Air Conditioner Control Device, Control Method, and Air Conditioner Control System

This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/JP2023/008035, filed Mar. 3, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to technologies for an air conditioner control device, a control method, and an air conditioner control system.

An air conditioner acquires an indoor temperature from an intake temperature sensor provided in an air conditioner and decides an air conditioning capacity in accordance with a temperature difference between the indoor temperature and a set temperature (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H1-10046).

Hereinafter, an air conditioner control device, a control method, and an air conditioner control system according to embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of an air conditioner control systemincluding an air conditioner control deviceaccording to the present embodiment. The air conditioner control systemincludes the air conditioner control device, one or more (n in) air conditioners-,-, . . . ,-n, and a user terminal. In the following description, when there is no particular need to distinguish between the air conditioners-,-, . . . ,-n, they are referred to as air conditioners.

The air conditioner control devicecontrols the air conditioner. The air conditioneris an indoor unit and adjusts a temperature according to control of the air conditioner control device. It is only necessary for a communication scheme between the air conditioner control deviceand the air conditionerto enable communication between the air conditioner control deviceand the air conditioner, such as wireless communication or wired communication. For example, a general-purpose protocol such as Modbus may be used.

Although the user terminalis an illuminance sensor, a smartphone capable of measuring illuminance, or a smartwatch capable of measuring illuminance, it is only necessary for the user terminalto be any device capable of measuring illuminance.

is a diagram showing a specific configuration of the air conditioner control device. The air conditioner control deviceincludes an operation unit, a display unit, a communication unit, a control unit, and a storage unit.

The operation unitis configured using existing input devices such as a keyboard, a pointing device (a mouse, a tablet, or the like), a touch panel, and buttons. The operation unitis operated by an operator of the air conditioner control devicewhen the operator's instructions are input to the air conditioner control device. The operation unitmay be an interface for connecting an input device to the air conditioner control device. In this case, the operation unitinputs an input signal generated in the input device in accordance with a user's input to the air conditioner control device.

The display unitis an image display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic electroluminescence (EL) display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT) display. The display unitdisplays, for example, a state of each air conditionerand the like. The display unitmay be an interface for connecting an image display device to the air conditioner control device. In this case, the display unitgenerates a video signal for displaying the air conditioner control deviceand outputs the video signal to the image display device connected to the display unit.

The communication unitcommunicates with other devices. For example, the communication unitperforms communication between the air conditionerand the user terminal. The communication unittransmits a control signal indicating a set temperature to the air conditionerand receives a state of the air conditionerand the like. Moreover, the communication unitreceives illuminance and the like from the user terminal.

The storage unitstores an application program, zone information, air conditioner compatibility information, and registration information. The application programis a program executed by the control unit(for example, a program for controlling the air conditioner).

The zone informationindicates a range of a zone by east longitude and north latitude and is information indicating a specific time period determined by an influence of solar radiation.is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of the zone information. The zone informationincludes a zone identifier, a range, a specific time period, and a set heat load. The zone identifier is information for uniquely identifying a zone. The range is indicated by east longitude and north latitude as described above. For example, the range is indicated as X≤east longitude≤Y and x≤north latitude≤y or the range is indicated as within a circle of radius R centered on east longitude and north latitude. The specific time period is a time period when the zone corresponding to the zone identifier is not affected by solar radiation or a time period when the influence of solar radiation on the zone is at a level that can be ignored. Examples of the specific time period include nighttime, a time period when solar radiation is blocked by other buildings such as neighboring buildings, and the like. The set heat load is a heat load set for an interior zone, which will be described below.

The air conditioner compatibility informationis information indicating the air conditioner identifier and wattage of the air conditioner, and the target zone in which air conditioning is possible. The target zone is a zone that includes a location where the user terminalhas measured the illuminance.is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of the air conditioner compatibility information. In, the air conditioner compatibility informationincludes an air conditioner identifier, wattage, and one or more zone identifiers. The air conditioner identifier is information for uniquely identifying the air conditioner. The wattage indicates the wattage of the air conditionercorresponding to the air conditioner identifier. The zone identifier is a zone identifier of a zone in which the air conditionercorresponding to the air conditioner identifier is capable of air conditioning.

