Air conditioning control system, wireless terminal, air conditioning control method and program

Abstract

This air conditioning control system comprises a wireless terminal (3), a transmitter (4), a management device (5), and an air conditioning control device (7). The wireless terminal (3) comprises: a position detecting unit (302) for detecting a position of the wireless terminal (3) on the basis of wireless communication with the transmitter (4); and a position information transmitting unit (303) for transmitting position information including the detected position to the management device (5). The management device (5) comprises: an information storage unit (520) for classifying and storing as a time series the position information received from the wireless terminal, as position information of a user possessing the wireless terminal (3); a people-flow calculating unit (503) for calculating, on the basis of a history of the position information of each user, a flow of people in each area obtained by segmenting a space to be air conditioned into a plurality of areas; and a people-flow information transmitting unit (504) for transmitting people-flow information indicating the calculated flow of people in each area to the air conditioning control device (7). The air conditioning control device (7) uses the people-flow information received from the management device (5) to control each air conditioner (2).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an air conditioning control system, a wireless terminal , sky The present invention relates to a tuning control method and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a technology is known in which, in a space used by multiple users, the user's position and the user's desired environment (e.g., temperature, humidity, air volume, etc.) are acquired, and air conditioning control is performed based on the acquired user's position and the user's desired environment.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 describes an air conditioning control device that controls an indoor air conditioning unit according to a requested environmental setting requested by a user and the user's location, and includes a location acquisition unit that acquires the user's location, a personal information acquisition unit that acquires personal information of the user, a recommended environment providing unit that provides recommended environmental settings to the user based on the personal information, a requested environment acquisition unit that acquires the user's requested environmental setting, and an indoor unit control unit that controls the indoor air conditioning unit based on the user's location and the requested environmental setting. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-27603 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In a space used by multiple users such as the above (for example, a floor of an office building), it is preferable to prioritize air conditioning comfort in areas with less pedestrian flow rather than areas with a lot of pedestrian flow such as corridors.

[0006] In this case, on floors where the layout is almost fixed, there is no problem if the air conditioning continues with the information for areas with low foot traffic (or areas with high foot traffic) that was initially set. However, if the layout is changed, the settings must be updated manually, and on corporate floors that use a free address system, there is the issue that it is difficult for people to grasp the amount of foot traffic in the first place.

[0007] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides an air conditioning control system and a wireless terminal capable of realizing air conditioning control that appropriately takes into account the flow of people in each area in an air-conditioned space. , sky The object of the present invention is to provide a tuning control method and program. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioning control system according to the present disclosure comprises: The system includes a wireless terminal, a transmitter installed in a space to be air-conditioned, a management device, and an air-conditioning control device that controls one or more air conditioners that condition the space to be air-conditioned, The wireless terminal, a position detection means for detecting a position of the wireless terminal based on wireless communication with the transmitter; a location information transmission means for transmitting location information including the detected location to the management device, The management device includes: a storage means for storing the location information received from the wireless terminal in chronological order as location information of a user who possesses the wireless terminal; Based on the history of location information of each user, the air-conditioned space is divided into a plurality of areas. The number of people replacing each other per unit time. A people flow calculation means for calculating a people flow; a people flow information transmission means for transmitting people flow information indicating the calculated people flow in each area to the air conditioning control device, The air conditioning control device uses the people flow information received from the management device to control each air conditioner so as to direct air toward an area where the number of people is greater than a predetermined threshold. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to realize air conditioning control that appropriately takes into account the flow of people in each area in an air conditioned space. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an air conditioning control system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a wireless terminal according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an installation mode of a transmitter according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a transmitter according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a management device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a wireless terminal and a management device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure for transmitting location information according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure for air conditioning control processing in the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 shows an area with a large number of people in the first embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an air conditioning control system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a management device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a wireless terminal according to a second embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display example of a comfortable area in the second embodiment. [Figure 14] Flowchart showing the procedure of the comfort area display process in the second embodiment DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0012] (Embodiment 1) 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning control system 1 in embodiment 1. The air conditioning control system 1 is an example of an air conditioning control system according to the present disclosure. The air conditioning control system 1 is a system that controls the air conditioning operations of multiple air conditioners 2 installed on a floor F of a building such as a building or a store, and includes a wireless terminal 3, multiple transmitters 4, a management device 5, a property information management device 6, and an air conditioning control device 7.

[0013] <Air conditioner 2> The air conditioner 2 is an example of an air conditioner according to the present disclosure. The air conditioner 2 is a ceiling-embedded indoor unit, and is communicatively connected to an outdoor unit (not shown) installed outdoors via a communication line (not shown), and is also connected via a refrigerant pipe (not shown) for circulating the refrigerant. The air conditioner 2 is also communicatively connected to an air conditioning control device 7 via a wire or wirelessly, and performs air conditioning operations according to commands from the air conditioning control device 7.

[0014] <Wireless Terminal 3> The wireless terminal 3 is an example of a wireless terminal according to the present disclosure. The wireless terminal 3 is an electronic device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a notebook computer carried by a user who is a user of the floor F. As shown in Fig. 2, the wireless terminal 3 includes, as a hardware configuration, a control circuit 30, a first communication interface 31, a second communication interface 32, a display 33, an operation reception unit 34, and an auxiliary storage device 35.

