipe P at a connecting portion C. The indoor unit 3 includes, for example, a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger included in the indoor unit 3 is a metal structure, and a pipe P is connected to the heat exchanger. Therefore, the heat exchanger of the indoor unit 3 short-circuits the pipe P1 and the pipe P2 of the pipe P. The indoor unit 3 is an example of an indoor unit according to the present disclosure. The connecting portion C is an example of a connecting portion according to the present disclosure.

The position estimating device 10 estimates the position of the branch part B and the position of the connecting part C by performing TDR measurement on the pipe P. The position estimating device 10 is an example of a position estimating device according to the present disclosure. This will be explained in more detail below. However, the functional configuration of the position estimation device 10 will be described later.

First, the position estimating device 10 applies a voltage pulse to the pipe P. The voltage pulse is as shown in FIG. 2, for example. Next, the position estimating device 10 continuously detects the voltage value of the pipe P at the location where the voltage pulse is applied, and measures the voltage waveform in the pipe P. Since a reflected wave of the voltage pulse is generated at the branch portion B and the connection portion C where the characteristic impedance changes, there are portions in the measured voltage waveform where changes are occurring due to the influence of the reflected wave. The voltage waveform is shown in FIG. 3, for example. A location where a steep fall occurs is a location where a change is occurring due to the influence of reflected waves.

The characteristic impedance of the branch portion B is smaller than the characteristic impedance of an unprocessed portion of the pipe P. This is because the pipes can be considered to be electrically connected in parallel at the branch B. For example, if the thickness of the two branched pipes P is the same as the thickness of the pipe P before branching, the characteristic impedance of the branch part B will be half of the characteristic impedance of the non-branched part. Since the characteristic impedance is reduced at the branch B, the voltage of the reflected wave generated by the branch B becomes a negative voltage with respect to the voltage pulse. Therefore, the above voltage waveform, which is the result of combining the reflected waves, has a steep fall.

The characteristic impedance of the connection portion C is also smaller than the characteristic impedance of the unprocessed portion of the pipe P. As described above, in the connection part C, the heat exchanger of the indoor unit 3 short-circuits the pipe P1 and the pipe P2 of the pipe P, so the characteristic impedance of the connection part C becomes zero. Therefore, the voltage of the reflected wave generated by the connection portion C becomes a negative voltage with respect to the voltage pulse. Further, since the characteristic impedance is 0, the absolute value of the amplitude of the reflected wave from the connecting portion C is larger than the absolute value of the amplitude of the reflected wave generated from the branching portion B. Therefore, in the above voltage waveform, the fall caused by the connection C is steeper than the fall caused by the branch B.

Next, the position estimating device 10 estimates the position of the branching part B and the position of the connecting part C based on the correlation between the voltage waveform and two types of waveform templates prepared in advance. The two types of waveform templates are, for example, a branch template T1 and a connection template T2 shown in FIG. The falling edge of the connecting portion template T2 is steeper than the falling edge of the branching portion template T1. This corresponds to the fact that in the above voltage waveform, the fall caused by the connection portion C is steeper than the fall caused by the branch portion B. That is, the branch template T1 is a waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the branch B, and the connection template T2 is a waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the connection C. The branch template T1 is an example of a first waveform template according to the present disclosure, and the connection template T2 is an example of a second waveform template according to the present disclosure.

The voltage waveform and the correlation between the voltage waveform and each template have the correspondence relationship shown in FIG. 5, for example. However, FIG. 5 is not an example of the configuration shown in FIG. 1. The position estimating device 10 estimates the position of the branching part B and the position of the connecting part C based on the magnitude of the correlation for each template at each time when the correlation becomes maximum. Specifically, the position estimating device 10 estimates the distance from the point where the voltage pulse is applied to the branch point B, and the distance from the point where the voltage pulse is applied to the branch point B. The position of B and the position of connection C are estimated.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the position estimating device 10 estimates the position of the branch B based on time t1, and estimates the positions of the two connecting parts C based on time t2 and time t3. When the time from the time when the voltage pulse is applied to each time is T, the distance L from the point where the voltage pulse is applied to the branch part B or the connection part C can be determined by the following calculation formula.
L=T×Vc/(2√ε0)
However, Vc is the speed of light in vacuum, and ε is the effective dielectric constant of the heat insulating material of the pipe P. ε is, for example, 1.1.

