JP7399315B2 - air conditioning system - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to air conditioning systems.

In conventional air conditioning systems, a technique has been disclosed that detects information such as the number of people in a room and their distribution, and changes the control pattern of the air conditioning system based on the information. Specifically, a technique has been disclosed that performs control that prioritizes comfort in a part of the room and controls that prioritizes energy saving in another part of the room (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP2017-227437

However, in the air conditioning system shown in Patent Document 1, people in the part where control is given priority to energy saving are less comfortable than people in the part where control is given priority to comfort, which may cause a sense of unfairness and dissatisfaction. There is.

The present disclosure has been made to solve such problems. The purpose of this is to change the control content depending on the number of groups of people in the room and the number of air conditioner outlets installed in the room, and to prevent the people in the room from feeling unfair or dissatisfied with the thermal environment. The aim is to suppress the

An air conditioning system according to the present disclosure includes an indoor unit having an air outlet, a person information acquisition means for acquiring information for determining the position of a person in the room, and a person's position based on the information acquired by the person information acquisition means. and a position calculation means that calculates the distance between people from the position of the person calculated by the position calculation means, and if the distance between the people is less than or equal to a predetermined value, multiple people who are located at a distance less than or equal to the predetermined value are detected. a group, and a group determination means for determining the number of groups existing indoors; and a group determination means for determining the number of groups existing indoors, and when the number of groups determined by the group determination means is greater than the total number of air outlets of indoor units installed indoors, the indoor temperature is A first operation mode that performs uniformity control, and if the number of groups determined by the group determination means is less than or equal to the total number of air outlets of indoor units installed indoors, a second operation mode that blows air toward the groups. An operation control means for performing control.

According to the air conditioning system of the present disclosure, the number of groups formed indoors is compared with the total number of air outlets of indoor units installed indoors, and the control mode of the air conditioning system is switched. As a result, when the number of groups is greater than the total number of air outlets, it is possible to suppress the sense of unfairness and dissatisfaction of those in the room. On the other hand, if the number of groups is less than or equal to the total number of air outlets, the comfort of the people included in each group can be improved.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning system in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the function of a position calculation means of the air conditioning system in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the function of group determination means of the air conditioning system in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another function of the group determination means of the air conditioning system in the first embodiment. 7 is a diagram showing still another function of the group determining means of the air conditioning system in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the air conditioning system in Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing functions of an air conditioning system in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another function of the air conditioning system in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning system in a second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the function of a learning means of the air conditioning system in Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing functions of an air conditioning system in a second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another function of the air conditioning system in Embodiment 2. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the air conditioning system in Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning system in Embodiment 3. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an ideal arrangement of people considered by the air conditioning system in Embodiment 3;

Modes for carrying out the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each figure, the same or corresponding parts are given the same reference numerals, and overlapping explanations will be simplified or omitted as appropriate. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, the air conditioning system of the present disclosure can function particularly well in rooms such as school classrooms and lecture halls where people alternate between being dispersed and being present in groups. Note that this does not limit the place where the air conditioning system of the present disclosure is used.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning system 100 in this embodiment. The air conditioning system 100 is, for example, a so-called package air conditioner, and includes an indoor unit 1, a control device 50, and an outdoor unit 60. The indoor unit 1 and the outdoor unit 60 are connected with a copper pipe or the like. Note that a plurality of indoor units 1a, 1b, . . . having the same function may be attached to one outdoor unit 60. In the following, only the indoor unit 1 will be described unless there is a special need for distinction.

The indoor unit 1 includes a human information acquisition means 11 , a biological information acquisition means 12 , an indoor heat exchanger 13 , an indoor ventilation means 14 , and a direction adjustment means 15 . The outdoor unit 60 also includes a compressor, a four-way valve, an expansion valve, an outdoor heat exchanger, and an outdoor blower means (not shown).

Here, the human information acquisition means 11 and the biological information acquisition means 12 may or may not be installed in the indoor unit 1. For example, when the human information acquisition means 11 and the biological information acquisition means 12 are sensors, they may be mounted on the indoor unit 1 or may be arranged outside the indoor unit 1. Alternatively, the human information acquisition means 11 and the biological information acquisition means 12 may be external devices capable of transmitting and receiving signals to and from the indoor unit 1. Further, the human information acquisition means 11 and the biological information acquisition means 12 may display information on a device such as a smartphone and acquire information from the results of a person's actions on the display. In the present disclosure, the term air conditioning system 100 includes those that are not installed in the indoor unit 1 but contribute to the functioning of the indoor unit 1.

In the following, the specific configuration and function of the human information acquisition means 11 will be explained first with reference to FIG. 2, and then the specific configuration and function of the biometric information acquisition means 12 will be explained.

The person information acquisition means 11 acquires information for determining whether a person is present in the room where the indoor unit 1 is installed. More specifically, information for determining the position of a person present in the room is acquired. The human information acquisition means 11 includes, for example, an infrared sensor provided in the indoor unit 1 and a drive mechanism that drives the sensor. The human information acquisition means 11 drives an infrared sensor using a drive mechanism to scan the room, thereby acquiring a thermal image representing the heat distribution in the room. It is more desirable that the human information acquisition means 11 be able to acquire the heat distribution of the entire room in which the indoor unit 1 is installed. The human information acquisition means 11 transmits the acquired thermal image to the control device 50.

Note that the configuration of the human information acquisition means 11 may include, for example, a distance measuring sensor and a drive mechanism that drives the sensor, instead of an infrared sensor and a drive mechanism that drives the sensor. In this case, the human information acquisition means 11 drives the distance measurement sensor to scan the room and acquire the distance measurement information in the room. Alternatively, the human information acquisition means 11 may be a visible light camera. In this case, the person information acquisition means 11 photographs the interior of the room at predetermined time intervals (for example, 60 seconds).

Furthermore, it is desirable that the person information acquisition means 11 be arranged so that each person in the room can be identified individually. For example, if the indoor unit 1 is placed on the ceiling, the human information acquisition means 11 may be installed inside the indoor unit 1. Furthermore, when the indoor unit 1 is placed on a wall or floor, only the human information acquisition means 11 may be placed on the ceiling.

Furthermore, the human information acquisition means 11 may include a plurality of sensors. For example, two sets of infrared sensors and drive mechanisms may be placed on the ceiling. Furthermore, at this time, by arranging the two sets of sensors symmetrically with respect to the center of the ceiling at a position midway between the center and the edge of the ceiling, situations such as people overlapping each other and making it impossible to determine can be reduced.