[0015] The control circuit 30 performs overall control of the wireless terminal 3. The control circuit 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), all of which are not shown. The functions of the wireless terminal 3 realized by the control circuit 30 will be described in detail later.

[0016] The first communication interface 31 is an interface for wireless communication with the transmitter 4 by ad-hoc communication, for example, an interface for BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy) communication. The second communication interface 32 is an interface for wireless communication with the management device 5, for example, an interface for wireless LAN (Local Area Network) communication or LTE (Long Term Evolution) communication.

[0017] The display 33 is an example of a display included in the wireless terminal according to the present disclosure. The display 33 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. The display 33 displays various screens and the like under the control of the control circuit 30. The operation reception unit 34 includes one or more input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a push button, a touch panel, a touch pad, and the like, receives an operation input from a user, and outputs a signal related to the received operation to the control circuit 30.

[0018] The auxiliary storage device 35 is a storage device configured with a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc. Examples of the readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory include an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a flash memory, etc. The auxiliary storage device 35 stores various programs including an application program (hereinafter referred to as an "air conditioning application") for using the air conditioning service provided by the air conditioning control system 1, and data used when these programs are executed.

[0019] The wireless terminal 3 can acquire the above air conditioning application or an update program for updating the air conditioning application from the management device 5 or another server through communication. In addition, these programs can also be stored and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magneto-optical disk, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a HDD, an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a memory card. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the wireless terminal 3, the wireless terminal 3 may read and acquire the air conditioning application or the update program from the recording medium.

[0020] <Transmitter 4> The transmitter 4 is an example of a transmitter according to the present disclosure. The transmitters 4 are installed so as to be scattered on the ceiling of the floor F. As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the transmitters 4 are installed in a position close to the air conditioner 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the transmitter 4 includes a wireless signal transmitting circuit 40, and periodically transmits a wireless signal (hereinafter referred to as an "ID signal") including an ID (identification) that is identification information for identifying the transmitter 4 itself (i.e., the transmitter 4). The transmitter 4 transmits the ID signal, for example, by BLE communication.

[0021] <Management device 5> The management device 5 is an example of a management device according to the present disclosure. The management device 5 is a computer that manages the positions of each user, the flow of people, and the like on the floor F. As shown in FIG. 5, the management device 5 includes, as its hardware configuration, a control circuit 50, a communication interface 51, and an auxiliary storage device 52.

[0022] The control circuit 50 comprehensively controls the management device 5. The control circuit 50 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, none of which are shown in the figure. The functions of the management device 5 realized by the control circuit 50 will be described in detail later.

[0023] The communication interface 51 is an interface for communicating with other devices such as the wireless terminal 3, the property information management device 6, and the air conditioning control device 7, and is, for example, an interface based on Ethernet (registered trademark).

[0024] The auxiliary storage device 52 is a storage device configured with a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory, a HDD, etc. The readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory is, for example, an EEPROM, a flash memory, etc. The auxiliary storage device 52 stores a program for managing the position of each user, people flow, etc. (hereinafter referred to as a "management program"), and data used when the management program is executed.

[0025] The management device 5 can acquire the above-mentioned management program or an update program for updating the management program from another server through communication. These programs can also be stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD, optical magnetic disk, USB memory, HDD, SSD, memory card, etc., and distributed. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the management device 5, the management device 5 can read and acquire the management program or update program from the recording medium.

[0026] <Property information management device 6> The property information management device 6 is a computer that manages property information of the building. The property information includes, for each floor, information such as the size of the floor (e.g., length (m) x width (m)), the installation positions of the air conditioners, the installation positions of the transmitters, and the installation positions of the temperature sensors. The installation positions are indicated, for example, by x and y coordinates on the floor. The property information management device 6 has a communication interface, and in response to a request from the management device 5, transmits the latest property information of the building to the management device 5.

[0027] <Air conditioning control device 7> The air conditioning control device 7 is an example of an air conditioning control device according to the present disclosure. The air conditioning control device 7 is a computer equipped with an interface for communicating with the management device 5 and an interface for communicating with the air conditioners 2, and controls each air conditioner 2 using people flow information (described later) from the management device 5. In detail, the air conditioning control device 7 performs windbreak control using the people flow information.

[0028] <Functional configuration of wireless terminal 3 and management device 5> Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the wireless terminal 3 and the management device 5. As shown in Fig. 6, the wireless terminal 3 includes a transmitter information acquisition unit 300, a wireless signal receiving unit 301, a position detection unit 302, and a position information transmitting unit 303. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 30 executing the above-mentioned air conditioning application stored in the auxiliary storage device 35.

[0029] The management device 5 includes a property information acquisition unit 500, a transmitter information transmission unit 501, a location information reception unit 502, a people flow calculation unit 503, and a people flow information transmission unit 504. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 50 executing the above-mentioned management program stored in the auxiliary storage device 52.