Next, the functional configuration of the position estimating device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. The position estimation device 10 includes a control section 100, a pulse oscillator 110, a voltage sensor 120, a storage section 130, an operation reception section 140, and a display section 150. The control section 100 includes a pulse application section 101 , a waveform measurement section 102 , a correlation calculation section 103 , and a position estimation section 104 .

The pulse oscillator 110 is connected to the piping P1 and the piping P2, and applies a voltage pulse between the piping P1 and the piping P2 based on the control of the pulse application section 101. That is, the pulse oscillator 110 applies a voltage pulse to the pipe P based on the control of the pulse application section 101. The location where the pulse oscillator 110 is connected is preferably the connection between the outdoor unit 2 and the pipe P in order to prevent generation of unnecessary reflected waves.

The voltage sensor 120 is connected to the pipe P1 and the pipe P2, detects a voltage value between the pipe P1 and the pipe P2, and outputs the detected voltage value to the waveform measuring section 102. That is, the voltage sensor 120 detects the voltage value of the pipe P. The location where the voltage sensor 120 is connected is preferably the same location where the pulse oscillator 110 is connected so that the distance L can be easily calculated using the above formula. This is because if the location where the pulse oscillator 110 is connected and the location where the voltage sensor 120 is connected are significantly different, the distance traveled by the voltage pulse and the distance traveled by the reflected wave will be significantly different.

The storage unit 130 stores the above-mentioned branch part template T1 and connection part template T2. These templates are created in advance by, for example, the administrator of the air conditioning system 1 based on the characteristic impedance.

The operation reception unit 140 receives various operations from the user. The operation reception unit 140 receives, for example, an instruction to start position estimation. The functions of the operation reception unit 140 are realized by, for example, the functions of a touch screen, buttons, mouse, and keyboard.

The display unit 150 displays information indicating the position of the branch B and the position of the connection C estimated by the position estimation unit 104 under the control of the control unit 100. The functions of the display unit 150 are realized by, for example, the functions of a touch screen.

The control unit 100 centrally controls the position estimation device 10. For example, as described above, the control unit 100 controls the display unit 150 to display information indicating the position estimated by the position estimation unit 104.

The pulse application unit 101 controls the pulse oscillator 110 to apply a voltage pulse to the pipe P. The pulse application unit 101 is an example of a pulse application unit according to the present disclosure.

The waveform measurement unit 102 measures a voltage waveform indicating a change in voltage in the pipe P by continuously acquiring the voltage value of the pipe P detected by the voltage sensor 120. The waveform measuring unit 102 is an example of a waveform measuring means according to the present disclosure.

The correlation calculation unit 103 calculates the correlation between the voltage waveform measured by the waveform measurement unit 102 and the branch template T1 stored in the storage unit 130, and the correlation between the voltage waveform measured by the waveform measurement unit 102 and the branch template T1 stored in the storage unit 130. The correlation with the connected part template T2 is calculated. The correlation calculation unit 103 calculates the correlation by, for example, determining the mutual covariance between the voltage waveform and the waveform template while shifting the waveform template in time series. As a result, the correlation calculation unit 103 can obtain a time-series change in the correlation as shown in FIG. 5 described above, for example. Note that the correlation calculation unit 103 may calculate cross-correlation instead of cross-covariance.

Referring again to FIG. The position estimating unit 104 estimates the position of the branching part B and the position of the connecting part C based on the correlation calculated by the correlation calculating part 103. The position estimation unit 104 calculates the position estimation unit based on the time when the correlation between the voltage waveform and the branch template T1 is greater than the correlation between the voltage waveform and the connection template T2, among the times when the correlation is maximum. The position of branch B is estimated. The position estimating unit 104 detects times when the correlation is maximum other than the above, that is, when the correlation between the voltage waveform and the connection part template T2 is greater than the correlation between the voltage waveform and the branch part template T1. The position of the connection part C is estimated based on the time. As described above, the position estimating unit 104 can calculate the distance L from the point where the voltage pulse is applied to the branch B or the connection C based on the time. Location can be estimated. The position estimating unit 104 is an example of a position estimating means according to the present disclosure.

Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the position estimation device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 7. The position estimating device 10 shown in FIG. 7 is realized by, for example, a computer such as a personal computer or a microcontroller.

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

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

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

The interface 1003 is an I/O (Input/Output) interface such as a serial port, GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output), USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, or network interface. For example, a pulse oscillator 110, a voltage sensor 120, an operation receiving section 140, and a display section 150 are connected to the interface 1003.

The secondary storage device 1004 is, for example, a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or an SSD (Solid State Drive). Secondary storage device 1004 stores operating programs executed by processor 1001. The functions of the storage unit 130 are realized by the secondary storage device 1004.