Further, the human information acquisition means 11 may be a communication terminal such as a smartphone owned by a person, or a wearable terminal worn by a person. In this case, communication is performed between the terminal and the indoor unit 1. At this time, the person information acquisition means 11 uses so-called beacon technology to acquire the person's location information. The terminal transmits the location information of the person to the control device 50.

The biological information acquisition means 12 acquires biological information for determining a person's comfort with respect to the indoor air environment (temperature, humidity, etc.). Here, human comfort is determined by a general comfort index such as PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) or PPD (Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied), or an independently determined index. The biological information acquisition means 12 acquires biological information necessary for calculating the above index.

The biological information acquisition means 12 is, for example, a visible light camera provided in the indoor unit 1. In this case, the biological information acquisition means 12 photographs the interior of the room. Note that the biological information acquisition means 12 and the human information acquisition means 11 may be the same visible light camera. The biological information acquisition means 12 transmits the photographed image to the control device 50.

Furthermore, the biological information acquisition means 12 does not need to be a visible light camera. For example, the biological information acquisition means 12 may include an infrared sensor and a drive mechanism that drives the sensor. In this case as well, the biological information acquisition means 12 and the human information acquisition means 11 may be the same infrared sensor and drive mechanism.

Note that, like the human information acquisition means 11, the biometric information acquisition means 12 is preferably arranged so that each person in the room can be identified individually. For example, by arranging multiple visible light cameras symmetrically with respect to the center of the ceiling at intermediate positions from the center to the edge of the ceiling, it can be expected that information can be obtained in any situation.

Further, the biometric information acquisition means 12 may be a terminal such as a smartphone owned by a person. In that case, a question or the like may be displayed on the screen of the smartphone, and a person may obtain information by answering the question. Furthermore, the biometric information acquisition means 12 may be a wearable terminal. In that case, for example, the person's body temperature, pulse, etc. are directly monitored and acquired.

Note that the human information acquisition means 11 and the biological information acquisition means 12 may be a combination of the configurations described above. For example, the human information acquisition means 11 and the biological information acquisition means 12 may acquire information using both a visible light camera and a wearable terminal. In this way, by combining multiple means, a wide variety of information can be acquired, and the position and comfort of a person can be determined with higher accuracy.

The indoor heat exchanger 13 is a heat exchanger provided in the indoor unit 1. The indoor heat exchanger 13, a compressor (not shown) provided in the outdoor unit 60, a four-way valve, outdoor heat exchange air, and an expansion valve are connected by piping to form a refrigerant circuit.

The indoor ventilation means 14 is, for example, a cross flow fan provided inside the indoor unit 1. The indoor ventilation means 14 generates an airflow for blowing air whose temperature has been adjusted by the indoor heat exchanger 13 from the indoor unit 1 . The indoor ventilation means 14 is controlled by a control device 50. Note that the indoor ventilation means 14 is not limited to a cross flow fan, and any other means such as a propeller fan or a sirocco fan can be used. Moreover, the indoor ventilation means 14 may be one fan or may be composed of a plurality of fans.

The direction adjustment means 15 is composed of, for example, a plate-shaped flap and a drive mechanism that drives the flap. The direction adjustment means 15 adjusts the vertical and horizontal directions of the airflow blown out from the indoor unit 1 by driving the plate-shaped flap. The direction adjustment means 15 are controlled by a control device 50 . Note that the direction adjustment means 15 is not limited to a flap, and any means such as a louver or a vane can be used.

The control device 50 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores a control program, a working memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a communication circuit. The control device 50 includes a position calculation means 51 , a group determination means 52 , a comfort determination means 53 , an operation control means 54 , and a storage means 55 .

The position calculation means 51 identifies the direction in which the person is located in the room where the indoor unit 1 is placed based on the information acquired by the person information acquisition means 11, and then calculates the distance from the indoor unit 1 to the person. Any method can be used to specify the direction of the person and calculate the distance, depending on the type of information acquired by the person information acquisition means 11.

When the person information acquisition means 11 is composed of an infrared sensor and a drive mechanism that drives the sensor, the position calculation means 51 first calculates the temperature difference between the background such as the wall or floor of the room and the person inside the room. Based on this, people are extracted from thermal images. Furthermore, if the spatial resolution of the thermal image acquired by the person information acquisition means 11 is sufficiently high, the position calculation means 51 may extract a part where a specific temperature is distributed in a human shape, and specify the direction of the person. . Thereby, the position calculation means 51 specifies the direction in which the person is located when the indoor unit 1 is set as the origin.

Next, the position calculating means 51 extracts a certain part (for example, the head) of the specified person on the thermal image, and counts the number of pixels of the part corresponding to the part on the thermal image. Next, the previously stored length of the region (for example, head length 20 [cm] in the case of the head) is divided by the calculated number of pixels. As a result, the spatial resolution, which is the length of real space per pixel on the thermal image, is calculated. The position calculation means 51 calculates the distance from the indoor unit 1 to the person based on the spatial resolution calculated above.

FIG. 2 shows a method for calculating the distance from the indoor unit 1 to a person using the method described above. In the example shown in FIG. 2, a human head is extracted and its head length of 20 [cm] is divided by the number of pixels [pixels] of the portion corresponding to the head on the thermal image. As a result, the spatial resolution [cm/pixel] is calculated. At this time, the value of the spatial resolution changes depending on the distance from the indoor unit 1 to the person, and is small when the person is near the indoor unit 1 and large when the person is far from the indoor unit 1. Further, the relationship between the distance from the indoor unit 1 to the person and the spatial resolution value is approximately linear. Therefore, by storing the relationship between the spatial resolution value and the distance from the indoor unit 1 to the person in the storage means 55 in advance, the distance from the indoor unit 1 to the person can be calculated.

The position calculation means 51 calculates the direction in which the person is located as seen from the indoor unit 1 and the distance from the indoor unit 1 to the person using the above method for all the people in the room. The position calculation means 51 transmits the direction in which the person is located and the distance to the person to the group determination means 52.

The reason why the spatial resolution was calculated from the head length of a person is that the head is often exposed indoors and is easy to identify on thermal images, and the head length of a person is approximately 20 [cm] and does not depend on gender or age. Because the difference in size is small, it is suitable as a representative size. In the above method, a person's arm or hand may be identified in addition to the person's head, and the spatial resolution may be determined by similar processing.

