Air conditioning system

Abstract

To disclose one example of an air conditioning system capable of reducing costs, the air conditioning system capable of controlling air conditioning using thermal indicators.SOLUTION: An air conditioning system 1 uses a highly versatile visible light camera 3 to calculate a clothing amount and an activity amount of occupants and determine thermal indicators. Consequently, it is possible to reduce the cost of the air conditioning system, for example, compared to an air conditioning system that calculates the clothing amount using an infrared latitudinal camera or the like. Regarding the clothing amount, a thermal indicator calculation unit 5A estimates whether clothes of occupants are short-sleeved or long-sleeved, to calculate thermal indicators, and regarding the activity amount, estimates whether the occupants are sitting, standing, or moving, to calculate the thermal indicators.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an air conditioning system that uses thermal indices such as Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Standard Effective Temperature (SET*).

Background Art

[0002] For example, the air conditioning system described in Patent Document 1 enables air conditioning control using thermal indices.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The present disclosure discloses an example of an air conditioning system capable of reducing costs in an air conditioning system capable of air conditioning control using thermal indices.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] An air conditioning system for air conditioning a room preferably includes at least one of the following constituent elements. That is, the constituent element is a visible light camera (3) that photographs the room and can output the photographed electronic image, a thermal index calculation unit (5A) that calculates the clothing amount and activity amount of the person in the room using the electronic image and calculates a thermal index using at least the calculated clothing amount and activity amount, an air conditioner (7) that can heat or cool the air supplied to the room, and a control unit (5B) that controls the heating capacity or cooling capacity generated by the air conditioner (7) using the thermal index calculated by the thermal index calculation unit (5A).

[0006] As a result, this air conditioning system uses a highly versatile visible light camera (3) to calculate the amount of clothing and activity level of occupants and determine the thermal index. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the cost of the air conditioning system compared to an air conditioning system that uses, for example, an infrared latitude camera to calculate the amount of clothing.

[0007] Incidentally, the symbols in each of the parentheses above are just examples showing the correspondence with the specific configurations etc. described in the embodiments described later, and this disclosure is not limited to the specific configurations etc. indicated by the symbols in the parentheses above. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] This flowchart shows the estimation process of the air conditioning system according to the second embodiment. [Figure 3] This flowchart shows the estimation process of the air conditioning system according to the second embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The following "Embodiments of the Invention" are examples of embodiments that fall within the technical scope of this disclosure. In other words, the features defining the invention as described in the claims are not limited to the specific configurations and structures shown in the embodiments below.

[0010] Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, such as "one," each component or part described with a reference numeral is provided at least once. In other words, if there is no such specification, such as "one," there may be two or more of the component.

[0011] (First Embodiment) <1. Configuration of the air conditioning system> This embodiment applies an example of the air conditioning system described herein to the air conditioning system of a building such as an office building. In such a building, where a large number of office workers are present or coming and going, the air conditioning system according to this embodiment is particularly effective.

[0012] As shown in Figure 1, the air conditioning system 1 according to this embodiment includes a camera 3, a control device 5, and an air conditioner 7. Camera 3 is a visible light camera that photographs the room to be air-conditioned. In other words, camera 3 is an electronic camera that captures visible light with an image sensor and outputs the captured image as an electronic image (electronic data).

[0013] The air conditioner 7 is capable of heating or cooling the air supplied to the room. Specifically, the air conditioner 7 includes at least a heat exchanger (not shown) and a blower (not shown). The heat exchanger generates cold or hot air. The blower draws in room air and supplies it to the heat exchanger, and also supplies the air cooled or heated by the heat exchanger to the room.

[0014] The control device 5 includes at least a thermal index calculation unit 5A and an air conditioning control unit 5B, etc. The control device 5 is configured as a computer with a GPU or CPU, ROM, RAM, etc.

[0015] In this embodiment, the thermal index calculation unit 5A and the air conditioning control unit 5B are realized by executing the software on a GPU or CPU. The software is pre-stored in a non-volatile memory unit such as ROM.