Next, an example of the operation of position estimation by the position estimation device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 8. The operation shown in FIG. 8 is started, for example, when the user operates the operation reception unit 140 to instruct the position estimation device 10 to perform position estimation.

The pulse application unit 101 of the control unit 100 of the position estimating device 10 controls the pulse oscillator 110 to apply a voltage pulse to the pipe P (step S11).

The waveform measurement unit 102 of the control unit 100 continuously acquires voltage values from the voltage sensor 120 and measures the voltage waveform in the pipe P (step S12).

The correlation calculation unit 103 of the control unit 100 calculates the correlation between the voltage waveform measured in step S12 and the branch template T1 stored in the storage unit 130 (step S13). Similarly, the correlation calculation unit 103 calculates the correlation between the voltage waveform and the connection template T2 (step S14).

The position estimating unit 104 of the control unit 100 determines whether the correlation between the voltage waveform and the branch template T1 is the same as the voltage waveform among the times when the respective correlations calculated in steps S13 and S14 are maximum. The position of the branching part B is estimated based on the time when the correlation with the connecting part template T2 is greater (step S15).

Similarly, the position estimating unit 104 determines that the correlation between the voltage waveform and the connection template T2 diverges from the voltage waveform among the times when the respective correlations calculated in steps S13 and S14 are maximum. The position of the connection part C is estimated based on the time when the correlation with the part template T1 is greater than the correlation with the part template T1 (step S16).

The control unit 100 controls the display unit 150 to display the estimation result on the display unit 150 (step S17). Then, the control unit 100 ends the position estimation operation.

The air conditioning system 1 to which the position estimating device 10 according to the first embodiment is applied has been described above. According to the position estimating device 10 according to the first embodiment, branching is performed based on the voltage waveform, the branching part template T1 based on the characteristic impedance of the branching part B, and the connecting part template T2 based on the characteristic impedance of the connecting part C. The position of part B and the position of connecting part C are estimated. In particular, the position estimating device 10 determines the position of the branch B and the connection C based on the correlation between the voltage waveform and the branch template T1 and the correlation between the voltage waveform and the connection template T2. presume. Therefore, according to the position estimation device 10, the position of the branch part B of the pipe P and the position of the connection part C between the pipe P and the indoor unit 3 of the air conditioner can be estimated separately.

(Embodiment 2)
An air conditioning system 1 to which the position estimating device 10 according to the second embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIG. 9. However, differences from Embodiment 1 will be explained. The air conditioning system 1 according to the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it further includes a regulator 20 attached to the connection part C. The adjuster 20 is attached to the connection part C, and adjusts the impedance of the connection part C based on the control of the position estimating device 10. Note that the position estimating device 10 and the adjuster 20 are communicably connected by wire or wirelessly.

The regulator 20 is attached to the connecting portion C between the pipe P and the indoor unit 3, for example in the form shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, two members are shown as regulator 20, which indicates that two cores 250, which will be described later, are attached to pipe P1 and pipe P2.

Although details will be described later, in the second embodiment, the connection portion template T2 is not used. Therefore, the correlation between the voltage waveform and the connection portion template T2 is also not calculated. In the second embodiment, the position estimating device 10 controls the regulator 20 to change the impedance of the connection portion C, and the voltage waveform when the impedance is changed and the voltage waveform when the impedance is not changed. The position of the connection part C is estimated based on the difference between the two. Then, the position estimating device 10 estimates the position of the branch B based on the time when the correlation between the voltage waveform and the branch template T1 is maximum, excluding the time related to the above difference. .

The configuration of regulator 20 will be described with reference to FIG. 11. The regulator 20 includes a control section 200, a communication section 210, a switch 220, a DC power supply 230, two coils 240, and two cores 250 around which the coils 240 are wound. Further, each core 250 has a hole H formed therein. A pipe P1 and a pipe P2 are passed through the hole H of each core 250. Adjuster 20 is an example of a adjuster according to the present disclosure.

Although details will be described later, when the switch 220 is off, the characteristic impedance of the connection portion C becomes high impedance, and when the switch 220 is on, the characteristic impedance of the connection portion C becomes low impedance. High impedance is an example of a first impedance according to the present disclosure, and low impedance is an example of a second impedance according to the present disclosure.

The control unit 200 turns the switch 220 on or off based on the control signal received from the position estimating device 10 via the communication unit 210.