[0030] In the management device 5, the property information acquisition unit 500 acquires property information from the property information management device 6 through communication. The timing at which the property information acquisition unit 500 acquires the property information is an arbitrary design matter. For example, the property information acquisition unit 500 may acquire the property information from the property information management device 6 immediately after the management program is started, or may acquire the property information from the property information management device 6 in response to an operation by an operator. The property information acquisition unit 500 stores the acquired property information in the information storage unit 520. The information storage unit 520 is a memory area provided by the auxiliary storage device 52.

[0031] In response to a request from a wireless terminal 3, the transmitter information transmission unit 501 reads out the transmitter information stored in the information storage unit 520, and transmits the read transmitter information to the requesting wireless terminal 3. The transmitter information is information that associates an ID with an installation position (for example, x and y coordinates on the floor where the transmitter is installed) for each transmitter 4, and is information included in the property information.

[0032] In the wireless terminal 3, the transmitter information acquisition unit 300 acquires the transmitter information from the management device 5 through communication. The timing at which the transmitter information acquisition unit 300 acquires the transmitter information is an arbitrary design matter. For example, the transmitter information acquisition unit 300 may acquire the transmitter information from the management device 5 immediately after the air conditioning app is started, or may acquire the transmitter information from the management device 5 in response to an operation by the user of the wireless terminal 3. The transmitter information acquisition unit 300 stores the acquired transmitter information in the information storage unit 350. The information storage unit 350 is a memory area provided by the auxiliary storage device 35.

[0033] The wireless signal receiving unit 301 receives the above-mentioned ID signal from each transmitter 4, and measures and acquires the radio wave strength (also called electric field strength) when the ID signal is received. In this embodiment, the wireless signal receiving unit 301 measures and acquires the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) of the ID signal received from each transmitter 4. The wireless signal receiving unit 301 supplies the ID of the transmitter 4 extracted from the received ID signal and the acquired radio wave strength to the position detection unit 302.

[0034] The position detection unit 302 is an example of a position detection means according to the present disclosure. The position detection unit 302 detects the position of itself (i.e., the wireless terminal 3) by the principle of triangulation (also called three-point measurement) based on the acquired radio wave intensity of each transmitter 4 and the installation position of each transmitter 4. The position detected here is an xy coordinate on the plane of the floor F.

[0035] The location information transmission unit 303 is an example of a location information transmission means according to the present disclosure. The location information transmission unit 303 transmits to the management device 5 location information that stores a user ID, which is identification information of the user of the wireless terminal 3, the time when the location was detected, and the location of the wireless terminal 3 detected by the location detection unit 302. The user ID of the user who uses the wireless terminal 3 is stored in advance in the information storage unit 350.

[0036] In the management device 5, the location information receiving unit 502 is an example of a location information receiving means according to the present disclosure. The location information receiving unit 502 receives location information sent from the wireless terminal 3, and stores the received location information in the information storage unit 520 as location information of the user using the wireless terminal 3, sorting the received location information for each user in chronological order. That is, the information storage unit 520 stores a history of location information for each user ID. The information storage unit 520 is an example of a storage means according to the present disclosure.

[0037] The people flow calculation unit 503 is an example of a people flow calculation means according to the present disclosure. The people flow calculation unit 503 periodically calculates people flow in each area into which the air-conditioned space (floor F in this case) is divided into multiple areas based on the history of position information of each user stored in the information storage unit 520. Each area corresponds to, for example, the air-conditioned area of ​​each air conditioner 2. People flow means the number of users moving per unit time, that is, the number of users changing per unit time. The people flow calculation unit 503 supplies the calculated people flow in each area to the people flow information transmission unit 504.

[0038] The people flow information transmission unit 504 is an example of a people flow information transmission means according to the present disclosure. The people flow information transmission unit 504 transmits the people flow information indicating the people flow in each area supplied from the people flow calculation unit 503 to the air conditioning control device 7.

[0039] The air conditioning control device 7 controls each air conditioner 2 using the people flow information received from the management device 5. In detail, the air conditioning control device 7 compares the people flow in each area with a predetermined threshold, and determines that an area with a people flow exceeding the threshold is an area with a high people flow. The air conditioning control device 7 then adjusts the wind direction of each air conditioner 2 so that the wind is directed at the area with a high people flow. This allows the wind to be directed at the passageways, etc., while providing a wind shield for the area where the user is working, improving the comfort of the user.

[0040] <Location information transmission process> 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the position information transmission process executed by the wireless terminal 3. When the air conditioning application is started by a user operation, the wireless terminal 3 starts executing the following position information transmission process.

[0041] (Step S100) The wireless terminal 3 acquires the transmitter information through communication with the management device 5. The wireless terminal 3 stores the acquired transmitter information in the information storage unit 350. After that, the process of the wireless terminal 3 transitions to step S101.

[0042] (Step S101) The wireless terminal 3 receives the ID signal transmitted from each transmitter 4, and measures and acquires the radio wave intensity at the time of receiving the ID signal. After that, the process of the wireless terminal 3 transitions to step S102.

[0043] (Step S102) The wireless terminal 3 detects its own position by the principle of triangulation based on the acquired radio wave intensity of each transmitter 4 and the installation position of each transmitter 4. After that, the process of the wireless terminal 3 transitions to step S103.