[0016] The air conditioning system according to this embodiment also includes a temperature sensor S1, a humidity sensor S2, a radiation temperature sensor S3, and an air velocity sensor S4, etc. The temperature sensor S1 detects the temperature of the indoor air. The humidity sensor S2 detects the relative humidity of the indoor air.

[0017] The radiation temperature sensor S3 detects the temperature of objects in the room (e.g., radiators such as PCs and printers) and solar radiation temperature. The wind speed sensor S4 detects the wind speed of the indoor airflow. The values ​​detected by these sensors S1 to S4 are input to the control device 5.

[0018] <2. Control of air conditioning capacity> The air conditioning control unit 5B controls the cooling, heating, and air volume generated by the air conditioner 7 (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as air conditioning capacity) in cooperation with the heating index calculation unit 5A.

[0019] <Heating index calculation unit> The heating index calculation unit 5A calculates the clothing amount and activity amount of the person in the room (hereinafter referred to as the in-room person) using the electronic image acquired by the camera 3, and calculates the heating index using at least the calculated clothing amount and activity amount.

[0020] The calculation of the clothing amount is calculated by, for example, the following method. That is, the heating index calculation unit 5A detects a person using an existing model, crops the person, and then acquires the pixels of the face image from the cropped person's electronic image. Next, the heating index calculation unit 5A determines the exposed part where the pixels of the skin and the face image are similar, and estimates the clothing amount.

[0021] The calculation of the activity amount is calculated by, for example, the following method. That is, after detecting an object from the electronic image, the heating index calculation unit 5A estimates the posture information of the person using an already created AI learning model.

[0022] Next, the heating index calculation unit 5A estimates the activity amount using an already created AI learning model. Thereby, the heating index calculation unit 5A can estimate whether the in-room person is sitting, standing, or moving with respect to the activity amount.

[0023] The heating index is an attempt to express the thermal sensation as a simple one-dimensional scale. As the heating index, in this embodiment, for example, the predicted mean vote (hereinafter referred to as PMV) is used. PMV quantifies the thermal sensation felt by most people from six factors affecting human body temperature regulation, namely indoor temperature, indoor humidity, mean radiant temperature, activity amount, clothing amount, and air flow velocity.

[0024] Note that PMV is a common indicator for both cooling and heating. Specifically, a PMV within the range of -0.5 to 0.5 is generally considered to indicate a comfortable environment. Incidentally, PMV is an index value that has been internationally standardized by the ISO standard (ISO-7730).

[0025] Therefore, the thermal index calculation unit 5A calculates the thermal index in accordance with ISO standards using the detected values ​​of the temperature sensor S1, humidity sensor S2, radiation temperature sensor S3, and wind speed sensor S4, as well as the calculated amount of clothing and activity level.

[0026] At this time, the thermal index calculation unit 5A calculates the thermal index by estimating whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves. The estimation of whether someone is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves is calculated, for example, by the following method.

[0027] In other words, the thermal index calculation unit 5A detects an object from the electronic image and then uses a pre-created AI learning model to estimate whether the person is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves, and also estimates the confidence level P using a known method.

[0028] In this case, if the confidence level P is equal to or greater than the first threshold Th1, the thermal index calculation unit 5A determines that the estimation regarding the person's clothing, i.e., whether they are wearing short sleeves or long sleeves, is correct. If the confidence level P is less than the first threshold Th1, the unit determines whether the person is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves using the following method.

[0029] In other words, the thermal index calculation unit 5A estimates the area H of the human body using a pre-created AI learning model, and then estimates the amount of skin exposure S using the pre-created AI learning model. The thermal index calculation unit 5A then determines that it is a short-sleeved garment if the ratio of skin area (S / H) of the human body is equal to or greater than the second threshold Th2, and determines that it is a long-sleeved garment if the ratio of skin area (S / H) is less than the threshold Th2.

[0030] <Air Conditioning Control Unit> The air conditioning control unit 5B uses the thermal index calculated by the thermal index calculation unit 5A to control the air conditioning capacity generated by the air conditioner 7 so that the PMV is between -0.5 and 0.5.