Further, when the human information acquisition means 11 is composed of a distance measuring sensor and a drive mechanism that drives the sensor, the position calculation means 51 analyzes the distance measurement information acquired by the human information acquisition means 11, Calculate the direction and distance of the person when viewed from. Specifically, the position calculation means 51 extracts a portion where objects are distributed in a human shape from the ranging information acquired by the person information acquisition means 11, and determines the direction in which the person is located when viewed from the indoor unit 1. Calculate distance. By the above method, the directions and distances of all the people present in the room as seen from the indoor unit 1 are calculated. The calculated information is sent to the group determining means 52.

Further, when the person information acquisition means 11 is a visible light camera, the person information acquisition means 11 calculates the direction and distance where the person is located as seen from the indoor unit 1 from a plurality of photographs with the focus of the lens changed, for example. The calculated information is sent to the group determining means 52.

In addition, when the person information acquisition means 11 uses a smartphone or wearable terminal owned by a person, for example, the indoor unit 1 transmits a signal to the smartphone or wearable terminal to inquire about location information, and receives an answer from the smartphone or wearable terminal. receive a signal. Thereby, the direction and distance of the person as seen from the indoor unit 1 are calculated, and the calculated information is sent to the group determining means 52.

The group determining means 52 determines how many groups are formed indoors from the direction and distance of the person as seen from the indoor unit 1, which are transmitted from the position calculating means 51. Here, a group means, for example, a group of people present within a predetermined distance (for example, 2 [m]) around a certain person present in the room. For convenience, even if there is only one person within the above range, the explanation will be given as a group.

The determination method of the group determination means 52 will be explained using FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing an example of a room in which the indoor unit 1 is installed. 3 and 4 show, as an example, a school classroom in which a large number of desks 500, 500a, . . . are arranged in an indoor room 1000. Further, a person is seated at each desk 500, 500a, . . . . Note that the location where the indoor unit 1 is installed is not limited to a school classroom, but can be used for any purpose.

3 and 4, the arrangement of the desks 500, 500a, . . . is different. FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of desks 500, 500a, . . . when a teacher teaches using a blackboard 1001, for example. FIG. 4 shows the arrangement when several desks 500, 500a, . . . are gathered together, for example during school lunch or group work.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, two indoor units 1a and 1b are installed in the indoor room 1000. The indoor unit 1a has two air outlets 2a and 2b, and the indoor unit 1b has two air outlets 2c and 2d. Direction adjustment means 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d for adjusting the direction of the blown air are attached to the air outlets 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d. Moreover, indoor heat exchangers 13a and 13b and indoor ventilation means 14a and 14b are housed inside the indoor units 1a and 1b, respectively.

Note that the air outlets 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, the direction adjustment means 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d, the indoor heat exchangers 13a and 13b, and the indoor air blowing means 14a and 14b are the same, so they will be specially distinguished below. Unless otherwise necessary, they will be expressed as the air outlet 2, direction adjustment means 15, indoor heat exchanger 13, and indoor ventilation means 14.

Here, the group determining means 52 determines whether a person seated at a certain desk and another person are within a predetermined distance (for example, 3 [m]). For example, in FIG. 3, it is determined whether there is another person within a circle 600 centered around the person seated at the desk 500. In the case of FIG. 3, it is determined that the person seated at desk 500a exists within circle 600. In this case, the group determining means 52 determines that the person seated at desk 500 and the person seated at desk 500a form a group.

Note that the size of the circle 600 is not particularly limited, but if the circle 600 is too small, the number of groups becomes too large, and the individual comfort improvement mode described later will not be executed. In the individual comfort improvement mode, the greater the cooling/heating capacity of the air conditioning system 100, the more comfortable people will be in a large group. However, if the circle 600 is too large, air conditioning control around the group will not work well in the individual comfort improvement mode described below, making it difficult to improve the comfort of the people. Therefore, the size of the circle 600 is desirably at least several meters or more and is determined according to the capacity of the air conditioning system 100.

The group determining means 52 performs similar processing for each person present in the room 1000. At this time, the process is performed while excluding people who are already included in a certain group. For example, in FIG. 3, if it is determined that the person seated at desk 500 and the person seated at desk 500a form a group, the group determination means 52 excludes the person seated at desk 500a. Then, the group is judged based on the people seated at other desks. This prevents the same person from being judged twice. The group determining means 52 determines how many groups are formed in the room 1000 using the above method. In the example of FIG. 3, it is determined that eight groups are formed in the room 1000.

On the other hand, in FIG. 4, when people located within a circle 600 are extracted centering around the person seated at desk 500, the persons seated at desk 500a, desk 500d, and desk 500e are extracted. In this case, the group determining means 52 determines that a group is formed by the people seated at desks 500, 500a, 500d, and 500e. In the example of FIG. 4, it is determined that four groups are formed in the room 1000. The number of groups determined by the group determination means 52 is transmitted to the operation control means 54 and the storage means 55.

In addition, when the group determination means 52 selects the person who will be the center of the circle 600, it may select by any method other than selecting at random as described above. For example, if a group of people exist in the room 1000, the person near the center may be selected as the center of the circle 600. For example, assume that desks 500b and 500f have been moved to opposite sides of desks 500a and 500e, and desks 500 and 500d in FIG. In this case, the group determining means 52 selects the person seated at the desk 500a or the desk 500e at the center of the circle 600. This can prevent the number of groups from increasing unnecessarily.

Furthermore, if there are no desks etc. in the room and people are randomly distributed, the group determining means 52 determines the number of groups to be formed while changing the person in the center, and selects the center to minimize the number of groups. You may also set a person to do so. This makes it easier to execute the individual comfort improvement mode, which will be described later. Note that the above processing may not be performed in a space such as a classroom where public nature is important.

Alternatively, the group determining means 52 may change the central person and select the central person so that the number of people included in each group is as equal as possible. This prevents a large number of people from concentrating in a particular group while another group contains few people.

Note that the method by which the group determining means 52 determines the number of groups existing in the room is not limited to the method described above. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another method for the group determining means 52 to determine the number of groups formed in the room 1000. In FIG. 5, the group determining means 52 calculates the mutual distance of each person present in the room, and determines as a group those persons whose distance is less than or equal to a predetermined distance (for example, 2 [m]).