[0044] (Step S103) The wireless terminal 3 transmits location information including the user ID of the user using the wireless terminal 3, that is, the user ID read from the information storage unit 350, the time when the location was detected, and the detected location, to the management device 5. After that, the process of the wireless terminal 3 transitions to step S104.

[0045] (Step S104) The wireless terminal 3 determines whether or not the fixed time has elapsed. If the fixed time has not elapsed (step S104; NO), the wireless terminal 3 waits until the fixed time has elapsed. On the other hand, if the fixed time has elapsed (step S104; YES), the processing of the wireless terminal 3 returns to step S101.

[0046] <Air conditioning control processing> 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the air conditioning control process executed by the air conditioning control system 1. The air conditioning control process starts when the management program of the management device 5 is started.

[0047] (Step S200) The management device 5 acquires property information through communication with the property information management device 6. The management device 5 stores the acquired property information in the information storage unit 520. After that, the processing of the air conditioning control system 1 transitions to step S201.

[0048] (Step S201) When the management device 5 receives a request for transmitter information from the wireless terminal 3, it reads out the transmitter information from the information storage unit 520 and transmits the read transmitter information to the wireless terminal 3. Thereafter, the processing of the air-conditioning control system 1 transitions to step S202.

[0049] (Step S202) The wireless terminal 3 transmits the location information to the management device 5 as shown in Fig. 7. After that, the processing of the air-conditioning control system 1 transitions to step S203.

[0050] (Step S203) When the management device 5 receives the location information sent from the wireless terminal 3, the management device 5 stores the received location information as location information of the user using the wireless terminal 3 in chronological order for each user in the information storage unit 520. After that, the process of the air conditioning control system 1 transitions to step S204.

[0051] (Step S204) The management device 5 judges whether a certain time (for example, 10 minutes) has passed since the previous people flow calculation. If the certain time has not passed since the previous people flow calculation (step S204; NO), the processing of the air conditioning control system 1 returns to step S201. On the other hand, if the certain time has passed since the previous people flow calculation (step S204; YES), the processing of the air conditioning control system 1 transitions to step S205.

[0052] (Step S205) The management device 5 calculates the flow of people in each area based on the history of position information of each user stored in the information storage unit 520. After that, the processing of the air conditioning control system 1 transitions to step S206.

[0053] (Step S206) The management device 5 transmits people flow information indicating the calculated people flow in each area to the air conditioning control device 7. After that, the processing of the air conditioning control system 1 transitions to step S207.

[0054] (Step S207) The air conditioning control device 7 controls each air conditioner 2 using the people flow information received from the management device 5. Through this control by the air conditioning control device 7, the air direction of each air conditioner 2 is adjusted so that the air is directed toward areas with a large number of people, as shown in Fig. 9. After that, the processing of the air conditioning control system 1 returns to step S201.

[0055] As described above, in the air conditioning control system 1 of this embodiment, the wireless terminal 3 carried by each user detects its own location based on wireless communication with each transmitter 4 installed on floor F, and transmits location information storing the user ID of the user of the wireless terminal 3, the time when the location was detected, and the detected location to the management device 5. The management device 5 stores the location information sent from each wireless terminal 3 in chronological order for each user as location information of the user using the wireless terminal 3 in the information storage unit 520.

[0056] The management device 5 periodically calculates the flow of people in each area on floor F based on the history of position information of each user stored in the information storage unit 520. Then, the management device 5 transmits people flow information indicating the flow of people in each area to the air conditioning control device 7. The air conditioning control device 7 uses the people flow information received from the management device 5 to adjust the wind direction of each air conditioner 2 so as to direct air toward areas with a large flow of people. In this way, air conditioning control that appropriately takes into account the flow of people in each area in the air conditioned space can be realized, thereby efficiently improving user comfort.

[0057] (Variation 1) The position detection unit 302 of the wireless terminal 3 may detect the position of the wireless terminal 3 by detecting the installation position of the transmitter 4 with the strongest radio wave intensity as the position of the wireless terminal 3, instead of detecting the position of the wireless terminal 3 by triangulation.

[0058] (Variation 2) The transmitter 4 may be configured to transmit a wireless signal including its own installation location instead of or together with the ID. In this case, the wireless terminal 3 does not need to obtain the transmitter information from the management device 5 in advance and store it in the information storage unit 350.

[0059] (Variation 3) An air conditioning remote control (not shown) that receives air conditioning operations from users using floor F also transmits a wireless signal including an ID that identifies the air conditioning remote control, and the position detection unit 302 of the wireless terminal 3 may also use such wireless signal as appropriate to detect the position of the wireless terminal 3. In this case, the wireless terminal 3 obtains information indicating the installation position of the air conditioning remote control together with transmitter information from the management device 5, and stores it in the information storage unit 350.

[0060] (Variation 4) Instead of the transmitter 4, each air conditioner 2 may transmit a wireless signal including an ID that identifies that air conditioner 2, and the position detection unit 302 of the wireless terminal 3 may use that wireless signal to detect the position of that wireless terminal 3. In this case, the wireless terminal 3 obtains information indicating the installation position of each air conditioner 2 from the management device 5 instead of the transmitter information, and stores the information in the information storage unit 350.