The registration informationis information indicating terminal identification information (e.g., international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) or the like) of the user terminalthat has been registered.is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of the registration information. The registration informationincludes one or more terminal identification information items. The terminal identification information is information for uniquely identifying the user terminal. A number of terminal identification information items, equal to the number of registered user terminals, are stored.

In addition, to register the user terminal, for example, an ID and a password may be assigned to a regular user, and registration may be possible only if they are authenticated. When a registration process is performed in this way, it is possible to prevent air conditioning and the like from being performed by an unregistered terminal. For example, even if the air conditioner control system according to the present embodiment is operated in another building and a user terminal used in the other building is operated, because the user terminal cannot be used in an unregistered building, there is no need to perform unnecessary air conditioning by such a user terminal.

The control unitcontrols the entire air conditioner control device. The control unitis configured using a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) and a memory. The control unitexecutes an application programto implement the functions of an illuminance acquisition unit, a heat load acquisition unit, a target zone determination unit, a derivation unit, a correction value transmission unit, and a registration unit.

The illuminance acquisition unitacquires illuminance measured by the user terminal. The heat load acquisition unitestimates an amount of solar radiation from the acquired illuminance and acquires a heat load from the estimated amount of solar radiation. A method for acquiring the heat load will be described below. The target zone determination unitdetermines whether or not a target zone including a location where the user terminalhas measured the illuminance is a perimeter zone. Specifically, the target zone determination unitcompares the estimated amount of solar radiation with a threshold value to determine whether or not the target zone is a perimeter zone. In the present embodiment, a zone other than the perimeter zone is referred to as an interior zone. When the amount of solar radiation is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the target zone determination unitdetermines the zone as the perimeter zone. Otherwise, the target zone determination unitdetermines the zone as the interior zone. In addition, a difference between outdoor illuminance and indoor illuminance is large. The illuminance of artificial illumination is about 300 to 1,000 lx, while the outdoor illuminance reaches 100,000 lx.

The derivation unitderives a correction value of a set temperature of the air conditionerin accordance with a determination result of the target zone determination unitand a heat load acquired by the heat load acquisition unit. The correction value transmission unittransmits the correction value derived by the derivation unitto the air conditioner. The registration unitregisters the user terminalin the registration informationin advance.

is a diagram showing an example of illuminance measurement by a user. In, air conditioners-,-, and-, solar radiation indicated by an arrow, a user, and a user terminalare shown. As shown in, the user is located in a perimeter zone close to the solar radiation. Moreover, the user measures the illuminance using the user terminalheld by the user.

Next, a method for acquiring the heat load with the heat load acquisition unitdescribed above will be described. First, in the present embodiment, the heat load is a total amount of heat (a sensible heat load) and moisture (a latent heat load) required to maintain a predetermined temperature. For example, it is necessary to select an air conditioner in which the capacity is higher when the heat load is larger. Moreover, the heat load is expressed as an amount of heat per unit time [cal/h] or [W]. However, the heat load changes with a difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures.

In the present embodiment, first, the amount of solar radiation is estimated from the illuminance acquired by the illuminance acquisition unit. The amount of solar radiation is estimated using the following Eq. 1.

As shown in Eq. 1, the amount of solar radiation is a function of the luminous efficacy, precipitable water [mm], solar altitude, and cloudless index.

The luminous efficiency is calculated using the following Eq. 2.

The illuminance is illuminance acquired from the user terminal. The user area is a predetermined area including a location where the user terminalhas measured the illuminance, for example, 1.5 m×1.5 m. The wattage is wattage of the air conditioner. This wattage is stored in the air conditioner compatibility information.

The amount of precipitable water is an amount of water vapor in the atmosphere converted into liquid water. This amount of precipitable water is calculated, for example, from the humidity provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Alternatively, the amount of precipitable water may be calculated on the basis of the following literature:

Junsei Kondo and Jianqing Xu, Empirical formula for estimating the precipitable water from the dew-point temperature at the ground level, (Journal of Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources, Volume 9, Issue 5 (1996))

The solar altitude is decided by the season and the time of day. The cloudless index is an index indicating a magnitude of a direct solar radiation component and is decided by the season. Therefore, the heat load acquisition unitalso acquires the humidity, solar altitude, and cloudless index described above.is a diagram showing an example of the solar altitude, clear sky index, cloudless index, and sky condition index for each season. Such values may be stored in advance as defaults and the amount of solar radiation may be estimated with reference to these values.