For example, when targeting people sitting at desk 500, in FIG. 5, the people sitting at desks 500a and 500d are determined to be in the same group, and the people sitting at desk 500e are determined to be not in the same group. Ru. At this time, those who are determined to form a certain group are excluded from subsequent group determinations. This prevents the same person from being judged twice.

Furthermore, when the group determining means 52 initially performs the determination mainly on the people seated at the desk 500d, the people seated at the desks 500, 500e, and 500h are determined to be in the same group. However, the distance between the people seated at desks 500 and 500e is 4 [m], which is larger than the predetermined distance (2 [m]). In this case, the group determining means 52 divides the group into two. In other words, when the distance between people determined to be included in the same group is greater than a predetermined distance, the group determination means 52 classifies the group within a predetermined distance. Divide it to fit. This prevents one group from becoming infinitely large.

Further, after determining that a group is formed, the group determining means 52 may calculate the area of the group using the distance between the people included in the group as sides. Further, if the area of the group is greater than or equal to a predetermined area (for example, 9 [m2]), it may be divided so that the area of the group is less than or equal to the predetermined area (for example, 6 [m2]).

The comfort determining means 53 determines the comfort of the person present in the room 1000 based on the information acquired by the biological information acquiring means 12. Specifically, the comfort determining means 53 determines the comfort of the person by applying the information acquired by the biological information acquiring means 12 to an arbitrary comfort index (for example, PMV). For example, when the evaluation index is PMV and the biological information acquisition means 12 is a combination of an infrared sensor with a drive mechanism and a visible light camera, the biological information acquisition means 12 is based on the human body temperature, the amount of heat radiated from the floor and walls, etc. , the amount of clothing worn and the amount of activity of the person are acquired and transmitted to the comfort determining means 53.

The comfort determining means 53 uses the person's body temperature, the amount of radiated heat, the amount of clothing, the amount of activity transmitted from the biological information acquisition means 12, the air volume estimated from the operating state of the indoor ventilation means 14, and visible light. The PMV value is calculated based on the weather estimated from the brightness of the image taken by the camera and the estimated humidity. Note that for the above information that cannot be obtained, a predetermined value may be used. For example, if the control device 50 has a function of measuring date and time, the average humidity for each season may be stored in advance in the storage means 55, and the stored value may be used for the humidity.

Furthermore, when the biometric information acquisition unit 12 is a terminal having a screen such as a smartphone, the biometric information acquisition unit 12 displays an icon on the screen of the smartphone that allows selection of hot, comfortable, cold, etc., for example. The biological information acquisition means 12 asks several questions as mentioned above regarding thermal sensation. Furthermore, the biological information acquisition means 12 prompts the person to select an icon that corresponds to his or her condition. The biological information acquisition means 12 transmits the selected result to the comfort determination means 53.

The comfort determining means 53 acquires information on a person's biological body from the selection result and determines the comfort of the person. For example, the comfort determining means 53 sets a score for each selection, and if the score is above a predetermined first threshold, it is hot; if it is below a predetermined second threshold, it is cold; if it is below the first threshold, and If it is equal to or higher than the second threshold, it is determined to be comfortable.

Furthermore, when the biometric information acquisition means 12 is a wearable terminal, the biometric information acquisition means 12 acquires biometric information such as body temperature, pulse rate, and amount of perspiration of the wearer. The biological information acquisition means 12 transmits the acquired biological information to the comfort determination means 53. The comfort determining means 53 determines the comfort of the person from the transmitted biological information. The comfort determining means 53, for example, sets a unique function using the acquired biological information as a variable, and applies the calculation result of the function to an index to determine the comfort of the person.

The operation control means 54 issues commands to the indoor air blowing means 14 and the direction adjustment means 15 provided in the indoor unit 1, and the compressor, four-way valve, expansion valve, and outdoor air blowing means provided in the outdoor unit 60, and controls the operation. Control. As a result, a refrigeration cycle is formed within the air conditioning system 100, and air is blown out from the indoor unit 1 to adjust the indoor temperature.

Specifically, a refrigerant such as R32 (difluoromethane) circulates within a refrigerant circuit consisting of a compressor, a four-way valve, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an indoor heat exchanger 13. In the cooling operation, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor is condensed in the outdoor heat exchanger, reduced in pressure by the expansion valve, and evaporated in the indoor heat exchanger 13. In the heating operation, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor is condensed in the indoor heat exchanger 13, reduced in pressure by the expansion valve, and evaporated in the outdoor heat exchanger.

The operation control means 54 also issues commands to the human information acquisition means 11 and the biological information acquisition means 12 to control their operations. Thereby, the human information acquisition means 11 and the biological information acquisition means 12 acquire information.

Furthermore, the operation control means 54 controls the operation of the air conditioning system 100 according to the number of groups determined by the group determination means 52. Specifically, when the number of groups formed indoors is greater than the total number of air outlets 2 of the indoor units 1 arranged indoors, the operation control means 54 operates the air conditioning system 100 in the room temperature uniform mode. On the other hand, when the number of groups formed indoors is less than or equal to the total number of air outlets 2 of the indoor units 1 arranged indoors, the operation control means 54 operates the air conditioning system 100 in the individual comfort improvement mode. Details of the room temperature uniformity mode and the individual comfort improvement mode will be described later.

In the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, in the indoor unit 1000, the indoor unit 1a is provided with air outlets 2a and 2b, and the indoor unit 1b is provided with air outlets 2c and 2d, and there are a total of four air outlets. Further, in FIG. 3, eight groups are formed in the indoor room 1000, and in FIG. 4, four groups are formed in the indoor room 1000. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 3, the operation control means 54 operates the air conditioning system 100 in the room temperature uniformity mode, and in the example of FIG. 4, the operation control means 54 causes the air conditioning system 100 to operate in the individual comfort enhancement mode.

The storage means 55 operates the human information acquisition means 11, the biological information acquisition means 12, the indoor ventilation means 14, the direction setting means 16, the compressor, the four-way valve, the expansion valve, and the outdoor ventilation means. It stores information to In addition, the storage means 55 also stores the number of indoor units 1 arranged indoors and the number of air outlets 2 provided in each indoor unit 1. Note that the number of indoor units 1 arranged indoors and the number of air outlets 2 provided in each indoor unit 1 may be input from the outside after the air conditioning system 100 is installed indoors. .