[0061] (Variation 5) The management device 5 may be a computer that centrally manages the positions of users, the flow of people, temperature, etc. on multiple floors of the same building, or may be a cloud server that manages multiple buildings. Similarly, the property information management device 6 may be a cloud server that manages property information of multiple buildings.

[0062] (Variation 6) The people flow information may be applied not only to air conditioning control but also to the operation of a mobile robot that moves autonomously around the floor F. In this case, the mobile robot refers to a robot that performs tasks for building management, such as sucking up dirt on the floor and cleaning it, or delivering documents, packages, etc.

[0063] (Variation 7) All or part of the functional units (see FIG. 6) of the wireless terminal 3 may be realized by dedicated hardware, and all or part of the functional units (see FIG. 6) of the management device 5 may be realized by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination of these.

[0064] The technical ideas according to the above-described modified examples may be realized individually or in appropriate combination.

[0065] (Embodiment 2) Next, a description will be given of embodiment 2 of the present disclosure. In the following description, components and the like common to embodiment 1 will be given the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0066] 10 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning control system 1' in embodiment 2. The air conditioning control system 1' is an example of an air conditioning control system according to the present disclosure. Like the air conditioning control system 1 in embodiment 1, the air conditioning control system 1' is a system that controls the air conditioning operations of multiple air conditioners 2 installed on a floor F of a building such as a building or a store, and includes a wireless terminal 3', multiple transmitters 4, a management device 5', a property information management device 6, an air conditioning control device 7, and multiple temperature sensors 8.

[0067] <Wireless Terminal 3'> The wireless terminal 3' is an example of a wireless terminal according to the present disclosure. The wireless terminal 3' is an electronic device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a notebook computer carried by a user who is a user of the floor F. The hardware configuration of the wireless terminal 3' is similar to that of the wireless terminal 3 in the first embodiment (see FIG. 2). The functions of the wireless terminal 3' will be described in detail later.

[0068] <Temperature sensor 8> At least one temperature sensor 8 is installed in each area to be air-conditioned by each air conditioner 2, and periodically measures the air temperature in the area to be air-conditioned in which it is installed. The temperature sensor 8 has a communication interface, and wirelessly transmits temperature information in which the measured air temperature is stored to the management device 5'.

[0069] <Management device 5'> The management device 5' is an example of a management device according to the present disclosure. The management device 5' is a computer that manages the positions of each user, the flow of people, the temperature, and the like on the floor F. The hardware configuration of the management device 5' is similar to that of the management device 5 in the first embodiment (see FIG. 5). The functions of the management device 5' will be described in detail later.

[0070] The air conditioning control system 1' configured as above realizes the same air conditioning control as the air conditioning control system 1 of the first embodiment, and also realizes a function in the wireless terminal 3' to present an area where the user of the wireless terminal 3' will be comfortable. The function will be described in detail below.

[0071] <Functional configuration of management device 5′> Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the management device 5'. As shown in Fig. 11, the management device 5' includes a property information acquisition unit 500, a transmitter information transmission unit 501, a position information reception unit 502, a people flow calculation unit 503', a people flow information transmission unit 504', a temperature information acquisition unit 505, a property information transmission unit 506, a user position information transmission unit 507, and a temperature information transmission unit 508. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 50 included in the management device 5' executing a management program stored in the auxiliary storage device 52 for managing the position, people flow, temperature, etc. of each user.

[0072] The people flow calculation unit 503' is an example of a people flow calculation means according to the present disclosure. Like the people flow calculation unit 503 of the first embodiment, the people flow calculation unit 503' periodically calculates the people flow of each area based on the history of the position information of each user stored in the information storage unit 520. The people flow calculation unit 503' supplies the calculated people flow of each area to the people flow information transmission unit 504' and stores it in the information storage unit 520.

[0073] The people flow information transmission unit 504' is an example of a people flow information transmission means according to the present disclosure. Similar to the people flow information transmission unit 504 in the first embodiment, the people flow information transmission unit 504' transmits people flow information indicating the people flow of each area supplied from the people flow calculation unit 503' to the air conditioning control device 7. In addition, in response to a request from a wireless terminal 3', the people flow information transmission unit 504' reads out the people flow of each area stored in the information storage unit 520, and transmits the read out people flow information indicating the people flow of each area to the wireless terminal 3' that made the request.

[0074] The temperature information acquisition unit 505 receives temperature information periodically transmitted from each temperature sensor 8, separates the received temperature information by area, and stores the information in the information storage unit 520. In response to a request from a wireless terminal 3', the property information transmission unit 506 reads out property information stored in the information storage unit 520, and transmits the read property information to the wireless terminal 3' that made the request.

[0075] In response to a request from the wireless terminal 3', the user position information transmission unit 507 reads out the position information history of each user stored in the information storage unit 520 (e.g., the history for the past 15 minutes) and transmits the read out position information history of each user to the wireless terminal 3' that made the request. In response to a request from the wireless terminal 3', the temperature information transmission unit 508 reads out the temperature information of each area stored in the information storage unit 520 and transmits the read out temperature information of each area to the wireless terminal 3' that made the request.

