JP7605058B2 - Air Conditioning System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an air conditioning system.

A conventional technology in this field is disclosed in JP 2019-105436 A. In the air conditioning system described in this publication, the air conditioning area is virtually divided, and when a person enters a divided area, air conditioning control is performed so that the wind is directed toward that area.

, JP 2019-105436 A

Conventional occupancy-tracking air conditioning control systems aim the air conditioner's outlet in the direction of people to blow air, but they may not be able to track people in real time if they are moving.

In addition, even if the air conditioner's outlet is aimed at a person, it may take several seconds for the hot or cold air to reach that person, making it difficult to accurately direct air at the person being tracked.

Furthermore, depending on the type of sensor used for tracking, machines and other objects may be mistaken for people.

Due to limitations in the performance and number of sensors, the space in which the system can track people may be limited, resulting in a narrower air conditioning range or only a pre-set area being air conditioned.

In addition, there are many different types of production lines, and in order to adapt the air conditioning system to each production line, it is necessary to customize each one, which increases costs. In this case, when the line is changed, customization is required again. There is also the problem that predicting the movement of workers on a production line is difficult because it depends on facility layout information such as road width and shelf positions.

For example, in fields other than air conditioning, there are systems that track and predict people's movements. These systems predict people's movements with the aim of predicting the crowd density and popularity of facilities inside and outside facilities such as stores and public facilities. However, this system is unable to identify people, and when this system is applied to a production system, there is a problem in that it is unable to identify workers inside and outside the production line.

The present invention provides an air conditioning system that appropriately controls air conditioning in response to people's movements.

The air conditioning system of the present invention comprises a tag that transmits location information, an anchor that is placed at a predetermined position within a facility and transmits and receives location information of the tag, an air conditioning unit that blows air, and a control means that controls the air blowing from the air conditioning unit, wherein the control means has a predicted position calculation means that calculates a movement vector of the tag from the location information of the tag received from the anchor, and predicts the next movement vector of the tag from the calculated movement vector to calculate a predicted arrival position, and an angle calculation means that calculates the air blowing angle from the air conditioning unit toward the predicted arrival position calculated by the predicted position calculation means.
This makes it possible to predict people's movements and control air conditioning.

This makes it possible to provide an air conditioning system that appropriately controls air conditioning in response to people's movements.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of components of an air conditioning system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a control unit. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a model of prediction of a person's position based on a flow line vector. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of conditions for flow line prediction and actual measurement results of flow line prediction. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the air conditioning system. FIG. 1 shows an example of the use of a ducted air conditioner in a factory environment. FIG. 1 shows an example of the use of a long air conditioning unit connected to a duct in a factory environment. 11 is a diagram showing an example in which the airflow direction can be changed only to a predetermined direction. FIG.

Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioning system 1 includes a tag 11 held by a worker, an anchor 12 fixed to a ceiling or the like, an air conditioning unit 13 that blows air toward the worker, and a control means 14 that controls the air conditioning unit 13.

First, the environment in which the air conditioning system 1 is used will be described. The air conditioning system 1 is used in facilities where people move around within a specified area, and in particular in a factory environment where people perform work. Typically, the environment includes passageways through which people can move around, and areas in which people cannot enter because equipment, transport vehicles, and other items are located.

Tag 11 is a tag that is carried by a person. For example, tag 11 is attached to a hat or the collar of a jacket, and moves with the person. In what follows, the movement of tag 11 may be treated as the movement of the person carrying tag 11.

More specifically, the air conditioning system 1 uses multiple tags 11, with one tag 11 corresponding to one person. For example, each person in the environment has one tag 11 on which a unique ID is recorded.

The tag 11 has the function of transmitting a signal having location information to the anchor 12. In other words, the tag 11 can transmit information to the anchor 12 that identifies and positions a person within the environment.

The multiple anchors 12 are transceivers that are placed in the environment at a predetermined distance from each other, and each is fixed to a building pillar or beam. The anchors 12 can also be installed near a location that is in the shadow of equipment. This makes it possible to determine the location of a person by working together with the tag 11, even if the person moves to a location that is in the shadow of equipment.

The tag 11 and anchor 12 use a UWB (Ultra Wide Band) positioning system to determine the location of the person carrying the tag 11 in real time. An example of the positioning conditions required in an environment such as a factory where the air conditioning system 1 is used is a positioning accuracy of several tens of centimeters and a detection range (coverage area) of several tens of meters. The UWB positioning system is able to achieve both this positioning accuracy and detection range, making it suitable as a positioning system when the air conditioning system 1 is used in an environment such as a factory.