[0031] Specifically, the air conditioning control unit 5B increases the temperature of the conditioned air when the PMV is less than -0.5, and decreases the temperature of the conditioned air when the PMV is greater than 0.5. <3. Features of the air conditioning system according to this embodiment> In the air conditioning system according to this embodiment, the amount of clothing worn and activity level of occupants are calculated using a highly versatile visible light camera 3 to determine the thermal index. Therefore, the cost of the air conditioning system can be reduced compared to an air conditioning system that calculates the amount of clothing worn using, for example, an infrared latitude camera.

[0032] (Second Embodiment) <Summary of this embodiment> The thermal index calculation unit 5A according to the above embodiment estimated whether the occupants were wearing short-sleeved or long-sleeved clothing by utilizing the proportion of exposed skin. The following explanation concerns the differences from the air conditioning system according to the above embodiment.

[0033] In contrast, the thermal index calculation unit 5A according to this embodiment uses skeletal information to identify the position of the occupant's forearm, and estimates whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves based on whether the identified forearm position is included in the skin area.

[0034] If the thermal index calculation unit 5A determines that it cannot estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves based on the above, it uses the current date to determine whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves.

[0035] In other words, the thermal index calculation unit 5A has a calendar function. For example, if the current date is between July and September, the thermal index calculation unit 5A determines that the occupant is wearing short sleeves, and if the current date is outside of July to September, it determines that the occupant is wearing long sleeves.

[0036] <Specific examples of clothing estimation processing> Figures 2 and 3 are flowcharts illustrating an example of the clothing estimation process according to this embodiment. The thermal index calculation unit 5A detects occupants using electronic images acquired by the camera 3 and an already created AI learning model (1) (S1, S3).

[0037] Next, the thermal index calculation unit 5A uses the already created AI learning model (2) to calculate the confidence level (hereinafter referred to as the long-sleeve confidence level) that the occupant is wearing long sleeves (S5), and then determines whether the long-sleeve confidence level is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold Th1 (S7).

[0038] Then, if the long-sleeve confidence level is above the threshold Th1 (S7:YES), the thermal index calculation unit 5A concludes that "the occupant is wearing long sleeves" (S8). If the long-sleeve confidence level is below the threshold Th1 (S7:NO), the thermal index calculation unit 5A estimates whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves based on whether the forearm is included in the skin area.

[0039] In other words, the thermal index calculation unit 5A extracts the occupants, i.e., the human body region H, using the electronic image acquired by the camera 3 and the already created AI learning model (3) (S9), and then uses the AI ​​learning model (4) to extract the regions S within the human body region H where the skin is exposed (S11).

[0040] Next, the thermal index calculation unit 5A uses the AI ​​learning model (5) to obtain the coordinates of the occupant's skeletal information and the confidence level of the acquired skeletal information (hereinafter referred to as skeletal confidence level) (S13). Skeletal information refers to information used to identify human body parts such as wrists and elbows. The coordinates of the skeletal information refer to information used to identify the position occupied by each body part such as wrists and elbows.

[0041] In this embodiment, the thermal index calculation unit 5A identifies the right wrist, right elbow, left wrist, and left elbow as skeletal information and obtains their coordinates (S13). Next, the thermal index calculation unit 5A determines whether the skeletal confidence level for the left wrist and left elbow (hereinafter referred to as the left skeletal confidence level) is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold Th2 (S15).

[0042] The threshold Th2 is smaller than the threshold Th1. Furthermore, the threshold Th1 is significantly larger than the threshold Th2. Therefore, a long-sleeve confidence level of Th1 or higher means that it is practically acceptable to consider the clothing as having long sleeves.

[0043] If the left skeletal reliability is above the threshold Th2 (S15: YES), the thermal index calculation unit 5A determines whether the skeletal reliability for the right wrist and right elbow (hereinafter referred to as the right skeletal reliability) is above the threshold Th2 (S17).