In addition, when the amount of solar radiation is calculated, if the amount of precipitable water or the like is calculated, regional information (for example, approximately ○○ city, ○○ prefecture) may be input to at least one of the air conditioner control deviceand the user terminaland the input regional information may be used.

When the amount of solar radiation is estimated from the illuminance, the heat load is acquired by the heat load acquisition unit. As described above, in the present embodiment, the heat load is acquired by multiplying the amount of solar radiation by a predetermined floor area, as shown in the following Eq. 3.

Here, the floor area in Eq. 3 is, as an example, an air conditioning range (3 m ×3 m) of a custom air conditioner that is generally used for office air conditioning

When the heat load is acquired by the heat load acquisition unit, the derivation unitfirst calculates the following Eq. 4.

The derivation unitderives a correction value on the basis of a heat load difference calculated by the above-described equation.is a diagram showing an example of derivation. The derivation example shown inshows an example of derivation of correction values during a cooling operation and a heating operation. For example, when the calculated heat load difference is +1, the correction value is set to −1. In the present embodiment, the set temperature is decreased by 1° C. in correspondence with a correction value of −1.

When the heat load difference is +1, it can be seen that the target zone is warmer than the interior zone due to solar radiation. In other words, when the set temperature of the air conditioner installed in the target zone is decreased by 1° C. during the cooling operation, the operating capacity of the air conditioner installed in the target zone can be strengthened compared to other air conditioners. Thereby, it is possible to increase a comfort level of the user. On the other hand, when the set temperature of the air conditioner installed in the target zone is decreased by 1° C. during the heating operation, the operating capacity of the air conditioner installed in the target zone can be weakened compared to other air conditioners. Thereby, it is possible to increase the comfort level of the user.

The example shown inis merely an example and is determined by tests, experiments, or the like. In other words, the correction value may differ according to a cooling operation time and a heating operation time. In this way, according to the present embodiment, the heat load is estimated and the correction value is derived, such that the air conditionercan be appropriately controlled.

is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a process of the air conditioner control deviceaccording to the present embodiment. In, the air conditioner control deviceacquires the illuminance measured by the user terminal, terminal identification information, and location information from the user terminal(step S). The location information is information indicating east longitude and north latitude.

The air conditioner control devicedetermines whether or not the user terminal has been registered according to whether or not the terminal identification information is registered (step S). When the user terminal has not been registered (step S: NO), the air conditioner control devicediscards the acquired illuminance and ends the process. In addition, it is possible to ascertain in advance whether or not the user terminalis registered before acquiring the illuminance and acquire the illuminance only from the user terminalthat has been registered.

The air conditioner control deviceidentifies a zone by acquiring a zone identifier from the acquired location information with reference to the zone information(step S). Thereby, it is possible to ascertain the specific time period of the zone or the like. After identifying the zone, the air conditioner control devicedetermines whether or not the current time is within the specific time period (step S). When the current time is within the specific time period (step S: YES), the process ends as it is.

When the current time is not within the specific time zone (step S: NO), the air conditioner control devicedetermines whether or not the acquired illuminance is greater than or equal to a threshold value (step S). When the acquired illuminance is less than the threshold value (step S: NO), the air conditioner control devicedetermines that the zone is the interior zone and ends the process without deriving a correction value.

When the acquired illuminance is greater than or equal to the threshold value (step S: YES), the air conditioner control deviceestimates the heat load (step S), identifies the corresponding air conditioner (step S), and derives a correction value (step S). The estimation method and derivation method are as described above. The air conditioner control devicetransmits the derived correction value to the air conditioner(step S), and ends the process. Moreover, because the zone identifier is acquired in step S, the air conditionerof the transmission destination can identify the corresponding air conditioner with reference to the air conditioner compatibility information.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide technology for appropriately controlling an air conditioner. Although it is necessary to centrally manage the illuminance sensors when the illuminance sensor is provided in each zone as in the conventional technology, it is only necessary to communicate with a user terminal because the user terminal is used in the present embodiment.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configurations are not limited to the present embodiment and various designs and the like are included without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

The present invention is applicable to air conditioners that cover a perimeter zone as one of the areas to be air-conditioned.