[0076] <Functional configuration of wireless terminal 3'> Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the wireless terminal 3'. As shown in Fig. 12, the wireless terminal 3' includes a transmitter information acquisition unit 300, a wireless signal receiving unit 301, a position detection unit 302, a position information transmission unit 303, a setting reception unit 304, a property information acquisition unit 305, a people flow information acquisition unit 306, a user position information acquisition unit 307, a temperature information acquisition unit 308, a comfortable area acquisition unit 309, and a comfortable area display unit 310. These functional units are realized by the control circuit 30 included in the wireless terminal 3' executing an air conditioning app, which is an application program stored in the auxiliary storage device 35 and is used to utilize the air conditioning service provided by the air conditioning control system 1'.

[0077] The setting reception unit 304 is an example of a setting reception means according to the present disclosure. The setting reception unit 304 receives, from the user of the wireless terminal 3′, settings of information used when acquiring a comfortable area. For example, the setting reception unit 304 receives from the user a range of air temperature desired by the user (e.g., 25 to 27°C). The setting reception unit 304 stores information indicating the settings received from the user (hereinafter referred to as “user setting information”) in the information storage unit 350.

[0078] The property information acquisition unit 305 acquires property information from the management device 5' through communication. The timing at which the property information acquisition unit 305 acquires the property information is an arbitrary design matter. For example, the property information acquisition unit 305 may acquire the property information from the management device 5' immediately after the air conditioning app is started, or may acquire the property information from the management device 5' in response to an operation by the user of the wireless terminal 3'. The property information acquisition unit 305 stores the acquired property information in the information storage unit 350.

[0079] The people flow information acquisition unit 306 is an example of a people flow information acquisition means according to the present disclosure. The people flow information acquisition unit 306 acquires people flow information indicating the flow of people in each area from the management device 5' through communication. The timing at which the people flow information acquisition unit 306 acquires the people flow information is an arbitrary design matter. For example, when a user performs an operation to instruct the display of a comfortable area, the people flow information acquisition unit 306 acquires the people flow information from the management device 5'. The people flow information acquisition unit 306 stores the acquired people flow information in the information storage unit 350.

[0080] The user location information acquisition unit 307 is an example of a user location information acquisition means according to the present disclosure. The user location information acquisition unit 307 acquires the history of location information of each user from the management device 5′ by communication. The timing at which the user location information acquisition unit 307 acquires the history of location information of each user is an arbitrary design matter. For example, when a user performs an operation to instruct display of a comfort area, the user location information acquisition unit 307 acquires the history of location information of each user from the management device 5′. The user location information acquisition unit 307 stores the acquired history of location information of each user in the information storage unit 350.

[0081] The temperature information acquisition unit 308 is an example of a temperature acquisition means according to the present disclosure. The temperature information acquisition unit 308 acquires the temperature information of each area from the management device 5′ by communication. The timing at which the temperature information acquisition unit 308 acquires the temperature information of each area is an arbitrary design matter. For example, when a user performs an operation to instruct display of a comfortable area, the temperature information acquisition unit 308 acquires the temperature information of each area from the management device 5′. The temperature information acquisition unit 308 stores the acquired temperature information of each area in the information storage unit 350.

[0082] The comfortable area acquisition unit 309 is an example of a comfortable area acquisition means according to the present disclosure. The comfortable area acquisition unit 309 acquires an area (hereinafter referred to as a "comfortable area") that is comfortable for the user from among the multiple areas that make up the floor F. In detail, the comfortable area acquisition unit 309 determines whether or not there is an area that satisfies a predetermined comfort condition based on the user setting information, property information, people flow information, the history of location information of each user, and temperature information of each area stored in the information storage unit 350. Then, if there is an area that satisfies the comfort condition, the comfortable area acquisition unit 309 acquires the area as a comfortable area.

[0083] In this embodiment, the comfort area acquisition unit 309 determines that the above comfort conditions are met when all of the following conditions are met. (Condition 1) Low traffic (Condition 2) Few users are working (Condition 3) The air temperature is within the range desired by the user.

[0084] In condition 1, a small number of people means a number that is smaller than a predetermined number of people flow judgment value. The number of people flow judgment value can be set to an arbitrary value by the user via the setting receiving unit 304.

[0085] In condition 2, the number of users working is small means that the number of users working per a predetermined reference area is equal to or less than a user number judgment value. The reference area is, for example, 16 m 2 The user number judgment value is, for example, 1. The reference area and the user number judgment value can both be set to any value by the user via the setting reception unit 304. The comfortable area acquisition unit 309 judges whether the user is working based on whether the user has stayed in the area for a predetermined work judgment time or longer. That is, if the user has stayed in the area for a work judgment time or longer, the user is judged to be working. The work judgment time is, for example, 10 minutes. The work judgment time can be set to any value by the user via the setting reception unit 304.

[0086] The comfort area display unit 310 is an example of a comfort area display means according to the present disclosure. The comfort area display unit 310 displays information indicating the comfort area acquired by the comfort area acquisition unit 309 on a display in a predetermined manner. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the comfort area display unit 310 highlights the comfort area on the floor plan of floor F.

