Air conditioner control device, air conditioning system, air conditioner control method and program

Abstract

To provide an air conditioner control device, an air conditioning system, an air conditioner control method and a program capable of making a target region, which is a target to be air-conditioned, an environment comfortable for a user.SOLUTION: A cloud server 1 comprises: a location acquisition unit 111 that acquires location information indicating a user's location; a travel distance calculation unit 114 that calculates a travel distance from the user's location where the user is present outside a building to the building based on the location information; an outside air temperature information acquisition unit 113 that acquires outside air temperature information indicating an outside air temperature along the user's travel path to the building; a perceived temperature estimation unit 115 that estimates the user's perceived temperature when the user returns to the building based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; an air conditioning setting unit 116 that performs operation settings of the air conditioner 4 that conditions the air inside the building based on the estimated perceived temperature; and a device control unit 117 that controls the air conditioner 4 with the operation settings.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an air conditioner control device, an air conditioning system, an air conditioner control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] A temperature control device has been proposed that includes a target room temperature determination means that determines a target room temperature based on human thermal sensation, a user-requested temperature determination means that determines a user-requested temperature based on a user's request, and a final target temperature determination means that compares the temperature deviation between the target room temperature and the user-requested temperature and determines a final target temperature based on the temperature deviation between the target room temperature and the user-requested temperature, and that controls an air conditioner to control the room temperature based on the final target temperature (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-153339 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The comfort level for a user in a room that is the target of air conditioning also depends on the activity level of the user immediately before the user enters the room. Therefore, air conditioners such as those described in Patent Document 1 are required to control the temperature so as to create a comfortable indoor environment for the user based on the activity level of the user immediately before entering the room.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above reasons, and aims to provide an air conditioner control device, an air conditioning system, an air conditioner control method, and a program that can make the target area that is the subject of air conditioning a comfortable environment for users. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioner control device according to the present disclosure comprises: a location acquisition unit that acquires location information indicating the location of a user; a movement distance calculation unit that calculates, based on the position information, a movement distance from the position of the user to the target area at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when a preset condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied when the user is outside the target area to be air conditioned; and an outside air temperature information acquisition unit that acquires outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature along the route taken by the user to reach the target area; a sensible temperature estimation unit that estimates a sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; an air conditioning setting unit that sets the operation of an air conditioner that air-conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature; and an equipment control unit that controls the air conditioner based on the operation setting. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, the sensible temperature estimating unit estimates the sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance from the user's location at the air conditioning start time when the air conditioning is started when the user is outside the target area and the outdoor air temperature along the travel path. The air conditioning setting unit then sets the operation of the air conditioner that conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature. This allows the air conditioner to start air conditioning of the target area at the air conditioning start time when the user is outside the target area with operation settings based on the sensible temperature when the user reaches the target area. Therefore, the target area can be made a comfortable environment for the user when the user enters the target area. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1]Schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioning system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of an air conditioning system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] Block diagram showing the functional configuration of an air conditioning system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a setting information storage unit according to the first embodiment; [Figure 5] A sequence diagram showing the operation of the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment [Figure 7] A sequence diagram showing the operation of the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen image displayed on a display unit of a terminal device according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing another example of an operation screen image displayed on a display unit of a terminal device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] A sequence diagram showing the operation of the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 10] 1 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of air conditioning processing executed by a cloud server according to the first embodiment. [Figure 11] Schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioning system according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] 1A is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a building exit history storage unit according to a second embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating the operation of an air conditioning system according to the second embodiment. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of air conditioning processing executed by a cloud server according to a second embodiment. [Figure 14] Schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioning system according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 15] 1A is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a human detection information storage unit according to a third embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a staying time storage unit according to the third embodiment. [Figure 16]A sequence diagram showing the operation of an air conditioning system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 17] A sequence diagram showing the operation of an air conditioning system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 18] A sequence diagram showing the operation of an air conditioning system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 19] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of air conditioning processing executed by a cloud server according to a second embodiment. [Figure 20] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of air conditioning processing executed by a cloud server according to a second embodiment. [Figure 21] A block diagram showing the functional configuration of an air conditioning system according to a modified example. [Figure 22] A block diagram showing the functional configuration of an air conditioning system according to a modified example. [Figure 23] A block diagram showing the functional configuration of an air conditioning system according to a modified example. [Figure 24] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen image displayed on a display unit of a terminal device according to a modified example. [Figure 25] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of an air conditioning process executed by a cloud server according to a modified example. [Figure 26] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen image displayed on a display unit of a terminal device according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] (Embodiment 1) An air conditioner control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The air conditioner control device according to the present embodiment includes a location acquisition unit that acquires location information indicating the location of a user, a travel distance calculation unit that calculates, based on the location information, a travel distance from the user's location at the time of air conditioning start when air conditioning is started and the user is outside a target area to be air-conditioned, to the target area, an outdoor temperature information acquisition unit that acquires outdoor air temperature information indicating the outdoor air temperature along the user's travel path to the target area, a sensible temperature estimation unit that estimates the user's sensible temperature when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outdoor air temperature, an air conditioning setting unit that sets operation settings for an air conditioner that air-conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature, and an equipment control unit that controls the air conditioner according to the operation settings.

[0010] As shown in FIG. 1 , the air conditioning system according to this embodiment includes an air conditioner 4 installed in a building H, a cloud server 1 that controls the air conditioner 4, a terminal device 2 carried by a user of the air conditioner 4 who resides in the building H, and a human presence sensor 3 that detects the presence of a person in the building H. The air conditioner 4 is equipped with a communication module and is connected to a local network NW2 installed in the building H via the communication module. The local network NW2 is configured as a wireless local area network (LAN) or a wired LAN. The local network NW2 is also connected to a wide area network NW1 such as the Internet via a broadband router (hereinafter referred to as "BBR") 8. The cloud server 1 and the terminal device 2 are connected to the wide area network NW1. The wide area network NW1 is also connected to a weather server 5 that manages information related to weather conditions and a location management server 6 that manages location information indicating the location of the terminal device 2. The cloud server 1 is capable of communicating with the terminal device 2, the weather server 5, and the location management server 6 via the wide area network NW1.

[0011] The air conditioner 4 employs the so-called VAV (Variable Air Volume) method and conditions the air in each of the multiple rooms R1, R2, and R3 in the building H via dampers 42 installed in each of the rooms R1, R2, and R3 and ducts 43 connected to each damper 42. The air conditioner 4 adjusts the air volume in each of the rooms R1, R2, and R3 by changing the opening degree of the dampers 42. Furthermore, when the air conditioner 4 receives control information transmitted from the cloud server 1, it begins operation based on the control information.

[0012] The human presence sensor 3 includes a thermal imaging camera and a multispectral camera, and is installed in each of rooms R1, R2, and R3 in building H. The human presence sensor 3 detects the perceived temperature of a person in building H based on a thermal image captured by the thermal imaging camera. The human presence sensor 3 also has an image recognition function that recognizes whether the person in building H is a pre-registered user based on an image captured by the multispectral camera. When a user enters building H, the human presence sensor 3 detects that the user has returned home based on the image captured by the multispectral camera. When the human presence sensor 3 detects that the user has returned home, it detects the user's perceived temperature based on a thermal image captured by the thermal imaging camera. The human presence sensor 3 generates perceived temperature notification information that includes perceived temperature information indicating the detected perceived temperature and user identification information identifying the detected user, and transmits the information to the cloud server 1.

[0013] The weather server 5 manages outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature of each area, including the area around building H. When the weather server 5 acquires outside air temperature request information (described below) transmitted from the cloud server 1, the weather server 5 identifies an area including the route the user will take to reach building H based on the location information included in the acquired outside air temperature request information, and identifies outside air temperature information for the identified area. The weather server 5 then generates outside air temperature notification information including the identified outside air temperature information and date and time information indicating the date and time when the outside air temperature request information was acquired, and transmits the information to the cloud server 1.

[0014] The location management server 6 includes a location information storage unit (not shown) that stores location information indicating the location of the terminal device 2, which is periodically transmitted from the terminal device 2, in association with terminal device identification information that identifies the terminal device 2 that transmitted the location information. The location management server 6 manages the location information of the terminal device 2. The location management server 6 also includes a user information storage unit (not shown) that stores the terminal device identification information of pre-registered terminal devices 2 in association with user identification information that identifies the user who owns the terminal device 2. Upon receiving location information request information requesting transmission of the location information of the terminal device 2 transmitted from the cloud server 1, the location management server 6 identifies, from the terminal device identification information stored in the user information storage unit, the terminal device identification information corresponding to the user identification information included in the received location information request information, and identifies, from the location information stored in the location information storage unit, the location information corresponding to the identified terminal device identification information. The location management server 6 then generates location notification information including the identified location information and the user identification information, and transmits the generated location notification information to the cloud server 1.

[0015] The terminal device 2 is, for example, a smartphone, and as shown in FIG. 2 , includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a main memory 202, an auxiliary memory 203, a display 204, an input unit 205, a communication unit 206, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiving unit 207, and a bus 209 connecting these components to one another. The main memory 202 has a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and is used as a work area for the CPU 201. The auxiliary memory 203 is a non-volatile memory such as a semiconductor flash memory and stores programs for the CPU 201 to execute various processes. The display 204 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The input unit 205 is, for example, a transparent touchpad placed on top of the display 204. The communication unit 206 is connected to the wide area network NW1, and transmits information transferred from the CPU 201 to the cloud server 1 via the wide area network NW1, and transfers information received from the cloud server 1 via the wide area network NW1 to the CPU 201. The GNSS receiving unit 207 receives GNSS signals emitted from artificial satellites, and generates reference position information indicating the position of the artificial satellite, time information, etc. based on the GNSS signals and transfers them to the CPU 201.

[0016] The CPU 201 reads out the programs stored in the auxiliary memory unit 203 into the main memory unit 202 and executes them, thereby functioning as a display control unit 211, an air conditioning start request unit 212, a positioning unit 213, and a position notification unit 214, as shown in Fig. 3. The display control unit 211 accepts operations performed by the user on the input unit 205, and forms an operation screen image for the user to instruct the start of air conditioning in building H, and displays it on the display unit 204. When the user performs an air conditioning start command operation on the input unit 205 to instruct the start of air conditioning in building H, the air conditioning start request unit 212 generates air conditioning start command information including user identification information that identifies the user in response to this, and transmits the air conditioning start command information to the cloud server 1.

