JPH10259942A - Control device of air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a comfortable air conditioning without performing remote control. SOLUTION: There are provided an infrared image sensor 1 which photographs the interior of a room to be air conditioned, a status determination circuit 4, which determines the number, position, action, movement or the amount of clothes of people based on a photographed image by the image sensor 1 and an air conditioner control circuit 5 which controls an air conditioner main body 6. The status determination circuit 4 computes an area rate of a skin exposed portion, a clothes portion of a human body and a covered portion of the human body with a bedding based on a temperature image transmitted from the infrared image sensor 1 and leading an equivalent amount of clothing based on the computed result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner that operates according to the intention of human beings or unconscious and always obtains an optimal air conditioner. The present invention relates to a control device for an air conditioner in which air conditioning operation is controlled according to the number, position, operation, amount of activity, amount of clothes, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional air conditioner (hereinafter, referred to as an air conditioner) controls air conditioning operation by feedback control using a set temperature designated by a key operation of a remote controller (hereinafter, referred to as a remote controller) or the like as a target value. The room temperature is basically determined by the setting of the operator. Therefore, every time the room temperature is changed, it is necessary to operate the remote controller to change the set temperature.

[0003]

However, there are cases where it is impossible to operate the remote control when the user is working or sleeping, and in such a case, the temperature setting is inappropriate. If so, there was a problem that a comfortable air condition could not be obtained. An object of the present invention is to provide a control device of an air conditioner that can provide a comfortable air condition without performing a remote control operation.

[0004]

A control device for an air conditioner according to the present invention includes an image sensor for photographing the inside of a room to be air-conditioned, and the number of people based on an image photographed by the image sensor. The system includes a situation determination circuit that determines a situation such as a position, an action, an activity amount, and a clothing amount, and a control circuit that controls the air conditioner body based on the determination result. As the image sensor, an infrared image sensor or a visible image sensor can be used.

In the control device of the present invention, the number of people, the position, the movement, the amount of activity, and the amount of clothes are automatically determined based on the image captured by the image sensor, and the setting is performed based on the determination result. Temperature, wind direction, air volume, etc. are adjusted.
For example, in the cooling operation, when the number of people in the room increases or when the movement of people becomes severe, the set temperature is lowered, when the position of the person changes, the wind direction is directed to that position, and when the amount of clothes decreases, Adjustments such as raising the set temperature are performed. Therefore, an appropriate air conditioning operation is always performed without performing a control operation based on a remote control operation, and a comfortable air condition can be obtained.

[0006] In a specific configuration, the image sensor is an infrared image sensor capable of detecting a temperature, and the situation determination circuit performs a night operation of the main body of the air conditioner based on a temperature image from the infrared image sensor. An arithmetic processing means is provided for calculating the area ratio of the exposed portion of the human body, the clothing, and the portion covered by the futon, and deriving an equivalent clothing amount based on the calculation result. According to the specific configuration, in night driving,
Based on the temperature image from the infrared image sensor, the area ratio of the skin-exposed portion of the human body, the clothing portion, and the portion covered by the futon is calculated. For example, the exposed skin area is the hottest area,
The clothing part is detected as the next highest temperature area, and the part covered with the futon is detected as a temperature area close to the surrounding environmental temperature. Therefore, as the high temperature area becomes wider,
It can be determined that the area not covered by the futon is wide, and the equivalent clothing amount can be derived based on the detection result.

Therefore, in setting the temperature, the set temperature is decreased as the equivalent clothing amount is increased, and conversely, the set temperature is increased as the equivalent clothing amount is decreased. Thus, even during sleep when remote control operation is not possible, appropriate air conditioning operation is executed, and comfortable air conditioning can be obtained.

[0008]

According to the control device for an air conditioner of the present invention, a comfortable air conditioner can always be obtained without performing remote control operation.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG.
An air conditioner (10) according to the present invention is mounted on a wall surface of a room (7), and an infrared image sensor (1) and a visible image sensor (2) are installed inside the room so that a photographing direction is directed to a floor surface. Have been. The infrared image sensor (1) is configured by arranging sensor pieces for detecting infrared rays emitted from a human body or the like on a two-dimensional array. The temperature of each part can be detected. On the other hand, the visible image sensor (2) is composed of a CCD camera or the like, and is used for discrimination between day and night and for detecting the motion of the human body during the day.

The infrared image and the visible image obtained from the infrared image sensor (1) and the visible image sensor (2) are supplied to a situation judgment circuit (4) as shown in FIG.
According to (4), the situation such as the number, position, motion, amount of activity, and amount of clothes in the room is determined. The determination result is supplied to an air conditioner control circuit (5), and the air conditioner control circuit (5) controls the air conditioner body (6) so that a comfortable air condition is obtained.

For example, in the cooling operation, when the number of people in the room increases or when the movement of the person becomes severe, the set temperature is lowered, and when the position of the person changes, the wind direction is directed to that position, and the amount of clothes decreases. Then, adjustment such as raising the set temperature is performed. Further, when an operation such as wiping sweat, putting on a limb, or turning over while sleeping is detected, the set temperature can be changed according to the operation. Therefore, an appropriate air conditioning operation is always performed without performing a control operation based on a remote control operation, and a comfortable air condition can be obtained.