Furthermore, the storage means 55 also stores the number of groups determined by the group determination means 52 and the comfort determined by the comfort determination means 53. Note that the number of groups and the comfort level stored in the storage unit 55 are updated each time the group determining unit 52 and the comfort determining unit 53 make a new determination.

Next, the operation of the air conditioning system 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8. Note that duplicate explanations will be simplified or omitted as appropriate. Further, in each figure, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding operations.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of air conditioning system 100 in this embodiment. Specifically, FIG. 6 shows a processing flow of the control device 50. The flowchart shown in FIG. 6 is one example of operation for achieving the purpose of this embodiment, and flows can be added or omitted as appropriate. Note that at the start of the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, the air conditioning system 100 may be in a cooling operation, a heating operation, a blowing operation, or a standby state. Here, the standby state means that temperature adjustment and ventilation are not being performed, but the human information acquisition means 11, the biological information acquisition means 12, and the control device 50 are operating, and at least S101, S102, and S103 described below can be executed. means a state of

In S101, the person information acquisition means 11 first acquires information for determining the position of a person present in the room where the indoor unit 1 is installed. The person information acquisition means 11 transmits information for determining the position of the person to the position calculation means 51. Based on the information acquired by the person information acquisition means 11, the position calculation means 51 identifies the direction in which the person is located when viewed from the indoor unit 1 for all the people in the room where the indoor unit 1 is placed, and then Calculate the distance from aircraft 1 to the person. The position calculation means 51 transmits the direction in which the person is located and the distance to the person to the group determination means 52.

In S102, the group determining means 52 determines the number of groups formed in the room based on the information transmitted from the position calculating means 51. The group determination means 52 transmits the determined number of groups to the operation control means 54 and the storage means 55.

In S103, the biological information acquisition means 12 acquires biological information regarding the comfort of the person in the room. The biological information acquisition means 12 transmits the acquired information to the comfort determination means 53. The comfort determining means 53 determines the comfort of the person in the room based on the information transmitted from the biological information acquiring means 12. Note that an arbitrary index such as PMV is applied to determine the comfort of people in the room. The comfort determining means 53 transmits the determined comfort of the person to the driving control means 54 and the storage means 55.

Note that the order of the processes of S101, S102, and S103 described above is not particularly limited. For example, the comfort of the person may be determined in S101, the position of the person may be calculated in S102, and the number of groups may be determined in S103.

In S104, the operation control means 54 compares the total number of air outlets 2 of the indoor units 1 arranged indoors with the number of groups formed indoors. If the number of groups is greater than the total number of air outlets 2, the process advances to S105. On the other hand, if the number of groups is less than or equal to the total number of air outlets 2, the process advances to S106. Note that the order of processing in S103 and S104 is not particularly limited, and the total number of air outlets 2 and the number of groups are compared in S103, and if the determination is NO, the comfort is determined in S104. Good too.

Here, the process of S104 will be specifically explained using FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the functions of the air conditioning system 100 operating in the room temperature uniformity mode in S105 described later, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the functions of the air conditioning system 100 operating in the individual comfort improvement mode in S106 described later. The arrangement of the desks 500, 500a, . . . in the room 1000 in FIG. 7 is the same as the arrangement of the desks 500, 500a, . . . in the room 1000 in FIG. The arrangement is the same as that of the desks 500, 500a, . . . in FIG.

In the example of FIGS. 7 and 8, there are a total of four air outlets 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d in the room 1000. In contrast, in FIG. 7, eight groups are formed in the room 1000, and the number of groups is greater than the total number of air outlets. Therefore, the process advances from S104 to S105. On the other hand, in FIG. 8, four groups are formed in the room 1000, and the number of groups is less than or equal to the total number of air outlets. Therefore, the process proceeds from S104 to S106.

In S105, the operation control means 54 operates the air conditioning system 100 in the room temperature uniformity mode. In the room temperature uniformity mode, the air conditioning system 100 operates to equalize the indoor temperature to a predetermined target temperature.

In FIG. 7, the air conditioning system 100 operates so that the temperature of the room 1000 approaches a predetermined target temperature as uniformly as possible. For example, the operation control means 54 blows out airflow at a target temperature from the air outlets 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d of the indoor units 1a and 1b. Furthermore, the direction adjustment means 15 may change the direction of blowing out the airflow at predetermined time intervals (for example, 60 seconds). This makes it easier for the temperature in the room 1000 to become more uniform.

When more groups than the total number of air outlets 2 are formed in the room 1000, if an operation is performed to improve the comfort of one group, the comfort of other groups may decrease. In this case, for example, in schools and public facilities, unfairness and disadvantages occur among users. In the air conditioning system 100 according to the present embodiment, by operating in the room temperature uniformity mode, it is possible to prevent such unfairness and disadvantage among users from occurring.

Furthermore, the air conditioning system 100 may be operated in consideration of situations other than the people in the room. For example, consider a case where there are doors 1002a and 1002b in a room 1000 as shown in FIG. The position calculation means 51 detects the doors 1002a and 1002b from the temperature distribution information acquired by the human information acquisition means 11 or the visualized image information of the room 1000. As a result, the air conditioning system 100 can perform operations such as sending a large amount of temperature-controlled air to the vicinity of the doors 1002a and 1002b, where a large amount of heat flows into and out of the outside air. As a result, the temperature in the room 1000 can be brought closer to a uniform state.

Note that even when operating in the room temperature uniformity mode, the air conditioning system 100 may be configured not to send airflow in a direction where no person is present. For example, consider a case where a room is divided into two and a person is present only in the front of the room where the blackboard 1001 is placed. After the position calculation means 51 calculates the direction and distance of the person in the room, the operation control means 54 controls the direction adjustment means 15 so that the airflow is not sent to the rear of the room where no person is present. This makes it possible to equalize the indoor temperature while excluding areas where no one is present, thereby reducing energy consumption.

In S106, the operation control means 54 operates the air conditioning system 100 in the individual comfort improvement mode. In the individual comfort enhancement mode, the air conditioning system 100 operates according to the comfort of the person. Specifically, the air conditioning system 100 determines the comfort of each person included in the group, and operates so that the comfort of the group is maximized. Therefore, in the individual comfort mode, the air conditioning system 100 may create different temperature zones within the room.

Be specific about group comfort. Here, it is assumed that the comfort determining means 53 determines a person's comfort using an index of scores from 0 to 10, with 10 being the most comfortable. First, the comfort determining means 53 determines the score of each person in the room 1000 based on the information acquired by the biological information acquiring means 12. Subsequently, the comfort determining means 53 sums up the scores of each person included in the group, and considers that the higher the total value, the higher the comfort of the group.