[0017] The positioning unit 213 estimates the position of the terminal device 2 every time a preset position notification time arrives, based on the reference position information, time information, etc. input from the GNSS receiving unit 207. Here, the position notification time is set to arrive at intervals of, for example, several tens of seconds to several minutes. Every time the position of the terminal device 2 is estimated by the positioning unit 213, the position notifying unit 214 generates position notification information including position information indicating the estimated position and terminal device identification information of the terminal device, and transmits the generated information to the position management server 6.

[0018] Returning to FIG. 2 , the cloud server 1 includes a CPU 101, a main memory unit 102, an auxiliary memory unit 103, a communication unit 106 connected to the wide area network NW1, a clock unit 108, and a bus 109 interconnecting these units. The main memory unit 102 is a volatile memory used as a work area for the CPU 101. The auxiliary memory unit 103 is a nonvolatile memory such as a magnetic disk or semiconductor flash memory, and stores programs for implementing various functions of the cloud server 1. The clock unit 108 functions as a real time clock (RTC) that keeps track of the current date and time. The clock unit 108 includes, for example, a crystal oscillator (not shown) that generates a clock signal, a frequency divider circuit (not shown) that divides the clock signal, and a power storage element that supplies power to drive the crystal oscillator. Even if the power supply to the cloud server 1 is interrupted due to a power outage, for example, the clock unit 108 continues its timekeeping operation by operating on power supplied from the power storage element. In addition, the timing unit 108 may have the function of correcting the current date and time by acquiring date and time information conforming to NTP (Network Time Protocol) transmitted from a time server (not shown) connected to the wide area network NW1, or by receiving a standard radio wave for notifying the current time.

[0019] By loading the programs stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103 into the main storage unit 102 and executing them, the CPU 101 functions as a position acquisition unit 111, a sensible temperature acquisition unit 112, an outside air temperature information acquisition unit 113, a travel distance calculation unit 114, a sensible temperature estimation unit 115, an air conditioning setting unit 116, an appliance control unit 117, an air conditioning start determination unit 118, and a sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 119, as shown in Fig. 3. Furthermore, the auxiliary storage unit 103 shown in Fig. 2 has a position memory unit 131, a sensible temperature memory unit 132, an outside air temperature information memory unit 133, a building position memory unit 134, a travel distance memory unit 135, a sensible temperature estimation model memory unit 136, and a setting information memory unit 137, as shown in Fig. 3. The location memory unit 131 stores location information indicating the location of the terminal device 2 carried by the user in association with date and time information indicating the date and time when the location information was acquired from the location management server 6, and user identification information of the user who carries the terminal device 2.

[0020] The sensible temperature storage unit 132 stores sensible temperature information indicating the sensible temperature of the user, in association with the user identification information of the user and date and time information indicating the date and time of acquisition of the sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human presence sensor 3. The outdoor air temperature information storage unit 133 stores outdoor air temperature information indicating the outdoor air temperature of the path from the user's location to the building H at the time when it was determined that air conditioning in the building H should be started, in association with the date and time information indicating the date and time at which it was determined that air conditioning should be started.

[0021] The building position storage unit 134 stores position information indicating the position of the building H. The travel distance storage unit 135 stores travel distance information indicating the travel distance from the position where the user was located to the building H at the time of acquiring the position information, in association with date and time information indicating the date and time at the time of acquiring the position information.

[0022] The sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 136 stores sensible temperature estimation model information indicating a sensible temperature estimation model used to estimate a user's sensible temperature from the distance traveled from the user's location to building H at the time it is determined that air conditioning in building H should be started, the outside air temperature of the travel path to building H at the time it is determined that air conditioning in building H should be started, and user identification information. This sensible temperature estimation model is, for example, a forward propagation neural network. In this case, the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 136 stores information indicating the structure of the neural network and information indicating weighting coefficients in the neural network. Here, the information indicating the structure of the neural network includes information indicating the number of nodes and layers of the neural network, as well as the weighting coefficients and activation functions corresponding to each node.

[0023] 4, the setting information storage unit 137 stores setting information for the air conditioner 4 appropriate for each perceived temperature when the user returns home to building H, in association with perceived temperature range information indicating the range of the user's perceived temperature and user identification information. Examples of setting information include operating mode information indicating the operating mode of the air conditioner 4, set temperature information indicating the set temperature, and set humidity information indicating the set humidity. The example shown in FIG. 4 indicates that when the perceived temperature of the user identified by user identification information IDU[0] is within the range of 32°C or higher and lower than 33°C, the operating mode of the air conditioner 4 is cooling mode, the set temperature is 28°C, and the set humidity is 60%.

[0024] Returning to FIG. 3, whenever a preset location information acquisition time arrives, location acquisition unit 111 generates location information request information that requests location management server 6 to transmit location information of the user, including the user's user identification information, and transmits the generated information to location management server 6. When location acquisition unit 111 acquires location notification information transmitted from location management server 6, it extracts the location information and user identification information included in the acquired location notification information. At this time, location acquisition unit 111 identifies the date and time at which the location notification information was acquired based on the date and time measured by clock unit 108. Then, location acquisition unit 111 stores the extracted location information and user identification information and date and time information indicating the identified date and time in location storage unit 131 in association with each other.

[0025] Each time the position storage unit 131 stores new position information, the travel distance calculation unit 114 calculates the travel distance until the user, who is at the position indicated by the newly stored position information, reaches the building H, based on the position information stored in the position storage unit 131 and the position information of the building H stored in the building position storage unit 134. Then, the travel distance calculation unit 114 stores the travel distance information indicating the calculated travel distance in the travel distance storage unit 135, in association with the date and time information associated with the position information stored in the position storage unit 131 and used to calculate the travel distance.

[0026] The air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines that it is the air conditioner start time to start air conditioning in building H when a preset condition for starting air conditioning when a user is outside a target area to be air-conditioned is met. Specifically, the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines to start air conditioning in building H when the most recent user's movement distance stored in the movement distance memory unit 135 becomes equal to or less than a preset reference distance. Furthermore, when the air conditioning start determination unit 118 acquires the above-mentioned air conditioning start command information transmitted from the terminal device 2, it determines to start air conditioning of building H in which a user identified by the user identification information included in the acquired air conditioning start command information resides. In this case, based on the position information stored in the position memory unit 131, the movement distance calculation unit 114 calculates the movement distance from the user's position at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when the above-mentioned condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied, i.e., the time when the most recent user's movement distance stored in the movement distance memory unit 135 becomes equal to or less than the preset reference distance, to building H.

[0027] When the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines to start air conditioning of building H, the outside air temperature information acquisition unit 113 generates the above-mentioned outside air temperature request information including the user's location information and the location information of building H, and transmits it to the weather server 5. As a result, the outside air temperature information acquisition unit 113 acquires the outside air temperature notification information transmitted from the weather server 5, extracts the outside air temperature information and date and time information included in the acquired outside air temperature notification information, and stores the extracted outside air temperature information and date and time information in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133 in association with each other.

[0028] The sensible temperature estimation unit 115 estimates the sensible temperature of the user when the user arrives at building H, based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance memory unit 135 at the time when the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines to start air conditioning of building H, and the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information memory unit 133 at the time when the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines to start air conditioning of building H. Here, the sensible temperature estimation unit 115 estimates the sensible temperature of the user from the travel distance, outside air temperature, and user identification information, using the sensible temperature estimation model indicated in the sensible temperature estimation model information stored in the sensible temperature estimation model memory unit 136. Then, the sensible temperature estimation unit 115 notifies the air conditioning setting unit 116 of the sensible temperature information indicating the estimated sensible temperature.

[0029] When the air conditioning setting unit 116 is notified of the sensible temperature information from the sensible temperature estimation unit 115, it references the sensible temperature range information stored in the setting information storage unit 137 and identifies the sensible temperature range to which the sensible temperature indicated by the notified sensible temperature information belongs. The air conditioning setting unit 116 then selects setting information that corresponds to the identified sensible temperature range from the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 137 and notifies the device control unit 117 of the selected setting information. When the device control unit 117 is notified of the setting information, it generates control information for controlling the air conditioner 4 based on the notified setting information and transmits the control information to the air conditioner 4.

[0030] When the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 acquires the sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human presence sensor 3, it extracts the sensible temperature information and user identification information included in the acquired sensible temperature notification information. Then, the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 stores the extracted sensible temperature information and user identification information in association with date and time information indicating the date and time when the sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human presence sensor 3 was acquired in the sensible temperature storage unit 132.

[0031] The sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 119 generates a sensible temperature estimation model based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133, the user identification information, and the sensible temperature information stored in the sensible temperature storage unit 132. Then, the sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 119 stores sensible temperature estimation model information indicating the generated sensible temperature estimation model in the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 136. Furthermore, the sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 119 regenerates the sensible temperature estimation model every time the user returns home to building H, that is, every time sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human presence sensor 3 is acquired.

[0032] Next, the operation of the air conditioning system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 5 to 9. First, as shown in Fig. 5, when a preset position notification time arrives, the terminal device 2 estimates the position of the terminal device 2 based on the reference position information, time information, etc. input from the GNSS receiving unit 207 (step S1). Next, the terminal device 2 generates position notification information including position information indicating the estimated position and terminal device identification information of the terminal device (step S2), and the generated position notification information is transmitted from the terminal device 2 to the position management server 6 (step S3). Meanwhile, upon receiving the position notification information transmitted from the terminal device 2, the position management server 6 extracts the position information and terminal device identification information included in the obtained position notification information. Then, the location management server 6 stores the extracted position information and terminal device identification information in a position information storage unit in association with each other (step S4).

[0033] Subsequently, when a preset time for obtaining location information arrives, the cloud server 1 generates the above-mentioned location information request information including the user identification information (step S5), and the generated location information request information is transmitted from the cloud server 1 to the location management server 6 (step S6). Meanwhile, upon receiving the location information request information, the location management server 6 identifies, from the terminal device identification information stored in the user information storage unit, the terminal device identification information corresponding to the user identification information included in the obtained location information request information, and identifies, from the location information stored in the location information storage unit, the location information corresponding to the identified terminal device identification information. The location management server 6 then generates location notification information including the identified location information and user identification information (step S7), and the generated location notification information is transmitted from the location management server 6 to the cloud server 1 (step S8). Meanwhile, upon receiving the location notification information, the cloud server 1 extracts the location information and user identification information included in the obtained location notification information. Then, the cloud server 1 identifies the date and time when the location notification information was acquired, and stores the extracted location information and user identification information in association with the date and time information indicating the identified date and time in the location memory unit 131 (step S9).

