Predictive Air Circulation Control for Multi-Room HVAC Comfort
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air-conditioning ventilation systems fail to balance comfort and energy efficiency, as they typically rely on immediate human presence detection, leading to impaired comfort and inefficient energy use by supplying heat to unoccupied rooms.
Innovation Solution
An air-conditioning ventilation system that includes human detectors, an estimation unit to predict human presence, and a controller to adjust ventilation and air-conditioning based on past detection data, allowing for pre-conditioning of rooms and personalized temperature settings according to individual preferences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the ventilation device operates based on current human presence detection, then the system responds quickly to human needs, but energy is wasted by conditioning unoccupied rooms
Solution Approach 1:
The estimation unit predicts future human presence in rooms based on historical detection data, schedules, and patterns. The controller uses these predictions to advance-operate the ventilation device and air-conditioning apparatus before humans actually enter the rooms, thereby maintaining comfort when needed while avoiding energy waste in unoccupied spaces
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously collects detection data from human detectors and feeds it back to the estimation unit, which updates its predictions of human presence patterns. This feedback loop enables the system to learn and adapt to actual usage patterns, improving the accuracy of predictive control and optimizing energy management over time
2Ease of operation
If the system supplies heat energy to rooms not scheduled for human presence, then pre-conditioning comfort is achieved, but energy saving performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by predicting future human presence and advancing the operation of air-conditioning apparatus accordingly. However, this preliminary action is strictly controlled based on prediction accuracy and actual scheduled events, ensuring that energy is consumed only for rooms genuinely expected to be occupied, thus achieving pre-conditioning comfort without unnecessary energy waste
Solution Approach 2:
The controller dynamically adjusts the operation parameters (temperature settings, ventilation rates, timing) of the air-conditioning apparatus based on predicted human presence timing and individual user preferences. This parameter optimization ensures energy-efficient pre-conditioning that delivers comfort exactly when needed, avoiding both early energy consumption and late comfort delivery
3Device complexity
If the ventilation device uses only current detection data, then the control logic is simple, but comfort is impaired due to delayed response
Solution Approach 1:
The estimation unit serves as an intermediary between the simple detection system and the ventilation control. It processes historical detection data, schedules, and patterns to generate predicted human presence information, which then guides the ventilation device operation. This intermediary layer adds predictive capability without requiring complex direct control logic, bridging the gap between simple detection and comfortable responsive control
Data Source
AI summary
An air-conditioning ventilation system of the present invention includes one or a plurality of air circulation devices configured to circulate air among a plurality of rooms, one or a plurality of air-conditioning apparatuses provided in at least one of the plurality of rooms, a human detector provided in each of the plurality of rooms and configured to detect a human present in a corresponding one of the rooms in which the human detector is provided, an optimal air-conditioning ventilation operation estimating unit configured to estimate presence or absence of any human in each of the plurality of rooms, or a human presence ratio representing a number of humans present per unit time in each of the plurality of rooms, on a basis of a past result of detection by the human detector, and a controller configured to control the air circulation device and the air-conditioning apparatus on a basis of a result of estimation by the optimal air-conditioning ventilation operation estimating unit.