Note that the positioning system using the tag 11 and anchor 12 is not limited to using a UWB positioning system. For example, it is also possible to adopt a method using Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) or a beacon. Depending on the positioning accuracy and detection range required for each environment, positioning using a camera, RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier), GPS (Global Positioning System), base station location information, etc. can be used, but the following description will be given assuming that only UWB is used.

The air conditioning unit 13 is a blower fixed to the ceiling of the building. For example, the air conditioning unit 13 has a blowing unit 13a that blows out cold air and hot air, and a change control unit 13b that changes the direction of the blowing unit 13a.

The change control unit 13b may control the direction of the blowing unit 13a itself, or may control the airflow control blades provided on the blowing unit 13a. In other words, the method for changing the airflow blown out from the blowing unit 13a by the control of the change control unit 13b can be changed arbitrarily.

2, the control means 14 includes a predicted position calculation means 21 that predicts the position of the person carrying the tag 11, and an angle calculation means 22 that calculates the angle at which the air conditioning unit 13 is directed in order to blow air from the air conditioning unit 13, based on the relationship between the position at which the air conditioning unit 13 is provided and the position of the tag 11. In other words, the angle calculation means 22 calculates the angle from the air conditioning unit 13 to the predicted position several seconds later of the person carrying the tag 11.

For example, the angle calculation means 22 can set the angle when the blowing section 13a of the air conditioning unit 13 blows air directly downward as a reference angle (0°), and calculate a relative angle based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the blowing section 13a and the three-dimensional coordinates of the predicted position of the tag 11 several seconds later.

Typically, the control means 14 is a computer configured with a main memory device, an auxiliary memory device, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc., but is not limited to this.

The predicted location calculation means 21 receives the person's location information transmitted from the anchor 12 and predicts the destination to which the person carrying the tag 11 will move.

The position of the person predicted by the predicted position calculation means 21 here is the position at the time when the cold air or hot air reaches the position of the person holding the tag 11 when the angle of the blowing section 13a in the air conditioning unit 13 is adjusted and the blowing of cold air or hot air begins at the adjusted angle.

As an example, if the airflow discharged from the air outlet of the air conditioning unit 13 is positioned so that it takes about three seconds to reach the person carrying the tag 11, the predicted position calculation means 21 can calculate the predicted arrival position of the person carrying the tag 11 after about three seconds of movement. In this case, it is possible to shorten the predicted arrival time if the person carrying the tag 11 is moving closer to the air conditioning unit 13, and conversely, to lengthen the predicted arrival time if the person carrying the tag 11 is moving away from the air conditioning unit 13.

In addition, AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be used for the predicted position calculation means 21.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the predicted position calculation means 21 can predict the next movement vector from the past movement line vector of the tag 11 and calculate the predicted position of the tag 11.

Figure 4 shows an example of the results of actual traffic flow prediction, showing that when people are moving continuously, the allowable error radius is within 500 mm, and the prediction time is 3 seconds, the prediction accuracy rate is 77%.

The angle calculation means 22 calculates the angle from the blowing portion 13a of the air conditioning unit 13 to the predicted position of the person carrying the tag 11 based on the result of the person's position prediction by the predicted position calculation means 21 and the arrangement of the air conditioning unit 13.

As a prerequisite for the calculation, the predicted position calculation means 21 and the angle calculation means 22 can perform calculations assuming that the person carrying the tag 11 moves on the XY plane, i.e., at a position where the height in the Z direction is 0. Similarly, the predicted position calculation means 21 and the angle calculation means 22 can perform calculations assuming that the blowing section 13a of the air conditioning unit 13 does not move in the XY direction, but is positioned at a specified height in the Z direction. The prerequisites for this calculation can be changed as desired.

Next, the operation of the air conditioning system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

First, a person carrying a tag 11 moves around the environment (S1). The tag 11 also transmits a UWB signal containing location information toward the anchor 12.

The anchor 12 receives the UWB signal transmitted from the tag 11 (S2). This allows the anchor 12 to detect the position coordinates (X, Y) of the person. The anchor 12 also outputs information on the position coordinates (X, Y) of the person to the control means 14.