Furthermore, the method for determining group comfort is not limited to the above method. For example, it is assumed that the comfort determining means 53 determines a person's comfort based on a score of -10 to +10, with -10 being cold, 0 being comfortable, and +10 being hot. In this case, the comfort determining means 53 averages the scores of each person included in the group, and considers that the closer the score is to 0, the higher the comfort of the group.

Note that the comfort determining means 53 may determine the comfort of the group by focusing on the person who is least comfortable among the people included in the group. In this case, by improving the score of the person with the lowest level of comfort in the individual comfort improvement mode described later, a situation in which only a specific person included in the group has low level of comfort becomes less likely to occur.

Note that if there is only one person in the group, the individual comfort improvement mode only needs to improve the comfort of that person.

Next, the individual comfort improvement mode will be explained using FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, there are four groups indicated by circles 600, 600a, 600b, and 600c in the room 1000. Here, it is assumed that the group of circles 600 and 600b has low comfort, and the group of circles 600a and 600c has sufficiently high comfort. In this case, the air conditioning system 100 operates to improve the comfort of the circle 600 and the group of circles 600b.

For example, assume that the comfort determining means 53 determines comfort based on a score of -10 to +10, and the average score of each person included in a group of 600 yen is -5. At this time, people in the 600 yen group feel cold on average. Therefore, the operation control means 54 performs control to blow out warm air currents from the two air outlets 2a and 2b of the indoor unit 1a. This improves comfort by bringing the average score of the 600-yen group closer to 0.

Next, consider a case in which the comfort determining means 53 determines the comfort of a group by focusing on the person who is least comfortable among the people included in the group. Here, it is assumed that among the people included in the group of circle 600b, the person with the lowest comfort has a score of +8. In this case, the person feels hot. The operation control means 54 performs control to blow out cold air from the two air outlets 2c and 2d of the indoor unit 1b. As a result, the scores of those who feel hot in the circle 600b group approach 0, improving comfort.

Note that when performing the above-mentioned actions, there is a risk that the group's average comfort score may decrease. However, if the comfort of the person with the lowest comfort level is improved, no one in the group will be in an extremely low level of comfort. In other words, everyone in the group will be in a reasonably comfortable state, and feelings of unfairness and dissatisfaction will be less likely to occur.

As described above, in this embodiment, the air conditioning system 100 compares the number of groups formed indoors with the total number of air outlets 2 of the indoor units 1 installed indoors. If the number of groups is greater than the total number of air outlets 2, the air conditioning system 100 operates in a uniform room temperature mode. As a result, when there are many groups, it is possible to suppress the sense of unfairness and dissatisfaction among the people in the room. This effect is particularly important in facilities where fairness is important, such as schools and public facilities.

On the other hand, when the number of groups is less than or equal to the total number of air outlets 2, the air conditioning system 100 operates in the individual comfort improvement mode. Thereby, when there are few groups, it is possible to improve the comfort of each group.

Note that the operation of the air conditioning system 100 described above is an example of the operation of the air conditioning system 100 in the present disclosure, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

For example, when the air conditioning system 100 operates in the individual comfort improvement mode, there is a possibility that people with various characteristics coexist in the group. Therefore, the air conditioning system 100 may be operated in consideration of the characteristics of the person.

Specifically, when the human information acquisition means 11 or the biological information acquisition means 12 is a visible light camera, the characteristics of the person in the room can be extracted by analyzing the acquired image information. For example, the comfort determining means 53 uses images acquired by the human information acquiring means 11 or the biological information acquiring means 12 and sample images of facial photographs of each age group stored in the storage means 55 in advance to determine whether the person in the room is Guess the age. Alternatively, the air conditioning system 100 may be connected to an external network, and the age may be estimated by referring to image samples on the network.

If the group includes a person over a predetermined age (for example, over 70s) or under a predetermined age (for example, under 10 years old), the driving control means 54 operates to improve the comfort of that person in the individual comfort improvement mode. Perform priority control. This is because the elderly and children are generally more likely to get heatstroke or colds due to their low resistance. By prioritizing and improving the comfort of the elderly and children in the individual comfort improvement mode, the temperature of the air around the elderly and children becomes appropriate and prevents heatstroke and colds.

Further, if it is determined from the acquired image information that there is a person with a handicap in the room, the driving control means 54 performs control giving priority to improving the comfort of that person. Thereby, for example, it is possible to prioritize and improve the comfort of people who have difficulty adjusting their thermal sensation through clothing.

Furthermore, when the air conditioning system 100 is applied to an office, the facial photos and job titles of employees may be registered in the storage means 55 in advance. In this case, the position of each person in the group is determined from the acquired image information. In the individual comfort improvement mode, the driving control means 54 performs control giving priority to improving the comfort of a person with a high position. This makes it possible to increase the work efficiency of people with higher positions, leading to improved productivity.

Further, when the air conditioning system 100 operates in the individual comfort improvement mode, the operation control means 54 compares the position of each outlet 2 and each group, and improves the comfort of the group starting from the outlet 2 closest to each group. An air current may be blown out. By performing the above control, the airflows blown out from each outlet 2 become difficult to mix.

In addition, when determining whether to operate the air conditioning system 100 in the room temperature uniformity mode or the individual comfort improvement mode, the operation control means 54 determines the number of groups formed in the room and the number of groups arranged in the room. Conditions other than the comparison with the total number of air outlets 2 of the indoor unit 1 may be used.

For example, in recent years, due to improvements in component technology and control technology constituting air conditioners, air conditioners that can create more specific temperature zones (zones) indoors than the number of air outlets have become commercially available. For example, an air conditioner can create two zones indoors with just one outlet.

In such an air conditioner, the operation control means 54 may determine the operation of the air conditioning system 100 by comparing the total number of zones that can be created with the number of groups existing in the room 1000. Specifically, when the number of groups formed indoors is greater than the total number of zones that can be created, the operation control means 54 operates the air conditioning system 100 in the uniform room temperature mode. On the other hand, if the number of groups formed indoors is less than or equal to the total number of zones that can be created, the operation control means 54 operates the air conditioning system 100 in the individual comfort improvement mode. Thereby, it is also possible to widen the conditions under which the air conditioning system 100 operates in the individual comfort improvement mode.