[0034] Thereafter, based on the location information stored in the location storage unit 131 and the location information of building H stored in the building location storage unit 134, the cloud server 1 calculates the travel distance that the user, who is at the location indicated by the location information, will travel until he or she reaches building H. Then, the cloud server 1 stores the travel distance information indicating the calculated travel distance in the travel distance storage unit 135 in association with the date and time information associated with the location information used to calculate the travel distance, which is stored in the location storage unit 131 (step S10).

[0035] Here, it is assumed that the cloud server 1 determines that the most recent travel distance of the user stored in the travel distance storage unit 135 is less than or equal to a preset reference distance and that air conditioning in building H should be started (step S11). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, when user U1 enters a circular area with building H as its center and a radius of reference distance X [km], the cloud server 1 determines that air conditioning in building H should be started. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the cloud server 1 generates the above-mentioned outside air temperature request information including the user's location information and the location information of building H (step S12), and the generated outside air temperature request information is transmitted from the cloud server 1 to the weather server 5 (step S13). Meanwhile, upon acquiring the outside air temperature request information, the weather server 5 identifies an area including the user's travel route to building H based on the location information included in the acquired outside air temperature request information, and then identifies outside air temperature information for the identified area. Then, the weather server 5 generates outside air temperature notification information including the specified outside air temperature information and date and time information indicating the date and time when the outside air temperature request information was acquired (step S14), and as shown in Fig. 7, the generated outside air temperature notification information is transmitted from the weather server 5 to the cloud server 1 (step S15). Meanwhile, the cloud server 1 acquires the outside air temperature notification information, extracts the outside air temperature information and date and time information included in the acquired outside air temperature notification information, and stores the extracted outside air temperature information and date and time information in association with each other in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133 (step S16).

[0036] Next, the cloud server 1 estimates the sensible temperature of the user when the user arrives at building H, based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135 at the time when it is determined to start air conditioning of building H, the outdoor temperature indicated by the outdoor temperature information stored in the outdoor temperature information storage unit 133 at the time when it is determined to start air conditioning of building H, and the user identification information (step S17). Next, the cloud server 1 refers to the sensible temperature range information stored in the setting information storage unit 137 to identify the sensible temperature range to which the sensible temperature indicated by the notified sensible temperature information belongs, and selects setting information corresponding to the identified sensible temperature range from the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 137 (step S18). Thereafter, the cloud server 1 generates control information for controlling the air conditioner 4 based on the selected setting information (step S19), and the generated control information is transmitted from the cloud server 1 to the air conditioner 4 (step S20). On the other hand, upon acquiring the control information, the air conditioner 4 starts operating based on the acquired control information (step S21).

[0037]

[0063] Also, suppose that a user performs the above-mentioned air conditioning start command operation on the input unit 205 of the terminal device 2. If the terminal device 2 is, for example, terminal device 2A as shown in FIG. 8(A), terminal device 2A displays an operation screen image GA11 on the display unit 204 when the air conditioning start command operation is performed. This operation screen image GA11 includes a message image M11 displaying a message asking the user whether or not to start air conditioning in building H, a button image BU11 that is selected when permitting the start of air conditioning, and a button image BU12 that is selected when not permitting the start of air conditioning. In the air conditioning start command operation, while terminal device 2A is displaying the operation screen image GA11 on the display unit 204, the user touches a portion of the input unit 205, which is a touchpad, that corresponds to button image BU11. Alternatively, if the terminal device 2 is, for example, terminal device 2B as shown in FIG. 8(B), terminal device 2B displays an operation screen image GA12 on the display unit 204 when the air conditioning start command operation is performed. This operation screen image GA12 includes a button image BU13 that is selected when the user allows the start of air conditioning. In the air conditioning start command operation, while terminal device 2B is displaying operation screen image GA12 on display unit 204, the user touches a portion of input unit 205, which is a touchpad, that corresponds to button image BU13. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, terminal device 2 generates air conditioning start command information that includes user identification information that identifies the user (step S22). The generated air conditioning start command information is then transmitted from terminal device 2 to cloud server 1 (step S23). Meanwhile, when the cloud server 1 acquires the air conditioning start command information, it determines to start air conditioning of building H in which a user identified by the user identification information included in the acquired air conditioning start command information resides, and a series of processes from steps S12 to S21 is executed.

[0038] Next, when the user returns home to building H, the human presence sensor 3 detects that the user has returned home based on an image obtained by capturing an image of the user with the multispectral camera (step S24). Next, the human presence sensor 3 detects the user's sensible temperature based on a thermal image obtained by capturing an image of the user with the thermal imaging camera. The human presence sensor 3 then generates sensible temperature notification information including sensible temperature information indicating the detected sensible temperature and user identification information that identifies the detected user (step S25), and the generated sensible temperature notification information is sent from the human presence sensor 3 to the cloud server 1 (step S26).

[0039] Meanwhile, when the cloud server 1 acquires the sensible temperature notification information, it extracts the sensible temperature information and user identification information included in the acquired sensible temperature notification information. Then, the cloud server 1 associates the extracted sensible temperature information and user identification information with date and time information indicating the date and time when the sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human presence sensor 3 was acquired, and stores them in the sensible temperature storage unit 132 (step S27). Thereafter, the cloud server 1 generates a sensible temperature estimation model based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133, the user identification information, and the sensible temperature information stored in the sensible temperature storage unit 132. Then, the cloud server 1 stores sensible temperature model information indicating the generated sensible temperature model in the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 136 (step S28).

[0040] Next, the air conditioning process executed by the cloud server 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 10. This air conditioning process is started, for example, when a program for executing device control management processing is started in the cloud server 1. First, the location acquisition unit 111 determines whether the aforementioned location information acquisition time has arrived (step S101). If the location acquisition unit 111 determines that the location information acquisition time has not yet arrived (step S101: No), the process of step S107, which will be described later, is executed. On the other hand, if the location acquisition unit 111 determines that the location information acquisition time has arrived (step S101: Yes), the location acquisition unit 111 generates the aforementioned location information request information including the user identification information of the user and transmits it to the location management server 6 (step S102). As a result, when the location acquisition unit 111 acquires location notification information transmitted from the location management server 6 (step S103), it extracts the location information and user identification information included in the acquired location notification information. At this time, the location acquisition unit 111 identifies the date and time when the location notification information was acquired based on the date and time measured by the clock unit 108. Then, the location acquisition unit 111 associates the extracted location information and user identification information with date and time information indicating the identified date and time and stores them in the location storage unit 131 (step S104).

[0041] Next, when the position storage unit 131 stores new position information, the travel distance calculation unit 114 calculates the travel distance until the user, who is at the position indicated by the newly stored position information, reaches building H, based on the position information stored in the position storage unit 131 and the position information of building H stored in the building position storage unit 134. Then, the travel distance calculation unit 114 stores the travel distance information indicating the calculated travel distance in the travel distance storage unit 135, in association with the date and time information associated with the position information used to calculate the travel distance, which is stored in the position storage unit 131 (step S105).

[0042] Next, the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines whether or not to start air conditioning in building H, depending on whether the movement distance of the most recent user stored in the movement distance memory unit 135 is less than or equal to a preset reference distance (step S106). Here, if the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines that the movement distance of the most recent user stored in the movement distance memory unit 135 is less than the reference distance and that air conditioning in building H should be started (step S106: Yes), the processing of step S108, which will be described later, is executed. On the other hand, if the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines that the movement distance of the most recent user stored in the movement distance memory unit 135 is longer than the reference distance and that air conditioning in building H should not be started (step S106: No), it determines whether or not air conditioning start command information transmitted from the terminal device 2 has been acquired (step S107). Here, if the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines that air conditioning start command information transmitted from the terminal device 2 has not been acquired (step S107: No), the process of step S114, which will be described later, is executed.

[0043] On the other hand, suppose that the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines that it has acquired air conditioning start command information transmitted from the terminal device 2 (step S107: Yes). In this case, the outside air temperature information acquisition unit 113 generates the above-mentioned outside air temperature request information including the user's location information and the location information of the building H, and transmits this to the weather server 5 (step S108). As a result, the outside air temperature information acquisition unit 113 acquires the outside air temperature notification information transmitted from the weather server 5 (step S109), extracts the outside air temperature information and date and time information included in the acquired outside air temperature notification information, and stores the extracted outside air temperature information and date and time information in association with each other in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133 (step S110).

[0044] Thereafter, the sensible temperature estimation unit 115 estimates the sensible temperature of the user when the user arrives at building H, based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance memory unit 135 at the time when it is determined by the air conditioning start determination unit 118 to start air conditioning of building H, and the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information memory unit 133 at the time when it is determined by the air conditioning start determination unit 118 to start air conditioning of building H (step S111). Then, the sensible temperature estimation unit 115 notifies the air conditioning setting unit 116 of sensible temperature information indicating the estimated sensible temperature.

[0045] Next, when the air conditioning setting unit 116 is notified of the sensible temperature information from the sensible temperature estimating unit 115, it references the sensible temperature range information stored in the setting information storage unit 137 and identifies the sensible temperature range to which the sensible temperature indicated by the notified sensible temperature information belongs. The air conditioning setting unit 116 then selects setting information that corresponds to the identified sensible temperature range from the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 137 (step S112) and notifies the device control unit 117 of the selected setting information. Next, when the device control unit 117 is notified of the setting information, it generates control information for controlling the air conditioner 4 based on the notified setting information and transmits the control information to the air conditioner 4 (step S113).

[0046] Thereafter, the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 determines whether or not it has acquired sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human presence sensor 3 (step S114). If the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 determines that it has not acquired sensible temperature notification information (step S114: No), the process of step S101 is executed again. On the other hand, if the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 determines that it has acquired sensible temperature notification information (step S114: Yes), it extracts the sensible temperature information and user identification information included in the acquired sensible temperature notification information. Then, the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 associates the extracted sensible temperature information and user identification information with date and time information indicating the date and time when the sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human presence sensor 3 was acquired, and stores these in the sensible temperature storage unit 132 (step S115).

[0047] Next, the sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 119 generates a sensible temperature estimation model based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133, the user identification information, and the sensible temperature information stored in the sensible temperature storage unit 132. Then, the sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 119 stores sensible temperature model information indicating the generated sensible temperature model in the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 136 (step S116). Subsequently, the processing of step S101 is executed again.

[0048] As described above, according to the cloud server 1 of the present embodiment, the sensible temperature estimating unit 115 estimates the sensible temperature that the user will experience when they return to building H, based on the travel distance from the user's location at the air conditioning start time when the air conditioning is started while the user is outside building H to building H, the outside air temperature on the travel route to building H, and the user identification information. Then, the air conditioning setting unit 116 sets the operation of the air conditioner 4 that conditions the air inside building H, based on the estimated sensible temperature. As a result, at the air conditioning start time when the air conditioning is started while the user is outside building H, it is possible to start air conditioning inside building H by the air conditioner 4 with operation settings based on the sensible temperature at the time the user returns to building H. Therefore, it is possible to create a comfortable environment inside building H for the user when the user enters building H.