The predicted position calculation means 21 of the control means 14 calculates the predicted position (X _AI , Y _AI ) of the person at the position coordinates (X, Y) to which the person will move in a few seconds (S3). For example, the predicted position calculation means 21 predicts the person's predicted position in three seconds using a movement line vector from the past to the current position and AI. Note that the method of predicting the person's destination position by the predicted position calculation means 21 is not limited to this.

The angle calculation means 22 of the control means 14 calculates the angle from the blowout section 13a to the predicted position of the person carrying the tag 11 based on the predicted position (X _AI , Y _AI ) of the person calculated by the predicted position calculation means 21 (S4). The control means 14 transmits information on the calculated angle of the blowout section 13a to the air conditioning unit 13.

The air conditioning unit 13 receives the angle information calculated by the angle calculation means 22 and changes the direction of the blowing unit 13a (S5). Specifically, the change control unit 13b controls the direction of the blowing unit 13a based on the angle information calculated by the angle calculation means 22.

Thereafter, the air conditioning unit 13 starts blowing air (S6). That is, the air conditioning unit 13 can blow air aimed at the predicted position (X _AI , Y _AI ) of the person calculated by the predicted position calculation means 21 by blowing air in the direction of the blowing unit 13a whose angle has been adjusted.

Therefore, in the air conditioning system 1, when air is blown from the air conditioning unit 13 toward a person moving within the environment, the air can be blown in a manner that follows the movement of the person while predicting the person's destination.

In addition, because air conditioning can be controlled based on information from tags 11 that people can carry, there is no need to perform unnecessary air conditioning control. This makes it possible to prevent an increase in the environmental load.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention. In other words, the above description has been omitted or simplified as appropriate for the purpose of clarity, and a person skilled in the art can easily modify, add, or convert each element of the embodiment within the scope of the present invention.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the air conditioning unit 13 may be provided in a factory environment with a duct 31 provided on the ceiling, a blowing unit 13a that protrudes from the duct 31 and is capable of changing its direction, and a change control unit 13b that controls the direction and position of the blowing unit 13a. With this structure, a single air conditioning unit 13 connected to a duct can provide air conditioning over a wide area within the environment.

As shown in FIG. 7, the air conditioning unit 13 may be configured in a factory environment to include a duct 31 provided on the ceiling, a long protruding portion 13a that is held in a sliding manner on rails and whose direction can be changed, and a change control unit 13b that controls the direction and position of the blowing portion 13a.

For example, the air conditioning unit 13 shown in FIG. 7 has a blowing section 13a that can slide on a rail, and its position can be changed within a predetermined range. Here, the change control section 13b can control the position of the blowing section 13a, which changes as it moves on the rail. Furthermore, with this structure, a single air conditioning unit 13 connected to a duct can provide air conditioning over a wider area.

When using an air conditioning unit 13 in which the position of the blowing portion 13a can be changed significantly, it is desirable to correct the position information of the blowing portion 13a before performing calculations using the angle calculation means 22.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, the air conditioning unit 13 can be an oscillating air conditioning air supply mechanism that changes the air conditioning range only in the X direction on a specific XY plane in the environment. For example, in an environment where shelves that are continuous in the X direction are arranged with gaps in the Y direction and an aisle extending in the X direction is provided, it is possible to perform air supply over a wide range while limiting the change in the direction of the air supply from the air conditioning unit 13 to the X direction so that air is only blown into this aisle.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Air conditioning system 11 Tag 12 Anchor 13 Air conditioning unit 13a Blowing unit 13b Change control unit 14 Control means 21 Predicted position calculation means 22 Angle calculation means 31 Duct

Claims (1)

Tags that move with people and transmit location information;
An anchor that is placed at a predetermined position within a facility and transmits and receives location information of the tag;
an air conditioning unit that blows air and is provided so as to protrude from a duct provided on the ceiling, a portion of which is held in a sliding manner on a rail, and further has a blowing part whose direction can be changed;
A control unit that controls the airflow of the air conditioning unit,
The control means
a predicted position calculation means for calculating a movement vector of the tag from the position information of the tag received from the anchor, and predicting a next movement vector of the tag from the calculated movement vector to calculate a predicted arrival position;
an angle calculation means for calculating an air blowing angle at which air is blown from the air conditioning unit toward the predicted arrival position calculated by the predicted position calculation means ,
The angle calculation means
correcting position information of the blowing unit slidably driven on the rail, and then calculating an air blowing angle.
Air conditioning system.

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