Embodiment 2.
Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13. The configuration and operation of air conditioning system 101 according to this embodiment are generally the same as those of air conditioning system 100 according to Embodiment 1, but the functions and operations to be performed by the constituent elements are different. The air conditioning system 101 according to this embodiment will be described below, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. The configuration whose description is omitted is the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the air conditioning system 101 of this embodiment. In the air conditioning system 101 shown in the second embodiment, at least either the human information acquisition means 11 or the biological information acquisition means 12 provided in the indoor unit 1 is a visible light camera. Note that the operations and functions of the human information acquisition means 11 and the biological information acquisition means 12 are the same as in the first embodiment.

Further, in this embodiment, the control means 50 includes a learning means 56. The learning means 56 has a function of learning by associating the person present in the room with the person's tendency toward temperature (hereinafter referred to as thermal sensation).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the functions of the learning means 56. As shown in FIG. 10, the learning means 56 learns the thermal sensation and its degree for each person in the room.

The method by which the learning means 56 performs learning will be explained. First, the features of the people in the room, such as their face, height, and body shape, are extracted from the indoor image information acquired by the visible light camera. Next, people having the above-extracted characteristics are listed as persons A, B, C, . . . .

Subsequently, the learning means 56 receives information on the comfort of each person determined by the comfort determining means 53. The learning means 56 inputs the received information into the thermal sensations of each person stored in the list. More specifically, the user inputs whether the user feels hot or cold based on the current indoor temperature. The learning means 56 accumulates the tendency of each person's comfort with respect to various temperatures and learns each person's thermal sensation.

Further, the learning means 56 learns not only the thermal sensation of each person but also the degree of the thermal sensation. Specifically, the learning means 56 learns by distinguishing people who are sensitive to heat into those who are very sensitive to heat and those who are slightly sensitive to heat. The learning means 56 learns each person's reaction from each person's reaction (very hot, slightly hot, etc.) when the temperature is a predetermined reference temperature (for example, 25 [℃]). Learn degrees. The results learned by the learning means 56 are transmitted to and stored in the storage means 55.

Further, in this embodiment, the group determining means 52 determines whether a group is formed in the room based on the thermal sensations of the people stored in the storing means 55. First, the group determining means 52 receives from the storage means 55 the thermal sensations of the people in the room and their degree. Next, the group determining means 52 receives indoor image information acquired by the visible light camera. The group determining means 52 determines a group of people having the same tendency toward temperature as a group based on the thermal sensation of the person and the image information of the room. Thereby, the group determining means 52 determines how many groups are formed in the room.

The above determination method will be explained using FIGS. 11 and 12. FIGS. 11 and 12 are diagrams showing an example of a room in which the indoor unit 1 is installed. The arrangement of the desks 500, 500a, . . . arranged in the room 1000 in FIGS. 11 and 12 is the same as the arrangement of the desks 500, 500a, . . . in FIG. 3. In FIGS. 11 and 12, people who are sensitive to heat are seated at desks that are shaded, and people who are sensitive to cold are seated at desks that are not shaded.

In FIG. 11, people who are sensitive to heat are seated at desks 500, 500a, 500f, 500g, 500j, 500k, 500l, and 500m. On the other hand, people who are sensitive to cold are seated at desks 500b, 500c, 500d, 500e, 500h, 500i, 500n, and 500o. Under such conditions, the group determining means 52 determines that people who have the same tendency toward temperature are grouped together.

Specifically, the group determining means 52 determines the people seated at the desks 500 and 500a as a group. Furthermore, since the people sitting at desks 500b, 500c, 500d, and 500e are sensitive to cold, the group determining means 52 determines that the people sitting at desks 500 and 500a are not in the same group. judge.

When the above processing is performed mainly on the people seated at the desk 500b, the group determining means 52 determines that the cold people seated at the desks 500b and 500c are in the same group. By repeating the following process, the group determining means 52 determines how many groups are formed in the room 1000. For this reason, the number of groups increases when people with the same thermal sensation are distributed in a scattered manner in the room 1000, and the number of groups decreases when people with the same thermal sensation are clustered together. In the example of FIG. 11, it is determined that six groups are formed in the room 1000.

At this time, the group determining means 52 may include people who are sensitive to heat and those who are sensitive to cold into the same group even if they are close to each other, if their degree of sensitivity to heat or sensitivity to cold is small. For example, if a person who is slightly sensitive to heat and a person who is slightly sensitive to cold are close to each other, it is considered that there is no significant difference in their thermal sensations, so the group determining means 52 includes them in the same group. Good too. This can prevent the number of groups from becoming too large.

On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 12, the group determining means 52 classifies the cold people seated in seats 500, 500a, 500b, 500c, 500d, 500e, 500f, and 500g into the same group, 500h, 500i, 500j, 500k, 500l, and 500m. , 500n, and 500o are determined to be the same group. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 12, it is determined that two groups are formed in the room 1000.

At this time, similarly to Embodiment 1, the group determining means 52 receives the distance between each person calculated by the position calculating means 51, and determines that the distance between the people included in the same group is a predetermined distance ( For example, when the number of digits is 3 [m] or more, the group may be divided. This prevents the group from becoming infinitely large. Alternatively, the group determining means 52 may calculate the area of the group using distances between people as sides, and divide the group when the area is equal to or larger than a predetermined area (for example, 9 [m]2).

Next, the operation of air conditioning system 101 in this embodiment will be explained. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of air conditioning system 101 in this embodiment. Note that steps numbered the same as in the first embodiment perform the same operations as in the first embodiment. Further, the explanation of this part will be simplified.

Note that the flowchart shown in FIG. 13 is one example of operation for achieving the purpose of the present disclosure, and flows can be added or omitted as appropriate. Note that at the start of the flowchart shown in FIG. 13, the air conditioning system 101 may be in a cooling operation, a heating operation, a blowing operation, or a standby state.

Further, in the following explanation, the operation will be explained in a state where the learning means 56 has sufficiently learned. If the learning by the learning means 56 is not sufficient, the air conditioning system 101 performs the same operation as the air conditioning system 100 of the first embodiment.

In S202, the group determining means 52 determines how many groups are formed in the room based on the indoor image taken by the visible light camera and the thermal sensation of each person stored in the storage means 55. The group determination means 52 transmits the determined number of groups to the operation control means 54 and the storage means 55.