[0049] Furthermore, the sensible temperature estimation unit 115 according to this embodiment estimates the sensible temperature of the user using a sensible temperature estimation model that estimates the sensible temperature of the user when the user arrives at building H, based on the travel distance of the user to reach building H, the outside air temperature along the travel path to reach building H, and the user identification information. Each time the user arrives at building H, the sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 119 generates a sensible temperature estimation model based on the travel distance, outside air temperature, and user identification information, as well as the sensible temperature information acquired by the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112. This allows the sensible temperature of the user to be estimated taking into account differences in the user's travel distance, differences between users, and changes in the outside air temperature, thereby improving the accuracy of estimating the sensible temperature of the user. Furthermore, by regenerating the sensible temperature estimation model each time the user arrives at building H, the sensible temperature estimation model information stored in the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 136 is frequently updated, which makes it possible to estimate the sensible temperature of the user in a manner that follows changes in the user's condition.

[0050] (Embodiment 2) The air conditioning control device of this embodiment is capable of communicating with an entry / exit management server that manages the entry and exit of users at a facility other than the building H used by the user, and differs from embodiment 1 in that it determines whether to start air conditioning in building H based on exit notification information sent from the entry / exit management server that notifies the user that the user has left the facility.

[0051] Cloud server 2001 according to this embodiment is capable of communicating with entrance / exit management server 2007, as shown in Fig. 11. Note that in Fig. 11, the same components as those in embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in Fig. 3. Entrance / exit management server 2007 manages the entry date and time and the exit date and time of users at facilities other than building H. When a user leaves the facility, entrance / exit management server 2007 generates exit notification information notifying that the user has left the facility, which includes the user identification information of the user and exit date and time information indicating the date and time at which the user left, and transmits the information to cloud server 1.

[0052] The hardware configuration of cloud server 2001 is the same as the hardware configuration of cloud server 1 described in embodiment 1. Therefore, in the description of this embodiment, the hardware configuration of cloud server 2001 will be described using the reference numerals shown in Fig. 2. CPU 101 of cloud server 2001 according to this embodiment reads out programs stored in auxiliary storage unit 103 into main storage unit 102 and executes them, thereby functioning as position acquisition unit 111, sensible temperature acquisition unit 112, outside air temperature information acquisition unit 113, travel distance calculation unit 114, sensible temperature estimation unit 115, air conditioning setting unit 116, device control unit 117, air conditioning start determination unit 2118, sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 119, and exit notification information acquisition unit 2120. The auxiliary storage unit 103 also includes a location storage unit 131, a sensible temperature storage unit 132, an outside temperature information storage unit 133, a building location storage unit 134, a travel distance storage unit 135, a sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 136, a setting information storage unit 137, and an exit history storage unit 2138. As shown in FIG. 12A, the exit history storage unit 2138 stores exit frequency information indicating the number of times the user has received exit notification information in the past during each of a plurality of preset time periods on each day of the week, in association with day of the week information and time period information. The example shown in FIG. 12A indicates that the user has left the facility 10 times between 16:10 and 16:20 on Mondays in the past, but has never left the facility between 16:10 and 16:20 on Tuesdays.

[0053] 11, when the exit notification information acquisition unit 2120 acquires the aforementioned exit notification information from the entry / exit management server 2007, it extracts the user identification information and exit date and time information included in the acquired exit notification information. Then, based on the extracted exit date and time information, the exit notification information acquisition unit 2120 identifies the time period to which the day of the week and time indicated by the exit date and time information belongs, and updates the exit frequency information stored in the exit history storage unit 2138 based on the identified day of the week and time period.

[0054] The air conditioning start determination unit 2118 refers to the exit frequency information stored in the exit history storage unit 2138, and identifies the home-coming time slot during which users whose exit frequency for each day of the week is equal to or greater than the standard frequency have likely left the facility to go home, as shown in Figure 12(B). The air conditioning start determination unit 2118 then determines to start air conditioning in building H if the time slot indicated by the notified time slot information on the day of the week indicated by the day-of-week information notified by the exit notification information acquisition unit 2120 is included in the identified home-coming time slot. In this case, the travel distance calculation unit 114 calculates, based on the position information stored in the position storage unit 131, the travel distance from the user's position at the time when the above-mentioned condition for starting air conditioning was met, that is, the air conditioning start time which is the date and time indicated by the exit date and time information, to building H.

[0055] Next, the air conditioning process executed by the cloud server 2001 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 13. Note that in FIG. 13, the same processes as those in embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 10. First, the processes from steps S101 to S107 are executed, and it is assumed that the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines in step S107 that it has not acquired air conditioning start command information transmitted from the terminal device 2 (step S107: No). In this case, the exit notification information acquisition unit 2120 determines whether it has acquired exit notification information transmitted from the entry / exit management server 2007 (step S2101). Here, if the exit notification information acquisition unit 2120 determines that it has not acquired exit notification information (step S2101: No), the process of step S114 is executed. On the other hand, if the exit notification information acquisition unit 2120 determines that it has acquired exit notification information (step S2101: Yes), it extracts the user identification information and exit date and time information included in the acquired exit notification information. Then, based on the extracted departure date and time information, the exit notification information acquisition unit 2120 identifies the day of the week and the time period to which the time indicated by the departure date and time information belongs, and updates the departure frequency information stored in the exit history memory unit 2138 based on the identified day of the week and time period (step S2102).

[0056] Next, the air conditioning start determination unit 2118 references the exit frequency information stored in the exit history storage unit 2138 and identifies a home-coming time period during which users whose exit frequency for each day of the week is equal to or greater than the reference frequency are likely to have left the facility to return home (step S2103). Next, the air conditioning start determination unit 2118 determines whether to start air conditioning in building H based on whether the time period including the time indicated by the exit date and time information identified by the exit notification information acquisition unit 2120 is included in the identified home-coming time period on the day of the week indicated by the exit date and time information (step S2104). Here, if the time period including the time indicated by the exit date and time information is included in the identified home-coming time period on the day of the week indicated by the exit date and time information, the air conditioning start determination unit 2118 determines to start air conditioning in building H (step S2104: Yes), and a series of processes from step S108 onwards are executed. On the other hand, if the time period to which the time indicated by the departure date and time information belongs on the day of the week indicated by the departure date and time information is not included in the identified return home time period, the air conditioning start determination unit 2118 determines that air conditioning in building H will not be started (step S2104: No), and processing from step S114 onwards is executed.

[0057] As described above, according to the cloud server 2001 of this embodiment, the air conditioning start determination unit 2118 references the exit frequency information stored in the exit history storage unit 2138, and identifies a home-coming time period during which users whose exit frequency for each day of the week is equal to or greater than the reference frequency are likely to have left the facility to go home. The air conditioning start determination unit 2118 then starts air conditioning in building H if the time period to which the time indicated by the exit date and time information belongs falls within the identified home-coming time period on the day of the week indicated by the exit date and time information identified by the exit notification information acquisition unit 2120. This makes it possible to prevent the air conditioner 4 from operating unnecessarily to condition the air in building H even when no users have returned home to building H.

[0058] (Embodiment 3) The air conditioner control device according to this embodiment differs from embodiment 1 in that the target area to be air-conditioned is made up of multiple sub-target areas, and the air conditioner control device includes a stay area estimation unit that estimates at least one user stay area from the multiple sub-target areas where the user will stay the longest from the time the user arrives at the target area until a preset reference time has elapsed.The air conditioning setting unit then sets the operation of the air conditioner so that the at least one estimated user stay area is the target of air conditioning.

[0059] 14 detects that a user has returned home to building H, the human sensor 3 generates and transmits the sensible temperature notification information described in embodiment 1 to the cloud server 1, and also generates and transmits human detection information including user identification information of the detected user, location information indicating the location of detection, and date and time information indicating the date and time of detection to the cloud server 1. After detecting that a user has returned home to building H, the human sensor 3 generates and transmits the above-mentioned human detection information to the cloud server 1 each time a preset human detection information notification period arrives.

[0060] The hardware configuration of cloud server 3001 according to this embodiment is the same as the hardware configuration of cloud server 1 described in embodiment 1. Therefore, in the description of this embodiment, the hardware configuration of cloud server 3001 will be described using the reference numerals shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 11, it is capable of communicating with entry / exit management server 2007. Note that in Fig. 14, the same components as those in embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in Fig. 3.

[0061] The CPU 101 of the cloud server 3001 according to this embodiment reads out the programs stored in the auxiliary memory unit 103 into the main memory unit 102 and executes them, thereby functioning as a position acquisition unit 111, a sensible temperature acquisition unit 112, an outside air temperature information acquisition unit 113, a travel distance calculation unit 114, a sensible temperature estimation unit 115, an air conditioning setting unit 116, an equipment control unit 117, an air conditioning start determination unit 2118, a sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 119, a return home time estimation unit 3121, a stay location estimation unit 3122, a human detection information acquisition unit 3123, a stay duration calculation unit 3124 and a stay location estimation model generation unit 3125. The auxiliary storage unit 103 also includes a location storage unit 131, a sensible temperature storage unit 132, an outside temperature information storage unit 133, a building location storage unit 134, a travel distance storage unit 135, a sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 136, a setting information storage unit 137, a human detection information storage unit 3139, a stay time storage unit 3140, and a stay location estimation model storage unit 3141. As shown in FIG. 15A, the human detection information storage unit 3139 stores the user identification information of a detected user in association with detection location information indicating the room in which the user was detected and date and time information indicating the date and time of detection. The example shown in FIG. 15A indicates that user A, identified by user identification information IDU[0], was detected in room R1 at 12:05 on 1 / 1 / 2024.

[0062] The stay time storage unit 3140 stores stay time information indicating the stay time of each user in each room up to that point in time at each past date and time, in association with the detection location information and the date and time information, as shown in Fig. 15(B), for example. The example shown in Fig. 15(B) indicates that the stay time of user A, identified by user identification information ID[0], in room R1 at 13:05 on 1 / 1 / 2024 was 55 minutes, and the stay time in room R2 was 5 minutes.