[0044] Then, if the right skeletal reliability is less than the threshold Th2 (S17:NO), the thermal index calculation unit 5A uses the left forearm to estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves (S21). If the right skeletal reliability is equal to or greater than the threshold Th2, the thermal index calculation unit 5A compares the magnitudes of the right skeletal reliability and the left skeletal reliability (S19).

[0045] Then, if the left skeletal confidence level is greater than the right skeletal confidence level (S19: YES), the thermal index calculation unit 5A uses the left forearm to estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves (S21). If the right skeletal confidence level is greater than the left skeletal confidence level (S19: NO), the thermal index calculation unit 5A uses the right forearm to estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves (S23).

[0046] Furthermore, if the left skeletal reliability is determined to be less than the threshold Th2 in S15 (S15: NO), the thermal index calculation unit 5A determines whether the right skeletal reliability is equal to or greater than the threshold Th2 (S25). If the right skeletal reliability is equal to or greater than the threshold Th2 (S25: YES), the thermal index calculation unit 5A uses the right forearm to estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves (S23).

[0047] If the right skeletal reliability is less than the threshold Th2 (S25:NO), that is, if the thermal index calculation unit 5A determines that it cannot estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves, the thermal index calculation unit 5A uses the current date to determine whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves (S27).

[0048] Once the arm to be used to estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves is determined (S21 or S23), the thermal index calculation unit 5A calculates coordinates indicating the midpoint between the wrist and elbow of the arm to be estimated, that is, coordinates indicating the position of the forearm (S29), and then determines whether the coordinates indicating the position of the forearm are included in the skin exposure area S calculated in S11 (S31).

[0049] If the coordinates indicating the position of the forearm are included in the exposed skin area S (S31: YES), the thermal index calculation unit 5A estimates that the clothing is short-sleeved (S33). If the coordinates indicating the position of the forearm are not included in the exposed skin area S (S31: NO), the thermal index calculation unit 5A estimates that the clothing is long-sleeved (S35).

[0050] <Features of the clothing estimation process according to this embodiment> As described above, in this embodiment, the presence or absence of sleeves is estimated based on whether the forearm is included in the area of ​​exposed skin. Therefore, the estimation accuracy may be improved compared to methods that estimate whether the presence or absence of sleeves is sleeved or long based on the proportion of exposed skin in different parts of the body.

[0051] The thermal index calculation unit 5A estimates whether the clothing is short-sleeved or long-sleeved using the forearm with a threshold of Th2 or higher among the right skeletal reliability and left skeletal reliability. This increases the reliability of the estimation results and can improve the accuracy of clothing estimation.

[0052] The thermal index calculation unit 5A compares the confidence levels of the right and left skeletons and uses the forearm with the higher confidence level to estimate whether the clothing is short-sleeved or long-sleeved. This increases the reliability of the estimation result and can improve the accuracy of clothing estimation.

[0053] When it cannot be determined that the occupant is wearing long sleeves (S7:NO), the thermal index calculation unit 5A estimates whether the clothing is short-sleeved or long-sleeved based on whether the forearm is included in the area of ​​exposed skin.

[0054] Specifically, if the confidence level for long sleeves is above the threshold Th1, and the confidence level for the garment being long-sleeved is sufficiently high, the thermal index calculation unit 5A concludes that the garment is long-sleeved. If the confidence level for long sleeves is below the threshold Th1, and the thermal index calculation unit 5A cannot conclude that the garment is long-sleeved (S7:NO), it executes steps S9 onwards.

[0055] As a result, the thermal index calculation unit 5A estimates whether the clothing is short-sleeved or long-sleeved using the forearm only when it cannot definitively determine that the clothing is long-sleeved, thus preventing the estimation processing load from becoming excessively large.

[0056] (Other embodiments) The above-described embodiment was an example of applying the air conditioning system according to this disclosure to an office building. However, this disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the disclosure can also be applied to commercial facilities such as shopping centers.