The communication unit 210 communicates with the position estimation device 10. The functions of the communication unit 210 are realized by a network card, a wireless communication module, and the like.

The switch 220 is turned on or off under the control of the control unit 200. When switch 220 is on, DC current from DC power supply 230 flows through coil 240 .

When the switch 220 is on, the DC power supply 230 causes a DC current to flow through each coil 240 to saturate the magnetic flux generated in each core 250.

Coil 240 is a coil formed by winding an insulated wire around core 250. When the switch 220 is on, the coil 240 generates magnetic flux using a direct current from the DC power supply 230, and saturates the magnetic flux generated in the core 250.

The core 250 is a split core in which a hole H is formed. Since the core 250 is a split core, it can be easily attached to the pipe P.

When a voltage pulse is applied to the pipe P while the switch 220 is off, a change in magnetic flux occurs in the core 250 and the coil 240 in response to the rise of the voltage pulse. As a result, the characteristic impedance of the pipe P at the location passing through the hole H increases. That is, when the switch 220 is off, the connection portion C becomes high impedance.

When the switch 220 is on, the magnetic flux generated in the core 250 by the coil 240 is saturated as described above, so that almost no change in the magnetic flux occurs in response to the rise of the voltage pulse. As a result, the characteristic impedance of the pipe P at the location passing through the hole H becomes smaller. That is, when the switch 220 is on, the connection portion C has a low impedance.

Next, with reference to FIG. 12, differences from the first embodiment in the functional configuration of the position estimating device 10 according to the second embodiment will be described.

First, the position estimating device 10 according to the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it includes a communication section 160. Communication unit 160 communicates with regulator 20 .

Further, this embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the control section 100 further includes an impedance adjustment section 105. The impedance adjustment section 105 controls the adjuster 20 via the communication section 160, and adjusts the impedance of each connection section C individually to high impedance or low impedance.

The second embodiment also differs from the first embodiment in that the storage unit 130 does not store the connection template T2, and the correlation calculation unit 103 does not calculate the correlation between the voltage waveform and the connection template T2.

The position estimation by the position estimation unit 104 is also different from the first embodiment as described below. The position estimating unit 104 estimates each connection C based on the difference between the voltage waveform when the impedance of each connection C is changed and the voltage waveform when the impedance of none of the connections C is changed. Estimate location. The position estimating unit 104 estimates the position of the branch B based on the time when the correlation between the voltage waveform and the branch template T1 is maximum, excluding the time related to the above difference. Details will be explained in conjunction with the explanation of the position estimation operation.

Next, an example of the operation of position estimation by the position estimation device 10 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. However, the description of the same points as in Embodiment 1 will be omitted.

The impedance adjustment unit 105 of the control unit 100 of the position estimating device 10 controls each adjuster 20 to adjust the impedance of all the connections C to high impedance (step S21).

The pulse application unit 101 of the control unit 100 of the position estimation device 10 applies a voltage pulse to the pipe P, and the waveform measurement unit 102 of the control unit 100 measures the voltage waveform in the pipe P (step S22). By this operation, the voltage waveform can be measured when the impedance of all the connection parts C is high impedance.

The control unit 100 estimates the position of each connection part C by executing the operation shown in FIG. 14 (step S23). Refer to FIG. 14 below.

The control unit 100 selects one regulator 20 from each regulator 20 (step S231).

The impedance adjustment unit 105 controls the selected adjuster 20 to adjust the impedance of the connection portion C corresponding to the selected adjuster 20 to a low impedance (step S232).

The impedance adjustment unit 105 controls each unselected regulator 20 to adjust the impedance of each connection portion C corresponding to each regulator 20 to a high impedance (step S233).

The pulse application unit 101 applies a voltage pulse to the pipe P, and the waveform measurement unit 102 measures the voltage waveform in the pipe P (step S234). By this operation, it is possible to measure the voltage waveform when only the impedance of the selected connection portion C is low impedance.

The position estimating unit 104 compares the voltage waveform measured in step S234 with the voltage waveform measured in step S22 of FIG. 13 when the impedance of all the connections C is high impedance, and determines the differences. is specified (step S235). The difference in these voltage waveforms is caused by the difference in impedance of the selected connection C.

The position estimating unit 104 identifies the time corresponding to the identified difference (step S236).

The position estimation unit 104 estimates the position of the connection part C corresponding to the selected regulator 20 based on the specified time (step S237).

When there is a regulator 20 that has not been selected (step S238: Yes), the control unit 100 repeats the operation from step S231. Note that in the operation of selecting the regulator 20 in step S231, the regulator 20 that has been selected once is not selected.

