Environmental Control Using User State Feedback for Sleepiness Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional environmental equipment control systems rely on temperature differences between set and vehicle indoor temperatures to assess user sleepiness, which is not always accurate in determining the user's sleepy state.
Innovation Solution
An environmental equipment control apparatus that includes a grasping unit to collect physical and mental state information, a control unit to adjust environmental equipment based on predetermined conditions, and a storage unit to associate effective control changes with user data, allowing for targeted relief from sleepiness through temperature, humidity, air direction, and aroma adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If temperature difference between set temperature and vehicle indoor temperature is used to estimate user sleepiness, then the control system can operate with simple parameters, but the accuracy of sleepiness detection deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by storing correspondence information between control state changes and physical-and-mental-state information changes, then using this feedback to select and optimize control strategies that effectively relieve sleepiness while adapting to individual user responses
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from using only temperature difference parameters to incorporating multiple physical-and-mental-state parameters (drowsiness scale, degree of arousal, autonomic nerve balance, body temperature, etc.) to accurately detect sleepiness states
2Ease of operation
If environmental equipment control state is changed to relieve user sleepiness, then user comfort is improved, but user discomfort may occur if the control state is maintained for too long
Solution Approach 1:
The control state changes are implemented periodically rather than continuously - the system changes the control state when sleepiness is detected, maintains it for a predetermined period, then restores it, creating a rhythmic control pattern that prevents prolonged discomfort
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares for potential user discomfort by automatically restoring the control state to its previous condition after a predetermined time period, cushioning against the harmful effect of prolonged environmental changes before discomfort can occur
Data Source
AI summary
An environmental equipment control apparatus controls environmental equipment. The environmental equipment control apparatus includes a grasping unit that grasps physical-and-mental-state information about a physical and mental state of a user, a control unit that changes a control state of the environmental equipment in a case in which the physical-and-mental-state information satisfies a predetermined state condition, and a storage unit that stores correspondence information in which changes in the control state of the environmental equipment are associated with changes in the physical-and-mental-state information of the user grasped by the grasping unit in accordance with the changes in the control state of the environmental equipment.