[0057] The thermal index calculation unit described above uses "PMV" to determine the thermal sensation. However, this disclosure is not limited thereto. That is, the disclosure may also include a thermal sensation determination unit configured using, for example, SET* (Standard new Effective Temperature).

[0058] In the second embodiment, the thermal index calculation unit 5A compares the magnitude of the right skeletal reliability and the left skeletal reliability and estimates whether the clothing is short-sleeved or long-sleeved using the forearm with the higher reliability. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0059] In the second embodiment, the thermal index calculation unit 5A estimated whether the clothing was short-sleeved or long-sleeved using the forearm with a threshold Th2 or higher among the right skeletal reliability and left skeletal reliability. However, this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0060] In the second embodiment, the thermal index calculation unit 5A estimated whether the clothing of the occupant was short-sleeved or long-sleeved based on whether the position of the forearm was included in the area of ​​exposed skin, when it could not be determined that the clothing was long-sleeved. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0061] In the second embodiment, if the thermal index calculation unit 5A determines that it cannot estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves, it uses the current date to determine whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0062] In the embodiments described above, the "clothing estimation process" was used to calculate the thermal index. However, this disclosure is not limited thereto. That is, the "clothing estimation process" can also be used for purposes other than calculating the thermal index.

[0063] In the above-described embodiment, a visible light camera 3 was used to calculate whether the occupant was wearing short sleeves or long sleeves. However, this disclosure is not limited thereto. That is, the disclosure may, for example, use a camera other than a visible light camera to estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves.

[0064] Furthermore, this disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, but is sufficient to be consistent with the intent of the disclosures described in the embodiments described above. Therefore, it may be a configuration in which at least two of the embodiments described above are combined, or a configuration in which any of the illustrated components or components described with reference numerals in the embodiments described above are omitted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0065] 1… Air conditioning system 3… Camera 5… Control device 5A… Thermal index calculation unit 5B… Air Conditioning Control Unit S1… Temperature sensor S2… Humidity sensor S3… Infrared temperature sensor S4… Wind speed sensor

Claims

1. In an air conditioning system that provides air conditioning for an indoor environment, A visible light camera for photographing the interior of a room, and a visible light camera capable of outputting the captured electronic image, A thermal index calculation unit that uses the aforementioned electronic image to calculate the amount of clothing and activity level of the occupants, and uses at least the calculated amount of clothing and activity level to calculate a thermal index, An air conditioner capable of heating or cooling the air supplied to a room, The system includes a control unit that controls the heating capacity or cooling capacity generated by the air conditioner using the thermal index calculated by the thermal index calculation unit, The thermal index calculation unit estimates whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves and calculates the thermal index. Furthermore, the thermal index calculation unit uses skeletal information to identify the position of the occupant's forearm, and estimates whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves based on whether the identified forearm position is included in the area where skin is exposed.

2. The air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the thermal index calculation unit estimates whether the clothing worn by the occupant is short-sleeved or long-sleeved by utilizing the proportion of skin exposure on the human body.

3. The air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the thermal index calculation unit compares the magnitude of the skeletal reliability for the right forearm and the skeletal reliability for the left forearm, and estimates whether the clothing is short-sleeved or long-sleeved using the forearm with the greater reliability.

4. The air conditioning system according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the thermal index calculation unit estimates whether the clothing is short-sleeved or long-sleeved using the skeletal reliability of the right forearm and the skeletal reliability of the left forearm, which have a predetermined reliability or higher.

5. The air conditioning system according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the thermal index calculation unit estimates whether the clothing worn by the occupant is short-sleeved or long-sleeved based on whether the position of the forearm is included in the area of ​​exposed skin, when it cannot be determined that the clothing is long-sleeved.

6. The air conditioning system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thermal index calculation unit determines that it cannot estimate whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves, and uses the current date to determine whether the occupant is wearing short sleeves or long sleeves.

7. The air conditioning system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thermal index calculation unit estimates whether the occupant is sitting, standing, or moving and calculates the thermal index.

8. The air conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that the thermal index is a predicted average thermal comfort report or a standard new effective temperature.

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