FIG. 3 shows a control operation for obtaining a comfortable air condition while sleeping at night. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the human body (8) is photographed by the infrared image sensor (1) while wearing a futon (9). First, FIG.
In step S1, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is driving at night based on the brightness of the image obtained from the visible image sensor (2). Capture outside images. When the determination is no, the mode shifts to the daytime operation mode.

In the night operation mode, step S3
Calculates the area ratio of the human skin exposed portion, the clothing portion, and the portion covered with the futon. Here, for example, when an infrared image as shown in FIG. 4 is obtained, the infrared image includes an exposed portion A of the human body, a clothing portion B, and a portion C covered with a futon. . As is well known, the infrared image is a temperature image from which the temperature of each part can be detected, and a temperature histogram (envelope curve) as shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained based on the temperature image.

In the example of FIG. 5, 20 ° C., 27 ° C., and 35 ° C.
° C, the exposed part A of the human body has the highest temperature of 35 ° C as a peak, the clothing part B has the next highest temperature of 27 ° C as a peak, and the futon is covered. The broken portion C can be detected as a temperature region having an environmental temperature (room temperature) of 20 ° C. as a peak. Then, based on this histogram distribution, the area ratio of the exposed portion A, the clothing portion B, and the portion C covered with the futon in the entire surface area of the human body is derived. For example, the ratio of one pixel of the temperature image to the human body is calculated, and the same temperature (for example, 3
For all the pixels having a temperature of 5 ° C.), the area ratio of each part can be derived by adding the ratio.

Next, in step S4 of FIG. 3, the equivalent clothing amount of the human body is calculated by using a conversion coefficient corresponding to the type of clothing section and the thickness of the futon set in advance. The conversion coefficient of each part can be estimated based on the temperature difference between the room temperature and the clothing part or the futon part, but it can be determined in advance to a constant value. Then, in step S5, the PMV
Control the air conditioner so that the (Predicted Mean Vote) value becomes 0. The PMV value is determined by six factors of temperature, humidity, air volume, radiant heat, clothing amount, and activity amount.
, Which is an international standard established as ISO7730. Here, the equivalent clothing amount is adopted as the clothing amount. The activity amount can be approximately set to 0 because the user is sleeping. Further, the radiant heat can be regarded as zero in ordinary air conditioner control.

According to the night operation mode described above, for example, when the temperature setting is high and the room temperature is higher than the comfortable temperature,
Since the operation such as taking off the futon is performed unconsciously, the equivalent amount of clothing is reduced, and the temperature setting is lowered. Therefore, even if the remote control cannot be operated while sleeping, a comfortable air condition can always be obtained according to the condition of the sleeping human body.

On the other hand, in the daytime operation mode, the air conditioner can be controlled in accordance with the amount of activity of the human body. Here, the activity amount of the human body can be approximately obtained by the following method. Time-sequential N infrared images are obtained. A region other than room temperature is extracted from each infrared image as a person region. Find the center of gravity of the person area in each infrared image,
This is grasped as a person position. Based on the N consecutive infrared images, the average movement amount of the person position is obtained, and this is grasped as the activity amount of the human body.

Taking into account the amount of activity obtained in this way,
The air conditioner is controlled so that the PMV value becomes zero. For example,
When the amount of activity is large, the set temperature is lowered, and when the amount of activity is small, control is performed in the direction of increasing the set temperature. As a result, a comfortable air condition can be obtained even during work in which remote control operation cannot be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an installation state of an air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of the air conditioner.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an infrared image.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a temperature histogram in an infrared image.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (10) Air conditioner (1) Infrared image sensor (2) Visible image sensor (4) Situation judgment circuit (5) Air conditioner control circuit (6) Air conditioner body (8) Human body (9) Futon

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image sensor for photographing the inside of a room to be air-conditioned, and a situation such as the number, position, movement, amount of activity, or amount of clothes is determined on the basis of an image photographed by the image sensor. A control device for an air conditioner, comprising: a status determination circuit; and a control circuit for controlling the air conditioner body based on the determination result. 2. The image sensor is an infrared image sensor capable of detecting a temperature, and the situation determination circuit is configured to perform a night operation of the air conditioner main body based on a temperature image from the infrared image sensor. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising an arithmetic processing unit that calculates an area ratio of the exposed portion, the clothing portion, and a portion covered with the futon, and derives an equivalent clothing amount based on the calculation result. 3. The arithmetic processing means creates a temperature histogram of a temperature image from the infrared image sensor, and places a plurality of peaks appearing in the histogram on a skin-exposed portion, a clothing portion, and a portion covered with a futon, respectively. The control device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit calculates the area ratio by distinguishing these image regions in the temperature image by making them correspond. 4. The situation determination circuit according to claim 1, further comprising: an arithmetic processing unit configured to calculate an activity amount of a human body based on an image captured by an image sensor during daytime operation of the air conditioner body. The control device according to any one of the above.