[0063] Returning to FIG. 14 , the stay location estimation model storage unit 3141 stores stay location estimation model information indicating a stay location estimation model used to estimate the rooms R1, R2, and R3 in which the user will stay the longest after returning home, based on the time the user returns home to building H and the user identification information. This stay location estimation model is, for example, a forward propagation neural network. In this case, the stay location estimation model storage unit 3141 stores information indicating the structure of the neural network and information indicating weighting coefficients in the neural network. Here, the information indicating the structure of the neural network includes information indicating the number of nodes and layers of the neural network, as well as the weighting coefficients and activation functions corresponding to each node. This stay location estimation model outputs an expectation vector whose elements are the expected values ​​in which the user will stay the longest in each of rooms R1, R2, and R3 after returning home to building H.

[0064] The home time estimation unit 3121 estimates the time the user will arrive home to building H based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, travel speed information indicating the user's preset travel speed, and the time measured by the clocking unit 108. The stay location estimation unit 3122 uses the stay location estimation model indicated by the stay location estimation model information stored in the stay location estimation model storage unit 3141 to estimate at least one room R1, R2, R3 in which the user will stay the longest after arriving home to building H, i.e., the user's stay location, from the time the user will arrive home to building H estimated by the home time estimation unit 3121 and the user identification information. The stay location estimation unit 3122 then notifies the air conditioning setting unit 116 of user stay location information indicating the estimated at least one user stay location. The air conditioning setting unit 3116 then sets the operation of the air conditioner 4 so that at least one of the rooms R1, R2, R3 indicated in the notified user location information is to be the target of air conditioning.

[0065] When the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 acquires human detection information transmitted from the human detection sensor 3, it extracts user identification information, location information, and date and time information included in the acquired human detection information. Then, the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 associates the extracted user identification information, location information, and date and time information with each other and stores them in the human detection information storage unit 2139. The stay time calculation unit 3124 calculates the stay time that the user stays in each of rooms R1, R2, and R3 from the time the user returns home to building H until a preset reference time has elapsed. Then, the stay time calculation unit 3124 associates the calculated stay time with date and time information, location information, and user identification information indicating the time when the stay time was calculated, and stores the calculated stay time in the stay time storage unit 2140.

[0066] The stay location estimation model generation unit 3125 generates a stay area location model based on the stay time, date and time information, and user identification information for each of the rooms R1, R2, and R3. Then, the stay location estimation model generation unit 3125 stores stay location estimation model information indicating the generated stay location estimation model in the stay location estimation model storage unit 3141.

[0067] Next, the operation of the air conditioning system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 16 to Fig. 18. Note that in Fig. 16 to Fig. 18, the same processes as those in Embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in Fig. 5, Fig. 7, and Fig. 9. First, as shown in Fig. 16, when the time to acquire location information described in Embodiment 1 arrives and a series of processes from steps S5 to S16 are executed, the cloud server 3001 estimates the sensible temperature of the user when the user arrives at building H based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135 at the time when it is determined to start air conditioning of building H, the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133 at the time when it is determined to start air conditioning of building H, and the user identification information (step S17). Next, the cloud server 3001 estimates the time when the user will return home to building H based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, travel speed information indicating the user's preset travel speed, and the time measured by the clocking unit 108 (step S3001). Subsequently, the cloud server 3001 uses the stay location estimation model indicated by the stay location estimation model information stored in the stay location estimation model storage unit 3141 to estimate at least one user stay location where the user will stay the longest after returning home to building H, based on the estimated time when the user will return home to building H and the user identification information (step S3002). Thereafter, cloud server 3001 references the sensible temperature range information stored in setting information storage unit 137, identifies the sensible temperature range to which the sensible temperature indicated by the notified sensible temperature information belongs, selects setting information corresponding to the identified sensible temperature range from the setting information stored in setting information storage unit 137, and identifies an air-conditioning target based on the estimated user's location (step S3003). Next, cloud server 3001 generates control information for controlling air conditioner 4 to perform air conditioning for the identified target based on the selected setting information (step S3004), and the generated control information is transmitted from cloud server 3001 to air conditioner 4 (step S3005). Meanwhile, upon acquiring the control information, air conditioner 4 begins operation based on the acquired control information (step S3006).

[0068] Also, suppose that a user issues an air conditioning start command to the input unit 205 of the terminal device 2. In this case, the terminal device 2 generates air conditioning start command information including user identification information, as shown in Fig. 17 (step S22). The generated air conditioning start command information is then transmitted from the terminal device 2 to the cloud server 3001 (step S23). Meanwhile, when the cloud server 3001 acquires the air conditioning start command information, it executes the series of processes from steps S3001 to S3006 described above.

[0069] Next, when the user returns home to building H, the human presence sensor 3 detects that the user has returned home based on an image captured by the multispectral camera of the user (step S24). Next, the human presence sensor 3 detects the user's sensible temperature based on a thermal image captured by the thermal imaging camera of the user. The human presence sensor 3 then generates sensible temperature notification information including sensible temperature information indicating the detected sensible temperature and user identification information identifying the detected user (step S25), and also generates the above-mentioned human detection information (step S3007). The generated sensible temperature notification information and human detection information are then transmitted from the human presence sensor 3 to the cloud server 3001 (step S3008).

[0070] Meanwhile, when the cloud server 3001 acquires the sensible temperature notification information and the human detection information, it extracts the sensible temperature information and user identification information included in the acquired sensible temperature notification information, and also extracts the user identification information, location information, and date and time information included in the acquired human detection information. Then, the cloud server 3001 associates the sensible temperature information and user identification information extracted from the sensible temperature notification information with date and time information indicating the date and time when the sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human detection sensor 3 was acquired, and stores them in the sensible temperature storage unit 132, and also associates the user identification information, location information, and date and time information extracted from the human detection information with each other and stores them in the human detection information storage unit 3139 (step S3009). Next, as shown in FIG. 18 , the cloud server 3001 generates a sensible temperature estimation model as described in the first embodiment, and stores sensible temperature model information indicating the generated sensible temperature model in the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 136 (step S28).

[0071] Subsequently, after detecting the user's return to building H, when a preset human detection information notification time arrives, human sensor 3 generates the aforementioned human detection information (step S3010), and the generated human detection information is transmitted from human sensor 3 to cloud server 3001 (step S3011). Meanwhile, upon acquiring the human detection information, cloud server 3001 extracts user identification information, location information, and date and time information included in the acquired human detection information. Then, cloud server 3001 associates the extracted user identification information, location information, and date and time information with each other and stores them in human detection information storage unit 3139 (step S3012). Thereafter, cloud server 3001 determines that a preset reference time has elapsed since the user returned home (step S3013). In this case, cloud server 3001 calculates the stay time of the user in each of rooms R1, R2, and R3 from the time the user returned home to building H until the reference time has elapsed. Then, the cloud server 3001 stores the calculated stay time in the stay time storage unit 2140 in association with date and time information indicating the time when the stay time was calculated, location information, and user identification information (step S3014). Next, the cloud server 3001 generates a stay area location model based on the stay time, date and time information, and user identification information for each of the rooms R1, R2, and R3. Then, the stay location estimation model generation unit 3125 stores stay location estimation model information indicating the generated stay location estimation model in the stay location estimation model storage unit 3141 (step S3015).

[0072] Next, the air conditioning process executed by the cloud server 3001 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20. Note that in FIGS. 19 and 20, the same processes as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 10. First, when a series of processes from steps S101 to S111 are executed, the homecoming time estimation unit 3121 estimates the time when the user will return home to building H based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, travel speed information indicating the user's preset travel speed, and the time measured by the timing unit 108 (step S3101). Next, the stay location estimation unit 3122 estimates at least one user stay location where the user will stay the longest after returning home to building H, based on the time when the user will return home to building H estimated by the homecoming time estimation unit 3121 and the user identification information, using the stay location estimation model indicated by the stay location estimation model information stored in the stay location estimation model storage unit 3141 (step S3102). Here, the stay location estimation unit 3122 notifies the air conditioning setting unit 116 of user stay location information indicating at least one of the estimated rooms R1, R2, R3. Next, the air conditioning setting unit 3116 selects setting information in the same manner as in Embodiment 1, and specifies at least one user stay location indicated in the notified user stay location information as a target for air conditioning (step S3103). After that, the device control unit 117 generates control information for air conditioning based on the setting information that selected the at least one user stay location that has been specified as a target for air conditioning, and transmits this control information to the air conditioner 4 (step S3104).

[0073] Next, the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 and the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 determine whether or not they have acquired the sensible temperature notification information and the human detection information transmitted from the human sensor 3 (step S3105). If the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 determines that it has not acquired the sensible temperature notification information (step S3105: No), the process of step S3107, which will be described later, is executed. On the other hand, it is assumed that the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 and the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 determine that they have acquired the sensible temperature notification information and the human detection information, respectively (step S3105: Yes). In this case, the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 extracts the sensible temperature information and the user identification information included in the acquired sensible temperature notification information, and the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 extracts the user identification information, location information, and date and time information included in the acquired human detection information. Then, the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 associates the extracted sensible temperature information and user identification information with date and time information indicating the date and time when the sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human sensor 3 was acquired, and stores them in the sensible temperature storage unit 132, and the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 associates the extracted user identification information, location information, and date and time information with each other and stores them in the human detection information storage unit 3139 (step S3106). Subsequently, the process of step S116 is executed.

[0074] 20, the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 determines whether or not human detection information transmitted from the human sensor 3 has been acquired (step S3107). If the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 determines that human detection information has not been acquired (step S3107: No), the process of step S3109, which will be described later, is executed. On the other hand, if the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 determines that human detection information has been acquired (step S3107: Yes), the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 extracts user identification information, location information, and date and time information included in the acquired human detection information. Then, the human detection information acquisition unit 3123 associates the extracted user identification information, location information, and date and time information with each other and stores them in the human detection information storage unit 3139 (step S3108). Next, the stay time calculation unit 3124 determines whether the aforementioned reference time has elapsed since the user returned home (step S3109). Here, if the stay time calculation unit 3124 determines that the aforementioned reference time has not yet elapsed since the user returned home (step S3109: No), the process of step S101 is executed again. On the other hand, if the stay time calculation unit 3124 determines that the reference time has elapsed since the user returned home (step S3109: Yes), it calculates the stay time that the user stayed in each of rooms R1, R2, and R3 from the time the user returned home to building H until the reference time has elapsed. Then, the stay time calculation unit 3124 associates the calculated stay time with date and time information, location information, and user identification information indicating the time when the stay time was calculated, and stores the calculated stay time in the stay time storage unit 2140 (step S3110). Next, the stay place estimation model generation unit 3125 generates a stay area place model based on the stay time in each of rooms R1, R2, and R3, the date and time information, and the user identification information. Then, the stay place estimation model generation unit 3125 stores stay place estimation model information indicating the generated stay place estimation model in the stay place estimation model storage unit 3141 (step S3111). After that, the process of step S101 is executed again.