In the present embodiment, the air conditioning system 101 operates in the room temperature uniformity mode of S105 when people with the same thermal sensation are distributed unevenly, and when the people with the same thermal sensation are distributed in a cluster, It operates in the individual comfort improvement mode of S106. In the individual comfort improvement mode, the air conditioning system 101 sends cold airflow to a group of people who are sensitive to heat to improve comfort, and sends warm airflow to a group of people who are sensitive to cold to improve comfort.

The air conditioning system 101 in Embodiment 2 described above determines how many groups are formed indoors based on an image taken by a visualization camera and a person's thermal sensation. As a result, the air conditioning system 101 operates in the room temperature uniformity mode when people with the same thermal sensation are distributed unevenly, and operates in the individual comfort improvement mode when the people with the same thermal sensation are distributed in a cluster. Operate. As a result, people in the same group have similar thermal sensations, making it less likely that dissatisfaction or feelings of unfairness will arise.

Embodiment 3.
Embodiment 3 of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. The configuration and operation of the air conditioning system 102 of this embodiment are generally the same as the air conditioning system 101 of the second embodiment, but it further includes a display means 70 as a component. The air conditioning system 102 according to this embodiment will be described below, focusing on the differences from the second embodiment. The configuration whose description is omitted is the same as that of the second embodiment.

In this embodiment, the learning means 56 examines the ideal placement of people in the room based on the thermal sensation and degree of each person shown in FIG. Here, the ideal arrangement of people indoors is one in which people who are sensitive to heat are placed together so that people who are sensitive to heat are huddled together, and people who are sensitive to cold are placed so that people who are sensitive to cold are huddled together.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the ideal arrangement. In the example shown in FIG. 15, a person who is extremely hot is seated in the first row when viewed from the blackboard 1001. Furthermore, as viewed from the blackboard 1001, people who are a little hot are seated in the second row, people who are a little cold and normal people are seated in the third row, and people who are quite cold are seated in the fourth row. In such an arrangement, the operation control means 54 controls the air conditioning system 102 so that the temperature on the side near the blackboard 1001 is low and the temperature on the side far from the blackboard 1001 is high. This creates a thermal environment that is comfortable for each person, and reduces the chance of high-temperature air mixing with low-temperature air, making air conditioning control easier and saving energy.

The display means 70 is a remote control, a tablet terminal, or the like having a screen. The ideal arrangement of each person in the room 1000 shown in FIG. 14 is displayed on the screen of the display means 70.

Thereby, the arrangement of each person in the room 1000 can be changed to an ideal arrangement. For example, the homeroom teacher of the class belonging to the room 1000 can have the students change their seats according to the arrangement displayed on the display means 70. As a result, a comfortable thermal environment is provided to each person indoors 1000, and it is expected that air conditioning will be easier to control and energy saving will be achieved.

In addition to the ideal arrangement of the people, the display means 70 may also display icons for operating the air conditioning system 102 and the thermal sensation of each person.

The air conditioning system of the present disclosure is particularly suitable for a room where people alternate between being dispersed and in groups.

1 to 1b indoor unit, 2 to 2d air outlet, 11 person information acquisition means,
12 biological information acquisition means 13-13b indoor heat exchanger, 14-14b indoor ventilation means,
15-15b direction adjustment means, 50 control device, 51 position calculation means,
52 group determining means, 53 comfort determining means, 54 driving control means,
55 storage means, 56 learning means, 60 outdoor unit, 70 display means,
100, 101, 102 Air conditioning system, 500~500o desk,
600~600c yen, 1000 indoor, 1001 blackboard,
1002a-1002b door

Claims (9)

an indoor unit having an air outlet;
a person information acquisition means for acquiring information for determining the position of a person in the room;
a position calculation means for calculating a person's position from the information acquired by the person information acquisition means;
calculating distances between people from the positions of the people calculated by the position calculation means, and if the distance between the people is less than or equal to a predetermined value, grouping a plurality of people who are located at a distance less than or equal to the predetermined value; group determining means for determining the number of the groups existing in the room;
If the number of groups determined by the group determining means is greater than the total number of air outlets of the indoor units installed indoors, first operation mode control is performed to equalize the indoor temperature, and the group determining means If the determined number of groups is less than or equal to the total number of the air outlets of the indoor units installed indoors, an operation control means that performs second operation mode control for blowing air toward the groups;
An air conditioning system characterized by comprising: The group determining means divides the group into a plurality of groups if the largest distance among the distances between people included in the group is equal to or greater than a predetermined value;
The operation control means performs the first operation mode control when the number of the groups after division is greater than the total number of the air outlets, and the number of the groups after division is less than or equal to the total number of the air outlets. The air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the second operation mode control is performed in the case where the second operation mode is controlled. The group determining means calculates the area occupied by the group from the side, using the largest distance among the distances between people included in the group, and if the area is equal to or larger than a predetermined value, the group determines the area occupied by the group. Divide into multiple parts,
The operation control means performs the first operation mode control when the number of the groups after division is greater than the total number of the air outlets, and the number of the groups after division is less than or equal to the total number of the air outlets. The air conditioning system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second operation mode control is performed in the case where the second operation mode is controlled. a biometric information acquisition means for acquiring biometric information of a person;
Comfort determining means for determining the comfort of people in the room from the information acquired by the biological information acquiring means and determining the comfort of the group from the comfort of the people included in the group,
When performing the second driving mode control, the driving control means performs control to improve the comfort of the group determined by the comfort determining means.
The air conditioning system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The operation control means, when performing the second operation mode control, performs control to improve the comfort of the group by blowing air from the outlet closest to the position of the group. Air conditioning system as described. The operation control means extracts the characteristics of the people in the room from the information acquired by the person information acquisition means, and when performing the second operation mode control, extracts the characteristics of the people included in the group according to the characteristics of the people. Control is performed to prioritize and improve the comfort of one of the users.
The air conditioning system according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: Equipped with a learning means that learns the tendency of a person's thermal sensation based on the judgment result of the person's comfort with respect to the indoor temperature.
The air conditioning system according to any one of claims 4 to 6. The group determining means determines that a group is formed of people who have a common tendency for thermal sensation based on the position of the person calculated by the position calculating means and the tendency for thermal sensation learned by the learning means. determine the number of groups formed in the room,
The air conditioning system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The learning means considers the arrangement of people in which the distance between people who have a common thermal sensation is reduced based on the thermal sensation of the person who learned,
comprising display means for visually displaying the arrangement of the considered persons;
The air conditioning system according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that:

Images