[0087] <Comfortable area display processing> 14 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the comfort area display process executed by the wireless terminal 3'. When the air conditioning application is started by a user's operation, the wireless terminal 3' starts executing the comfort area display process described below.

[0088] (Step S300) The wireless terminal 3' acquires property information through communication with the management device 5'. The wireless terminal 3' stores the acquired property information in the information storage unit 350. After that, the process of the wireless terminal 3' transitions to step S301.

[0089] (Step S301) The wireless terminal 3' judges whether or not the user has performed a setting operation for information to be used when using a comfortable area. If the setting operation has been performed (step S301; YES), the process of the wireless terminal 3' proceeds to step S302. On the other hand, if the setting operation has not been performed (step S301; NO), the process of the wireless terminal 3' proceeds to step S303.

[0090] (Step S302) The wireless terminal 3′ accepts settings of information used when acquiring a comfortable area from the user, and stores user setting information indicating the accepted settings in the information storage unit 350. After that, the process of the wireless terminal 3′ transitions to step S303.

[0091] (Step S303) The wireless terminal 3' judges whether or not the user has performed an operation to instruct display of the comfort area. If an operation to instruct display of the comfort area has been performed (step S303; YES), the process of the wireless terminal 3' proceeds to step S304. On the other hand, if an operation to instruct display of the comfort area has not been performed (step S303; NO), the process of the wireless terminal 3' returns to step S301.

[0092] (Step S304) The wireless terminal 3' acquires people flow information, the history of position information of each user, and temperature information of each area through communication with the management device 5'. After that, the process of the wireless terminal 3' transitions to step S305.

[0093] (Step S305) The wireless terminal 3' acquires the comfortable area of ​​the user who uses the wireless terminal 3' based on the user setting information, property information, people flow information, the history of the position information of each user, and the temperature information of each area stored in the information storage unit 350. After that, the process of the wireless terminal 3' transitions to step S306.

[0094] (Step S306) The wireless terminal 3' displays information indicating the acquired comfortable area on the display 33. After that, the process of the wireless terminal 3' returns to step S301.

[0095] As described above, the air conditioning control system 1' in this embodiment has the same effects as the air conditioning control system 1 in embodiment 1, and furthermore, since the comfortable area is presented to the user, convenience for the user can be improved.

[0096] (Variation 1) The information indicating the comfort area may be displayed in various ways. For example, the information may be displayed in a color-coded contour diagram.

[0097] (Variation 2) The comfortable area display unit 310 of the wireless terminal 3' may display information indicating the comfortable area so that the current locations of the user and other users can be known. For example, the comfortable area display unit 310 may map and display an icon indicating the user (e.g., an icon showing the user's user ID, first name, last name, abbreviation, etc.) on the floor plan.

[0098] (Variation 3) The management device 5' may acquire, from each air conditioner 2, temperature information for each air conditioned area.

[0099] (Variation 4) The management device 5' may have a function similar to the comfort area acquisition unit 309 of the wireless terminal 3'. In this case, the management device 5' acquires user setting information corresponding to each user from each wireless terminal 3' in advance and stores it in the information storage unit 520, acquires a comfort area in response to a request from the wireless terminal 3', and transmits information indicating the acquired comfort area to the wireless terminal 3'.

[0100] (Variation 5) The reception of settings of information used when obtaining a comfort area from a user and the display of the comfort area may be performed by an operation terminal (not shown) installed in the building, instead of the wireless terminal 3'. The operation terminal includes a control circuit having a CPU, ROM, and RAM, a communication interface for communicating with the management device 5', a display including a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, an operation reception unit including one or more input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a push button, a touch panel, a touch pad, and an auxiliary storage device including a readable / writable non-volatile semiconductor memory, a HDD, or the like.

[0101] In the above case, the operation terminal identifies the user by having the user input a user ID, etc., and then accepts settings for information to be used when acquiring a comfort area. The operation terminal then separates user setting information indicating the accepted settings for each user and stores it in an auxiliary storage device. In addition, the operation terminal also accepts an operation to instruct display of a comfort area, after identifying the user by having the user input a user ID, etc. The operation terminal then acquires a comfort area corresponding to the user, and displays information indicating the acquired comfort area on the display.

[0102] (Variation 6) All or part of the functional units of the wireless terminal 3' (see FIG. 12) may be realized by dedicated hardware, and all or part of the functional units of the management device 5' (see FIG. 11) may be realized by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination of these.

[0103] (Variation 7) Modifications 1 to 6 of the first embodiment can also be applied to this embodiment.

[0104] The technical ideas according to the above-described modified examples may be realized individually or in appropriate combination.