When there is no adjuster 20 that has not been selected (step S238: No), the control unit 100 returns from the operation of estimating the position of each connection part C, and executes the operation from step S24 shown in FIG. 13.

Referring again to FIG. The correlation calculation unit 103 of the control unit 100 calculates the correlation between the voltage waveform and the branch template T1 stored in the storage unit 130 (step S24). Note that the voltage waveform used in this operation may be the voltage waveform measured in step S22 when the impedance of all the connections C is high impedance, or may be the voltage waveform used in step S234 shown in FIG. The voltage waveform measured when the impedance of any of the connection parts C is low impedance may be used.

The position estimating unit 104 identifies the time when the calculated correlation is maximum (step S25).

The position estimating unit 104 determines each location based on the time that is different from the time corresponding to the difference identified in step S236 in the position estimation of each connection part C shown in FIG. 14 among the times identified in step S25. The position of branch B is estimated (step S26). In other words, when estimating the position of branching part B, the position estimating unit 104 excludes the time used when estimating the position of each connecting part C from among the times at which the calculated correlation is maximum. do.

The control unit 100 controls the display unit 150 to display the estimation result on the display unit 150 (step S27). Then, the control unit 100 ends the position estimation operation.

Note that since the regulator 20 and the indoor unit 3 have a one-to-one correspondence, the position of each connection portion C estimated for each regulator 20 corresponds to each indoor unit 3 on a one-to-one basis. Therefore, when displaying the estimated position of the connection part C in step S27, the control part 100 may display the estimated position of the connection part C and the indoor unit 3 in association with each other on the display part 150. For example, if a unique ID (identifier) is assigned to each indoor unit 3 in a building, the control unit 100 can calculate the estimated position of the connection part C and the ID of the indoor unit 3 corresponding to the connection part C. may be displayed in association with the above. By displaying the estimated position of the connection part C and the ID of the indoor unit 3 in association with each other, it is possible to further support the inspection work.

The air conditioning system 1 to which the position estimating device 10 according to the second embodiment is applied has been described above. The position estimating device 10 according to the second embodiment estimates the position of the connection portion C based on the difference in voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection portion C is changed. Then, the position estimating device 10 estimates the position of the branch B based on the voltage waveform, the branch template T1, and the above-mentioned differences. Therefore, according to the position estimation device 10 according to the second embodiment, the position of the branch part B of the pipe P and the position of the connection part C between the pipe P and the indoor unit 3 of the air conditioner can be estimated separately.

(Modified example)
In the second embodiment, the position estimating device 10 estimates the position of the connection part C without using the connection part template T2, but in order to improve estimation accuracy, the position estimation device 10 estimates the position of the connection part C without using the connection part template T2, as in the first embodiment. May be used. In other words, Embodiments 1 and 2 may be combined.

In the second embodiment, the position estimating device 10 selects the adjusters 20 one by one to change the impedance of the corresponding connection C, and estimates the position of the connection C. Alternatively, the position estimating device 10 may change the impedance of all the connections C simultaneously and estimate the position of each connection C based on the difference in voltage waveforms before and after the change. However, in this case, since the adjuster 20 and the estimated position of the connection part C do not have a one-to-one correspondence, the estimated position of the connection part C and the indoor unit 3 cannot be correlated.

In the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 7, the position estimation device 10 includes a secondary storage device 1004. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the secondary storage device 1004 may be provided outside the position estimation device 10 and the position estimation device 10 and the secondary storage device 1004 may be connected via the interface 1003. In this embodiment, removable media such as a USB flash drive or a memory card can also be used as the secondary storage device 1004.

Alternatively, instead of the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 7, the position estimation device 10 may be configured with a dedicated circuit using an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like. good. Furthermore, in the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 7, part of the functions of the position estimating device 10 may be realized by a dedicated circuit connected to the interface 1003, for example.

1 Air conditioning system, 2 Outdoor unit, 3 Indoor unit, 10 Position estimation device, 20 Adjuster, 100 Control unit, 101 Pulse application unit, 102 Waveform measurement unit, 103 Correlation calculation unit, 104 Position estimation unit, 105 Impedance adjustment unit , 110 pulse oscillator, 120 voltage sensor, 130 storage unit, 140 operation reception unit, 150 display unit, 160 communication unit, 200 control unit, 210 communication unit, 220 switch, 230 DC power supply, 240 coil, 250 core, 1000 bus, 1001 processor, 1002 memory, 1003 interface, 1004 secondary storage device, B branch, C connection, H hole, P, P1, P2 piping, T1 branch template, T2 connection template.