[0075] As described above, according to the cloud server 3001 of this embodiment, the stay location estimation unit 3122 estimates at least one user stay location where the user will stay the longest after returning to building H, based on the time the user will return home to building H estimated by the return time estimation unit 3121 and the user identification information. The air conditioning setting unit 3116 then sets the operation of the air conditioner 4 so that the at least one estimated user stay location is the target of air conditioning. This makes it possible to limit the target of air conditioning by the air conditioner 4 to the range necessary for the user, thereby reducing the burden on the air conditioner 4 and enabling a reduction in power consumption by the air conditioner 4.

[0076] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, as shown in Fig. 21 , a cloud server 4001 may include a biometric information acquisition unit 4126 that acquires biometric information indicating a user's biometric parameters, and a step count estimation unit 4127 that estimates the number of steps the user takes to move from their position at the start of air conditioning to building H. In Fig. 21 , the same components as those in embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in Fig. 3.

[0077] Terminal device 4002 is a wearable device that further includes, in addition to the hardware configuration described in embodiment 1, a biological information monitoring function unit that detects biological parameters such as the user's blood pressure, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature, and an acceleration sensor, and in addition to the functions described in embodiment 1, has a function of transmitting biological information indicating various biological parameters of the user to cloud server 4001, and a function of generating step count information indicating the number of steps taken by the user measured based on acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor and transmitting the information to cloud server 4001. Upon receiving air conditioning start notification information (described below) transmitted from cloud server 4001, terminal device 4002 starts measuring the number of steps taken by the user based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor. Thereafter, upon receiving step count measurement stop request information transmitted from cloud server 4001, terminal device 4002 generates step count notification information including step count information indicating the number of steps measured up to that point and user identification information of the user, and transmits the information to cloud server 4001.

[0078] Furthermore, the cloud server 4001 has a step count information acquisition unit 4128, a biometric information storage unit 4142, and a step count storage unit 4143, in addition to the biometric information acquisition unit 4126 and step count estimation unit 4127 described above. The biometric information storage unit 4142 stores biometric information indicating the biometric parameters of a user in association with the user identification information of the user. The step count storage unit 4143 stores step count information indicating the number of steps taken by the user to move from the position where the user was located to building H at the time when the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determined to start air conditioning in building H in association with the user identification information of the user.

[0079] The sensible temperature estimation model memory unit 4136 stores sensible temperature estimation model information indicating a sensible temperature estimation model used to estimate the user's sensible temperature from the distance traveled to reach building H described in embodiment 1, the outside air temperature of the travel route to reach building H described in embodiment 1, user identification information, the biometric parameters indicated by the above-mentioned biometric information, and the number of steps indicated by the above-mentioned step count information.

[0080] When the biometric information acquisition unit 4126 acquires the biometric information notification information transmitted from the terminal device 2, it extracts the user's biometric information and user identification information included in the acquired biometric information notification information, associates the extracted information with each other, and stores the information in the biometric information storage unit 4142. The step count estimation unit 4127 calculates the number of steps by dividing the travel distance when the user moves from the position at the time of air conditioning start to building H, which is stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, by the user's preset travel distance per step, and notifies the sensible temperature estimation unit 4115 of estimated step count information indicating the calculated number of steps.

[0081] When the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines to start air conditioning, the step count information acquisition unit 4128 generates air conditioning start notification information in response to this and transmits it to the terminal device 4002. Thereafter, when the sensible temperature acquisition unit 112 acquires sensible temperature notification information transmitted from the human presence sensor 3, the step count information acquisition unit 4128 generates step count measurement stop request information in response to this and transmits it to the terminal device 4002. In this way, the step count information acquisition unit 4128 acquires step count notification information transmitted from the terminal device 4002. Then, the step count information acquisition unit 4128 extracts step count information and user identification information included in the acquired step count notification information, and stores the extracted information in the step count storage unit 4143 in association with each other.

[0082] The sensible temperature estimation unit 4115 estimates the sensible temperature of the user using a sensible temperature estimation model that estimates the sensible temperature of the user from the traveled distance and the outside air temperature, the user's biological information, and step count information indicating the estimated number of steps. Specifically, the sensible temperature estimation unit 4115 estimates the sensible temperature of the user using the sensible temperature estimation model indicated by the sensible temperature estimation model information stored in the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 4136, from the traveled distance indicated by the traveled distance information stored in the traveled distance storage unit 135, the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133, the biological parameters indicated by the biological information stored in the biological information storage unit 4142, and the number of steps indicated by the estimated step count information notified from the step count estimation unit 4127.

[0083] The sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 4119 generates a sensible temperature estimation model based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133, the user identification information, the biological parameters indicated by the biological information stored in the biological information storage unit 4142, the number of steps indicated by the step count information stored in the step count storage unit 4143, and the sensible temperature information stored in the sensible temperature storage unit 132. Then, the sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 4119 stores sensible temperature estimation model information indicating the generated sensible temperature estimation model in the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 4136.

[0084] According to this configuration, the user's sensible temperature is estimated from the user's biometric parameters and the estimated number of steps required for the user to travel to building H, along with the user's travel distance to building H and the outside air temperature on the travel route to building H. This increases the accuracy of estimating the user's sensible temperature, thereby making the environment inside building H more suitable for the user.

[0085] In the first embodiment, for example, as shown in Fig. 22, the cloud server 5001 may include the above-mentioned biometric information acquisition unit 4126 and a movement speed calculation unit 5129 that calculates the movement speed of the user at the time when air conditioning starts. In Fig. 22, the same components as those in the modified example described using the first embodiment and Fig. 21 are assigned the same reference numerals as in Figs. 3 and 21. The cloud server 5001 also includes a movement speed storage unit 5144 in addition to the above-mentioned biometric information acquisition unit 4126 and movement speed calculation unit 5129. The movement speed storage unit 5144 stores movement speed information that indicates the movement speed of the user at the time when the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determines to start air conditioning in building H, in association with the user identification information of the user.

[0086] The sensible temperature estimation model memory unit 5136 stores sensible temperature estimation model information indicating a sensible temperature estimation model used to estimate the sensible temperature of a user from the travel distance to reach building H described in embodiment 1, the outside air temperature of the travel route to reach building H described in embodiment 1, user identification information, the biometric parameters indicated by the above-mentioned biometric information, and the travel speed indicated by the above-mentioned travel speed information.

[0087] The movement speed calculation unit 5129 calculates the movement speed of the user based on the position information at the time when the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determined to start air conditioning and the position information at the position notification time that arrived immediately after that time, which are stored in the position memory unit 131. Specifically, the movement speed calculation unit 5129 calculates the distance from the position indicated by the position information at the time when the air conditioning start determination unit 118 determined to start air conditioning to the position indicated by the position information at the position notification time that arrived immediately after that time, and calculates the movement speed by dividing the calculated distance by the time required to move between the two positions. Then, the movement speed calculation unit 5129 stores the movement speed information indicating the calculated movement speed in the movement speed memory unit 5144 in association with the user identification information.

[0088] The sensible temperature estimation unit 5115 estimates the sensible temperature of the user using a sensible temperature estimation model that estimates the sensible temperature of the user from the travel distance and the outside air temperature, the user's biological parameters, and the calculated travel speed of the user. Specifically, the sensible temperature estimation unit 5115 estimates the sensible temperature of the user using the sensible temperature estimation model indicated by the sensible temperature estimation model information stored in the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 5136, from the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133, the biological parameters indicated by the biological information stored in the biological information storage unit 4142, and the travel speed indicated by the travel speed information stored in the travel speed storage unit 5144.

[0089] The sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 5119 generates a sensible temperature estimation model based on the travel distance indicated by the travel distance information stored in the travel distance storage unit 135, the outside air temperature indicated by the outside air temperature information stored in the outside air temperature information storage unit 133, the user identification information, the biological parameters indicated by the biological information stored in the biological information storage unit 4142, the travel speed indicated by the travel speed information stored in the travel speed storage unit 5144, and the sensible temperature information stored in the sensible temperature storage unit 132. Then, the sensible temperature estimation model generation unit 5119 stores sensible temperature estimation model information indicating the generated sensible temperature estimation model in the sensible temperature estimation model storage unit 5136.

[0090] According to this configuration, the user's sensible temperature is estimated from the user's biometric parameters and the user's moving speed, along with the user's travel distance to building H and the outside air temperature on the travel route to building H. This allows the user's sensible temperature to be estimated taking into account the user's means of transportation, thereby improving the accuracy of estimating the sensible temperature and ultimately making the environment inside building H more suitable for the user.

[0091] In the third embodiment, as shown in Fig. 23, for example, the cloud server 6001 may include a presence / absence determination unit 6150 that determines whether another user is already present in at least one user stay area estimated by the stay location estimation unit 3122 based on the presence / absence of people in each of a plurality of rooms R1, R2, and R3 in a building H, and a message notification unit 6151 that, when another user is already present in at least one user stay area, generates message information suggesting to the user that a sub-target area other than at least one user stay area be targeted for air conditioning, and transmits the message information to the terminal device 6002. Note that in Fig. 23, the same components as in Fig. 14 are assigned the same reference numerals.

[0092] The terminal device 6002 has a hardware configuration similar to that of the terminal device 2 described in each embodiment. Therefore, the hardware configuration of the terminal device 6002 will be described using the reference numerals shown in FIG. 2 as appropriate. When the terminal device 6002 receives the message information transmitted from the cloud server 6001, it displays, for example, an operation screen image GA6001, as shown in FIG. 24 , on the display unit 204. This operation screen image GA6001 includes a message image M6001 displaying a message asking the user whether or not to start air conditioning in rooms R1, R2, and R3 other than the user's location, a button image BU611 selected to permit the start of air conditioning, and a button image BU612 selected to prohibit the start of air conditioning. When the terminal device 6002 is displaying the operation screen image GA6001 on the display unit 204 and the user touches a portion of the input unit 205, which is a touchpad, corresponding to the button image BU611, the terminal device 6002 transmits permission information indicating permission to start air conditioning to the cloud server 6001.

[0093] 23 , the cloud server 6001 also has a permission acquisition unit 6152, in addition to the presence / absence determination unit 6150 and message notification unit 6151 described above. The presence / absence determination unit 6150 determines the presence / absence status of a person in each of multiple rooms R1, R2, and R3 in building H, based on the user identification information, location information, and date and time information stored in the person detection information storage unit 3139. The presence / absence determination unit 6150 then determines whether the user stay location indicated in the user stay location information notified by the stay location estimation unit 3122 matches any of the rooms R1, R2, and R3 in which it has determined that another user is already present, and notifies the message notification unit 6151 and the air conditioning setting unit 6116 of determination result information indicating the determination result.