[0105] Various embodiments and modifications of the present disclosure are possible without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The above-described embodiments are for explaining the present disclosure and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, the scope of the present disclosure is indicated by the claims, not the embodiments. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and the scope of the disclosure equivalent thereto are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure. [Industrial Applicability]

[0106] The present disclosure can be suitably adopted in a system for conditioning a space used by multiple users. [Explanation of symbols]

[0107] 1,1' air conditioning control system, 2 air conditioner, 3,3' wireless terminal, 4 transmitter, 5,5' management device, 6 property information management device, 7 air conditioning control device, 8 temperature sensor, 30,50 control circuit, 31 first communication interface, 32 second communication interface, 33 display, 34 operation reception unit, 35,52 auxiliary storage device, 40 wireless signal transmission circuit, 51 communication interface, 300 transmitter information acquisition unit, 301 wireless signal reception unit, 302 position detection unit, 303 position information transmission unit, 304 setting reception unit, 305,500 property information acquisition unit, 306 people flow information acquisition unit, 307 user position information acquisition unit, 308,505 temperature information acquisition unit, 309 comfortable area acquisition unit, 310 comfortable area display unit, 350,520 information storage unit, 501 transmitter information transmission unit, 502 Location information reception section, 503,503' People flow calculation section, 504,504' People flow information transmission section, 506 Property information transmission section, 507 User location information transmission section, 508 Temperature information transmission section

Claims

1. The system includes a wireless terminal, a transmitter installed in a space to be air-conditioned, a management device, and an air-conditioning control device that controls one or more air conditioners that condition the space to be air-conditioned, The wireless terminal, a position detection means for detecting a position of the wireless terminal based on wireless communication with the transmitter; a location information transmission means for transmitting location information including the detected location to the management device, The management device includes: a storage means for storing the location information received from the wireless terminal in chronological order as location information of a user who possesses the wireless terminal; A people flow calculation means for calculating a people flow, which is the number of people per unit time in each of a plurality of areas divided into the air-conditioned space, based on a history of location information of each user; a people flow information transmission means for transmitting people flow information indicating the calculated people flow in each area to the air conditioning control device, The air conditioning control device uses the people flow information received from the management device to control each air conditioner so as to direct air at an area where the people flow is greater than a predetermined threshold.

2. The wireless terminal, A display and A people flow information acquisition means for acquiring the people flow information from the management device; a user location information acquiring means for acquiring a history of location information of each user from the management device; A temperature acquisition means for acquiring the air temperature of each area from the management device; a comfortable area acquisition means for acquiring a comfortable area corresponding to a user carrying the wireless terminal based on the people flow information, the history of location information of each user, and the air temperature of each area; The air-conditioning control system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a comfort area display means for displaying information indicating the comfort area on the display.

3. 3. The air conditioning control system according to claim 2, wherein the comfortable area acquisition means acquires, as the comfortable area, an area with a low pedestrian flow and a low number of users working therein, and an air temperature within a range of air temperatures desired by the users.

4. The air conditioning control system according to claim 3 , wherein the comfortable area acquisition means determines an area to be an area with few users working when the number of users working per a predetermined standard area is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value.

5. The air-conditioning control system according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the wireless terminal further comprises a setting receiving means for receiving, from a user, settings of information to be used when acquiring the comfortable area.

6. A wireless terminal, A display and a position detection means for detecting a position of the wireless terminal based on wireless communication with a transmitter installed in the space to be air-conditioned; a location information transmitting means for transmitting location information including the detected location to a management device; a people flow information acquisition means for acquiring people flow information indicating the number of people per unit time in each of a plurality of areas divided into the air-conditioned space from the management device; a user location information acquiring means for acquiring a history of location information of each user from the management device; A temperature acquisition means for acquiring the air temperature of each area from the management device; a comfortable area acquisition means for acquiring a comfortable area corresponding to a user carrying the wireless terminal based on the people flow information, the history of location information of each user, and the air temperature of each area; and a comfort area display means for displaying information indicating the comfort area on the display.

7. A wireless terminal detects a position of the wireless terminal based on wireless communication with a transmitter installed in the space to be air-conditioned, The wireless terminal transmits location information including the detected location to a management device; The management device classifies the location information received from the wireless terminal in chronological order as location information of a user who possesses the wireless terminal, and stores the information in a storage means included in the management device; The management device calculates a people flow, which is the number of people changing per unit time in each of a plurality of areas divided into the air-conditioned space, based on a history of location information of each user, The management device transmits the calculated people flow information indicating the people flow in each area to an air conditioning control device that controls one or more air conditioners that condition the air conditioned space, The air conditioning control method includes controlling each air conditioner using people flow information received from the management device to direct air at an area where the people flow is greater than a predetermined threshold.

8. A wireless terminal having a display, a position detection means for detecting the position of the wireless terminal based on wireless communication with a transmitter installed in the space to be air-conditioned; a location information transmitting means for transmitting location information including the detected location to a management device; a people flow information acquisition means for acquiring, from the management device, people flow information indicating the number of people per unit time in each of a plurality of areas divided into the air-conditioned space; a user location information acquiring means for acquiring a history of location information of each user from the management device; a temperature acquisition means for acquiring the air temperature of each area from the management device; a comfortable area acquisition means for acquiring a comfortable area corresponding to a user carrying the wireless terminal based on the people flow information, a history of location information of each user, and an air temperature of each area; A program that causes the program to function as a comfort area display means for displaying information indicating the comfort area on the display.

Images