Claims (9)

a pulse application means for applying a voltage pulse to conductive piping;
Waveform measuring means for measuring a voltage waveform indicating a change in voltage in the piping;
Based on the voltage waveform, a first waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the branch part of the pipe, and a second waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the connection part between the pipe and the indoor unit of the air conditioner, position estimating means for estimating the position of the branch part of the pipe and the position of the connection part;
A position estimation device comprising: The position estimating means compares the correlation between the voltage waveform and the first waveform template and the correlation between the voltage waveform and the second waveform template to determine the position of the branch part of the pipe. and estimating the position of the connection part.
The position estimation device according to claim 1. The position estimation means further includes the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection part is adjusted to a first impedance by a regulator attached to the connection part, and the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection part is adjusted to a first impedance by the regulator. estimating the position of the branch part of the pipe and the position of the connection part based on the difference between the voltage waveform when the impedance is adjusted to the impedance of 2;
The position estimation device according to claim 1 or 2. a pulse application means for applying a voltage pulse to conductive piping;
Waveform measuring means for measuring a voltage waveform indicating a change in voltage in the piping;
position estimating means for estimating the position of a branch part of the pipe and the position of a connection part between the pipe and an indoor unit of an air conditioner;
Equipped with
The position estimating means includes the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection part is adjusted to a first impedance by a regulator attached to the connection part, and the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection part is adjusted to a second impedance by the regulator. estimating the position of the connection based on the difference between the voltage waveform when the impedance is adjusted to
The position estimation means estimates the position of the branch part of the pipe based on the voltage waveform, a waveform template based on a characteristic impedance of the branch part of the pipe, and the difference.
Location estimation device. comprising a position estimation device, and a regulator attached to a connection between conductive piping and an indoor unit of an air conditioner to adjust the impedance of the connection,
The position estimation device includes:
pulse application means for applying a voltage pulse to the piping;
Waveform measuring means for measuring a voltage waveform indicating a change in voltage in the piping;
position estimating means for estimating the position of the branch part of the pipe and the position of the connection part;
Equipped with
The position estimating means includes the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection portion is adjusted to a first impedance by the regulator, and the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection portion is adjusted to a second impedance by the regulator. estimating the position of the connection part based on the difference between the voltage waveform when the
The position estimation means estimates the position of the branch part of the pipe based on the voltage waveform, a waveform template based on a characteristic impedance of the branch part of the pipe, and the difference.
Location estimation system. Applying a voltage pulse to conductive piping,
measuring a voltage waveform indicating a change in voltage in the piping;
Based on the voltage waveform, a first waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the branch part of the pipe, and a second waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the connection part between the pipe and the indoor unit of the air conditioner, estimating the position of the branch part of the pipe and the position of the connection part;
Location estimation method. Applying a voltage pulse to conductive piping,
measuring a voltage waveform indicating a change in voltage in the piping;
Adjusting the impedance of the connection between the piping and the indoor unit of the air conditioner to a first impedance or a second impedance,
The difference between the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection part is adjusted to the first impedance and the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection part is adjusted to the second impedance. estimating the position of the connection based on
estimating the position of the branch part of the pipe based on the voltage waveform, a waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the branch part of the pipe, and the difference;
Location estimation method. computer,
pulse application means for applying a voltage pulse to conductive piping;
waveform measuring means for measuring a voltage waveform indicating a change in voltage in the piping;
Based on the voltage waveform, a first waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the branch part of the pipe, and a second waveform template based on the characteristic impedance of the connection part between the pipe and the indoor unit of the air conditioner, position estimating means for estimating the position of the branch part of the pipe and the position of the connection part;
A program that functions as computer,
pulse application means for applying a voltage pulse to conductive piping;
waveform measuring means for measuring a voltage waveform indicating a change in voltage in the piping;
position estimating means for estimating the position of a branch part of the pipe and the position of a connection part between the pipe and the indoor unit of the air conditioner;
function as
The position estimating means includes the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection part is adjusted to a first impedance by a regulator attached to the connection part, and the voltage waveform when the impedance of the connection part is adjusted to a second impedance by the regulator. estimating the position of the connection based on the difference between the voltage waveform when the impedance is adjusted to
The position estimation means estimates the position of the branch part of the pipe based on the voltage waveform, a waveform template based on a characteristic impedance of the branch part of the pipe, and the difference.
program.

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