[0094] If the determination result information indicates that the user's location indicated by the user's location information notified from the location estimation unit 3122 matches one of the rooms R1, R2, and R3 in which it has been determined that another user is already present, the message notification unit 6151 selects another room R1, R2, or R3 other than the user's location, generates message information indicating a message asking whether or not to start air conditioning in the selected room R1, R2, or R3, and transmits the message information to the terminal device 6002.

[0095] When the permission acquisition unit 6152 acquires the permission information transmitted from the terminal device 6002, it notifies the air conditioning setting unit 6116 of the acquired permission information. When the air conditioning setting unit 6116 is notified of the permission information from the permission acquisition unit 6152, it selects rooms R1, R2, and R3 other than the estimated location where the user is staying, and sets the operation of the air conditioner 4 so that the selected rooms R1, R2, and R3 are to be air-conditioned.

[0096] Here, the air conditioning process executed by the cloud server 6001 according to this modification will be described with reference to Fig. 25. Note that in Fig. 25, the same processes as those in the third embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as in Fig. 19. First, when a series of processes from steps S101 to S3101 are executed, the stay location estimation unit 3122 estimates at least one user stay location where the user will stay the longest after returning to building H, based on the time the user will return home to building H estimated by the return time estimation unit 3121 and the user identification information, using the stay location estimation model indicated by the stay location estimation model information stored in the stay location estimation model storage unit 3141 (step S3102). Here, the stay location estimation unit 3122 notifies the presence / absence determination unit 6150 of the estimated at least one room R1, R2, R3, i.e., user stay location information indicating the user stay location. Next, the presence / absence determination unit 6150 determines whether another user is already present at the estimated user's location based on the user identification information, location information, and date / time information stored in the human detection information storage unit 3139 (step S6101). Here, the presence / absence determination unit 6150 determines that the user's location notified by the location estimation unit 3122 does not match any of the rooms R1, R2, and R3 in which it has determined that another user already exists, and therefore determines that no other user is already present at the estimated user's location (step S6101: No). In this case, the air conditioning setting unit 3116 selects setting information in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and identifies at least one user's location indicated by the notified user's location information as a target for air conditioning (step S6105). Then, the processing from step S3104 onward is executed. On the other hand, suppose that the presence / absence determination unit 6150 determines that the user's location notified by the location estimation unit 3122 matches one of the rooms R1, R2, and R3 in which it has determined that another user is already present, and that another user is already present at the estimated user location (step S6101: Yes).In this case, the message notification unit 6151 selects rooms R1, R2, and R3 other than the user's location as the rooms to be air-conditioned (step S6102), generates message information indicating a message asking whether or not to start air conditioning in the selected rooms R1, R2, and R3, and transmits it to the terminal device 6002 (step S6103).

[0097] Thereafter, the permission acquisition unit 6152 determines whether or not permission information transmitted from the terminal device 6002 has been acquired (step S6104). Here, if the permission acquisition unit 6152 determines that permission information has not been acquired (step S6104: No), the processing from step S3105 onwards is executed. On the other hand, if the permission acquisition unit 6152 determines that permission information has been acquired (step S6104: Yes), it notifies the air conditioning setting unit 6116 of the acquired permission information. Then, the air conditioning setting unit 6116 selects rooms R1, R2, and R3 other than the user stay location as air conditioning targets, selects setting information in the same manner as in embodiment 1, and identifies at least one user stay location indicated by the notified user stay location information as an air conditioning target (step S6105). Thereafter, the processing from step S3104 onwards is executed.

[0098] According to this configuration, when someone other than the user is already staying at the estimated user's location, the comfort of the person can be prevented from being impaired.

[0099] 23, if a user other than the user is already present in at least one user stay area estimated by the stay location estimation unit 3122, the message notification unit 6151 of the cloud server 6001 may generate message information notifying the user that a sub-target area other than at least one user stay area will be targeted for air conditioning, and transmit the message information to the terminal device 6002. In this case, upon receiving the message information transmitted from the cloud server 6001, the terminal device 6002 may display, for example, an operation screen image GA6002 as shown in FIG. 26 on the display unit 204. This operation screen image GA6002 includes a message image M6002 that displays a message notifying the user of rooms R1, R2, and R3 other than the user stay area that have been targeted for air conditioning.

[0100] According to this configuration, when someone other than the user is already staying at the estimated user's location, the user can understand which areas have been air-conditioned to provide a comfortable environment for the user.

[0101] In the first embodiment, an example has been described in which, upon receiving sensible temperature information from the sensible temperature estimator 115, the air conditioning setting unit 116 references sensible temperature range information stored in the setting information storage unit 137 and identifies the sensible temperature range to which the sensible temperature indicated by the notified sensible temperature information belongs. In other words, an example has been described in which the air conditioning setting unit 116 sets the operation of the air conditioner 4 based on setting information associated with each range of the user's sensible temperature. However, the method of setting the operation of the air conditioner 4 is not limited to this. For example, the air conditioning setting unit may estimate the user's activity level based on the sensible temperature and set the operation of the air conditioner 4 based on the estimated activity level and a comfort index (PMV: Predicted Mean Vote). Alternatively, the air conditioning setting unit may estimate the settings using an operation setting estimation model that estimates various operation settings of the air conditioner 4 from the estimated sensible temperature, and set the operation based on the estimated settings. In this case, the operation setting estimation model may undergo reinforcement learning in response to the content of manual operation by the user on the air conditioner 4 after operation setting.

[0102] Furthermore, the various functions of the cloud servers 1, 2001, 3001, 4001, 5001, and 6001 and the terminal devices 2, 4002, and 6002 according to the present disclosure may be implemented by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. In this case, the software or firmware may be written as a program, and the program may be stored and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or an MO (Magneto-Optical Disc). The program may then be read and installed on a computer to configure a computer capable of implementing each of the aforementioned functions. Furthermore, when each function is implemented by sharing the work between an operating system (OS) and an application, or by cooperation between the OS and an application, only the parts other than the OS may be stored on the recording medium.

[0103] Furthermore, each program can be superimposed on a carrier wave and distributed via a communication network. For example, the program can be posted on a bulletin board system (BBS) on the communication network and distributed via the network. These programs can then be started and run under the control of the OS in the same way as other application programs, thereby enabling the above-mentioned processing to be performed.

[0104] Various aspects of the present disclosure are summarized below as appendices.

[0105] (Appendix 1) a location acquisition unit that acquires location information indicating the location of a user; a movement distance calculation unit that calculates, based on the position information, a movement distance from the position of the user to the target area at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when a preset condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied when the user is outside the target area to be air conditioned; and an outside air temperature information acquisition unit that acquires outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature along the route taken by the user to reach the target area; a sensible temperature estimation unit that estimates a sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; an air conditioning setting unit that sets the operation of an air conditioner that air-conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature; An equipment control unit that controls the air conditioner using the operation setting. Air conditioner control device. (Appendix 2) the sensible temperature estimation unit estimates the sensible temperature using a sensible temperature estimation model that estimates the sensible temperature of the user from user identification information that identifies the user, along with the travel distance and the outside air temperature; Attachment 1. An air conditioner control device. (Appendix 3) a sensible temperature acquisition unit that acquires sensible temperature information indicating the sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area; and a sensible temperature estimation model generation unit that generates the sensible temperature estimation model based on the travel distance, the outside air temperature, the user identification information, and the sensible temperature information. Attachment 2: The air conditioner control device. (Appendix 4) the sensible temperature estimation model generation unit regenerates the sensible temperature estimation model every time the user reaches the target area. 4. The air conditioner control device according to claim 3. (Appendix 5) a biometric information acquisition unit that acquires biometric information indicating biometric parameters of the user; a step count estimation unit that estimates the number of steps taken by the user when moving from the position at the start of the air conditioning to the target area, the sensible temperature estimation unit estimates the sensible temperature of the user using a sensible temperature estimation model that estimates the sensible temperature of the user from the travel distance, the outside air temperature, the biological parameters, and the estimated number of steps. 5. The air conditioner control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 4. (Appendix 6) a biometric information acquisition unit that acquires biometric information indicating biometric parameters of the user; a movement speed calculation unit that calculates the movement speed of the user at the start of the air conditioning, the sensible temperature estimating unit estimates the sensible temperature of the user using a sensible temperature estimation model that estimates the sensible temperature of the user from the travel distance, the outside air temperature, the biological information, and travel speed information indicating the travel speed. 6. The air conditioner control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 5. (Appendix 7) the region of interest is composed of a plurality of sub-regions of interest; The system further includes a stay area estimation unit that estimates, from among the plurality of sub-target areas, at least one user stay area in which the user will stay the longest from the time the user arrives at the target area until a preset reference time has elapsed, the air conditioning setting unit performs operation setting of the air conditioner so as to target the estimated at least one user stay area for air conditioning. 7. An air conditioner control device according to any one of appendices 1 to 6. (Appendix 8) the stay area estimation unit estimates the at least one user stay area using a stay area estimation model that estimates the at least one user stay area based on date and time information indicating a date and time when the user arrived at the target area and user identification information that identifies the user; a stay time calculation unit that calculates a stay time during which the user stays in each of the plurality of sub-target areas from the time the user arrives at the target area until the reference time has elapsed; a stay area estimation model generation unit that generates the stay area estimation model based on the stay time in each of the plurality of sub-target areas, the date and time information, and the user identification information, 8. The air conditioner control device according to claim 7. (Appendix 9) A terminal device owned by a user; a location acquisition unit that acquires location information indicating the location of the terminal device; a movement distance calculation unit that calculates, based on the position information, a movement distance from the position of the user to the target area at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when a preset condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied when the user is outside the target area to be air conditioned; and an outside air temperature information acquisition unit that acquires outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature along the route taken by the user to reach the target area; a sensible temperature estimation unit that estimates a sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; an air conditioning setting unit that sets the operation of an air conditioner that air-conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature; An equipment control unit that controls the air conditioner using the operation setting. Air conditioning system. (Appendix 10) the region of interest is composed of a plurality of sub-regions of interest; a stay area estimation unit that estimates, from among the plurality of sub-target areas, at least one user stay area in which the user will stay the longest from the time the user arrives at the target area until a preset reference time has elapsed; a presence / absence determination unit that determines whether or not there are other users other than the user in the estimated at least one user stay area based on the presence / absence status of people in each of the plurality of sub-target areas; and a message notification unit that, when a user other than the user is present in the at least one user stay area, generates message information suggesting to the user that a sub-target area other than the at least one user stay area be targeted for air conditioning, and transmits the message information to the terminal device. 10. The air conditioning system of claim 9. (Appendix 11) When the air conditioning setting unit acquires permission information, which is transmitted from the terminal device after the message information has been transmitted to the terminal device and indicates that the user permits a sub-target area other than the at least one user stay area to be set as an air-conditioning target, the air conditioning setting unit performs operation settings of the air conditioner so that the sub-target area other than the at least one user stay area is set as an air-conditioning target. 11. The air conditioning system of claim 10. (Appendix 12) the region of interest is composed of a plurality of sub-regions of interest; a stay area estimation unit that estimates at least one user stay area from among the plurality of sub-target areas in which the user will stay the longest from the time the user arrives at the target area until a preset reference time has elapsed; a presence / absence determination unit that determines whether or not other users other than the user are present in the estimated at least one user stay area based on the presence / absence status of people in each of the plurality of sub-target areas; and a message notification unit that, when a user other than the user is present in the at least one user stay area, generates message information notifying the user that a sub-target area other than the at least one user stay area is to be air-conditioned and transmits the message information to the terminal device. 12. An air conditioning system according to any one of claims 9 to 11. (Appendix 13) acquiring location information indicating a location of a user; a step of calculating, based on the position information, a travel distance from the position of the user to the target area at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when a preset condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied when the user is outside the target area to be air conditioned; acquiring outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature along the route taken by the user to reach the target area; estimating a sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; setting an operation of an air conditioner that conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature; and controlling the air conditioner with the operational settings. Air conditioner control method. (Appendix 14) Computer, a location acquisition unit that acquires location information indicating the location of a user; a movement distance calculation unit that calculates, based on the position information, a movement distance from the position of the user to the target area at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when a preset condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied when the user is outside the target area to be air conditioned; an outside air temperature information acquisition unit that acquires outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature along the route that the user takes to reach the target area; a sensible temperature estimation unit that estimates a sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; an air conditioning setting unit that sets the operation of an air conditioner that air-conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature; a device control unit that controls the air conditioner according to the operation settings; A program to function as a [Industrial Applicability]

[0106] The present disclosure is suitable as an air conditioning system that can make the environment inside a building that is the target of air conditioning comfortable for users when they arrive at the building. [Explanation of symbols]

[0107] 1,2001,3001,4001,5001,6001 Cloud server, 2,4002,6002 Terminal device, 3 Human presence sensor, 4 Air conditioner, 5 Weather server, 6 Location management server, 8 BBR, 42 Damper, 43 Duct, 101,201 CPU, 102,202 Main memory, 103,203 Auxiliary memory, 106,206 Communication unit, 108 Timer, 109,209 Bus, 111 Location acquisition unit, 112 Sensible temperature acquisition unit, 113 Outdoor temperature information acquisition unit, 114 Travel distance calculation unit, 115,4115,5115 Sensible temperature estimation unit, 116,3116,6116 Air conditioning setting unit, 117 Equipment control unit, 118,2118 Air conditioning start determination unit, 119, 4119, 5119 Sensible temperature estimation model generation unit, 131 Position memory unit, 132 Sensible temperature memory unit, 133 Outdoor air temperature information memory unit, 134 Building position memory unit, 135 Travel distance memory unit, 136, 4136, 5136 Sensible temperature estimation model memory unit, 137 Setting information memory unit, 204 Display unit, 205 Input unit, 207 GNSS receiving unit, 211, 311 Message acquisition unit, 212, 312 Display control unit, 213, 313 Operation information notification unit, 231, 331 Operation information memory unit, 2007 Entrance / exit management server, 2120 Exit notification information acquisition unit, 2138 Exit history memory unit, 3121 Return time estimation unit, 3122 Stay location estimation unit, 3123 Human detection information acquisition unit, 3124 Stay time calculation unit, 3125 Stay location estimation model generation unit, 3139 Person detection information storage unit, 3140 Stay time storage unit, 3141 Stay location estimation model storage unit, 4126 Biometric information acquisition unit, 4127 Step count estimation unit, 4128 Step count information acquisition unit, 4142 Biometric information storage unit, 4143 Step count storage unit, 5129 Movement speed calculation unit, 5144 Movement speed storage unit, 6150 Presence determination unit, 6151 Message notification unit, 6152 Permission acquisition unit, BU11, BU12, BU611, BU612 Button image, GA11, GA12, GA6001, GA6002 Operation screen image, H Building, M11, M6001, M6002 Message image, NW1 Wide area network, NW2 Local network, R1, R2, R3 Room

Claims

1. a location acquisition unit that acquires location information indicating the location of a user; a movement distance calculation unit that calculates, based on the position information, a movement distance from the position of the user to the target area at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when a preset condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied when the user is outside the target area to be air conditioned; and an outside air temperature information acquisition unit that acquires outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature along the route taken by the user to reach the target area; a sensible temperature estimation unit that estimates a sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; an air conditioning setting unit that sets the operation of an air conditioner that air-conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature; An equipment control unit that controls the air conditioner using the operation setting. Air conditioner control device.

2. the sensible temperature estimation unit estimates the sensible temperature using a sensible temperature estimation model that estimates the sensible temperature of the user from user identification information that identifies the user, along with the travel distance and the outside air temperature; The air conditioner control device according to claim 1.

3. a sensible temperature acquisition unit that acquires sensible temperature information indicating the sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area; and a sensible temperature estimation model generation unit that generates the sensible temperature estimation model based on the travel distance, the outside air temperature, the user identification information, and the sensible temperature information. The air conditioner control device according to claim 2.

4. the sensible temperature estimation model generation unit regenerates the sensible temperature estimation model every time the user reaches the target area. The air conditioner control device according to claim 3.

5. a biometric information acquisition unit that acquires biometric information indicating biometric parameters of the user; a step count estimation unit that estimates the number of steps taken by the user when moving from the position at the start of the air conditioning to the target area, the sensible temperature estimation unit estimates the sensible temperature of the user using a sensible temperature estimation model that estimates the sensible temperature of the user from the travel distance, the outside air temperature, the biological parameters, and the estimated number of steps. The air conditioner control device according to claim 1.

6. a biometric information acquisition unit that acquires biometric information indicating biometric parameters of the user; a movement speed calculation unit that calculates the movement speed of the user at the start of the air conditioning, the sensible temperature estimating unit estimates the sensible temperature of the user using a sensible temperature estimation model that estimates the sensible temperature of the user from the travel distance, the outside air temperature, the biological information, and travel speed information indicating the travel speed. The air conditioner control device according to claim 1.

7. the region of interest is composed of a plurality of sub-regions of interest; The system further includes a stay area estimation unit that estimates, from among the plurality of sub-target areas, at least one user stay area in which the user will stay the longest during a period from when the user arrives at the target area until a predetermined reference time has elapsed, the air conditioning setting unit performs operation setting of the air conditioner so as to target the estimated at least one user stay area for air conditioning. The air conditioner control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. the stay area estimation unit estimates the at least one user stay area using a stay area estimation model that estimates the at least one user stay area based on date and time information indicating a date and time when the user arrived at the target area and user identification information that identifies the user; a stay time calculation unit that calculates a stay time during which the user stays in each of the plurality of sub-target areas from the time the user arrives at the target area until the reference time has elapsed; a stay area estimation model generation unit that generates the stay area estimation model based on the stay time in each of the plurality of sub-target areas, the date and time information, and the user identification information, The air conditioner control device according to claim 7.

9. A terminal device owned by a user; a location acquisition unit that acquires location information indicating the location of the terminal device; a movement distance calculation unit that calculates, based on the position information, a movement distance from the position of the user to the target area at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when a preset condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied when the user is outside the target area to be air conditioned; and an outside air temperature information acquisition unit that acquires outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature along the route taken by the user to reach the target area; a sensible temperature estimation unit that estimates a sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; an air conditioning setting unit that sets the operation of an air conditioner that air-conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature; An equipment control unit that controls the air conditioner using the operation setting. Air conditioning system.

10. the region of interest is composed of a plurality of sub-regions of interest; a stay area estimation unit that estimates at least one user stay area from the plurality of sub-target areas in which the user will stay the longest during a period from when the user arrives at the target area until a predetermined reference time has elapsed; a presence / absence determination unit that determines whether or not other users other than the user are present in the estimated at least one user stay area based on the presence / absence status of people in each of the plurality of sub-target areas; and a message notification unit that, when a user other than the user is present in the at least one user stay area, generates message information suggesting to the user that a sub-target area other than the at least one user stay area be targeted for air conditioning, and transmits the message information to the terminal device. The air conditioning system according to claim 9.

11. When the air conditioning setting unit acquires permission information, which is transmitted from the terminal device after the message information has been transmitted to the terminal device and indicates that the user permits a sub-target area other than the at least one user stay area to be set as an air-conditioning target, the air conditioning setting unit performs operation settings of the air conditioner so that the sub-target area other than the at least one user stay area is set as an air-conditioning target. The air conditioning system according to claim 10.

12. the region of interest is composed of a plurality of sub-regions of interest; a stay area estimation unit that estimates at least one user stay area from the plurality of sub-target areas in which the user will stay the longest during a period from when the user arrives at the target area until a predetermined reference time has elapsed; a presence / absence determination unit that determines whether or not other users other than the user are present in the estimated at least one user stay area based on the presence / absence status of people in each of the plurality of sub-target areas; and a message notification unit that, when a user other than the user is present in the at least one user stay area, generates message information notifying the user that a sub-target area other than the at least one user stay area is to be air-conditioned and transmits the message information to the terminal device. The air conditioning system according to claim 9.

13. acquiring location information indicating a location of a user; a step of calculating, based on the position information, a travel distance from the position of the user to the target area at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when a preset condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied when the user is outside the target area to be air conditioned; acquiring outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature along the route taken by the user to reach the target area; estimating a sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; setting an operation of an air conditioner that conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature; and controlling the air conditioner with the operational settings. Air conditioner control method.

14. Computer, a location acquisition unit that acquires location information indicating the location of a user; a movement distance calculation unit that calculates, based on the position information, a movement distance from the position of the user to the target area at the air conditioning start time, which is the time when a preset condition for starting air conditioning is satisfied when the user is outside the target area to be air conditioned; an outside air temperature information acquisition unit that acquires outside air temperature information indicating the outside air temperature along the route that the user takes to reach the target area; a sensible temperature estimation unit that estimates a sensible temperature of the user when the user reaches the target area based on the travel distance and the outside air temperature; an air conditioning setting unit that sets the operation of an air conditioner that air-conditions the target area based on the estimated sensible temperature; a device control unit that controls the air conditioner according to the operation settings; A program to function as a

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