Method and apparatus for controlling energy in HVAC system

• US 10,344,996 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2015
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Kyung-Jae, Lee, Yong-oh, Min, Hyun-suk, Choi, Sang-sun
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett, Ryan A
• Application Number:
  US14/679,167
• Publication Number:
  US 20150285527A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,555 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/46 Improving electric energy efficiency or saving
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/65 for selecting an operating mode
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2120/00 Control inputs relating to users or occupants
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2120/10 Occupancy
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 7/01 Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a sensor network, Machine Type Communication (MTC), Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, and technology for Internet of Things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the above technologies, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car, connected car, health care, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services. method for controlling energy in a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system includes determining whether a user is absent in a use space for energy control; if the user is absent, determining whether to initiate energy control by using a user'"'"'s departure and arrival probability and a probability distribution of a length of time away, which are determined based on previously stored data.

Claims

1. A method for controlling energy in a climate control system, the method comprising:

determining whether a user is absent in a space for energy control;

in response to the user being absent, determining whether to initiate energy control based on obtained data comprising user data, environmental data, building data, and energy control system data;

in response to determining to initiate energy control, determining a departure probability of the user for each of a plurality of time intervals and determining a probability distribution for a length of time away of the user for the each of the plurality of time intervals, based on the obtained data;

selecting a target time interval for performing energy control among the plurality of time intervals, based on an arrival probability of the user that is calculated based on the determined probability distribution, and calculating a target temperature for performing energy control for the selected target time interval; and

performing energy control based on the selected target time interval and the calculated target temperature,

wherein a length of the each of the plurality of time intervals is determined based on energy consumption corresponding to a temperature change.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the probability distribution comprises:

obtaining departure pattern information and arrival pattern information of a user group including users having similar characteristics to characteristics of the user, based on the obtained data; and

determining the departure probability and the probability distribution, based on the obtained departure pattern information and the obtained arrival pattern information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the climate control system is a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, and

wherein selecting the target time interval and calculating the target temperature comprises:

determining a desired temperature of a user group including users having similar characteristics to characteristics of the user, and determining a room temperature that is maintained when power of the HVAC system is turned off;

selecting the target time interval in which the arrival probability is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold and energy control is to be performed; and

calculating the target temperature for the selected target time interval based on the desired temperature and the room temperature.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the climate control system is a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, and

wherein the performing comprises:

calculating a preheat time required for energy control based on characteristics of the HVAC system;

determining operation reservation information for the HVAC system; and

setting reservation based on the calculated preheat time and the determined operation reservation information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user is absent comprises:

determining whether the user is absent based on at least one of a state of a door lock, data that is output from at least one sensor, and a current state of at least one device that is located in the space and connected to a network or a gateway.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the user data includes at least one of gender of the user, age of the user, purpose of travel, travel period, number of companions, and ages of the companions,

wherein the environmental data includes at least one of date, day and weather,

wherein the building data includes at least one of characteristics of an area where the building is located, information about a periphery of the building, data related to an event in a vicinity of the building, and a past or current user-specific occupancy pattern of the building, and

wherein the energy control system data includes data related to previous energy control execution.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon determining to initiate energy control, determining whether pre-reserved information is present for energy control, and in response to the pre-reserved information being present, setting reservation for performing energy control based on the pre-reserved information,

wherein the pre-reserved information comprises a time information for initiating energy control and the target temperature.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating an amount of energy consumed based on scheduling information of the energy control, and calculating the amount of energy consumed when a room temperature of the space is maintained constant; and

storing the calculated amount of energy consumed based on the scheduling information of the energy control and the calculated amount of energy consumed when a room temperature of the space is maintained constant, to use for future energy control.

9. An apparatus for controlling energy in a climate control system, the apparatus comprising:

a storage configured to store obtained data comprising user data, environmental data, building data, and energy control system data;

a temperature sensor configured to detect a room temperature of a space for energy control; and

a temperature controller configured to;

determine whether a user is absent in the space;

in response to the user being absent, determine whether to initiate energy control based on the obtained data;

in response to determining to initiate energy control, determine a departure probability of the user for each of a plurality of time intervals and determine a probability distribution for a length of time away of the user for the each of the plurality of time intervals, based on the obtained data;

select a target time interval for performing energy control among the plurality of time intervals, based on an arrival probability that is calculated based on the determined probability distribution, and calculate a target temperature for performing energy control for the selected target time interval; and

perform energy control based on the selected target time interval and the calculated target temperature,

wherein a length of the each of the plurality of time intervals is determined based on energy consumption corresponding to a temperature change.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the temperature controller is configured to:

obtain departure pattern information and arrival pattern information of a user group including users having similar characteristics to the characteristics of the user, based on the obtained data; and

determine the departure probability and the probability distribution, based on the obtained departure pattern information and the obtained arrival pattern information.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the climate control system is a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, and

wherein the temperature controller is configured to:

determine a desired temperature of a user group including users having similar characteristics to characteristics of the user, and determine a room temperature that is maintained when power of the HVAC system is turned off;

select the target time interval in which the arrival probability is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold and energy control is to be performed; and

calculate the target temperature for the selected target time interval based on the desired temperature and the room temperature.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the climate control system is a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, and

wherein the temperature controller is configured to:

calculate a preheat time required for energy control based on characteristics of the HVAC system;

determine operation reservation information for the HVAC system; and

set reservation based on the calculated preheat time and the determined operation reservation information.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the temperature sensor is configured to determine whether the user is absent based on at least one of a state of a door lock, data that is output from at least one sensor, and a current state of at least one device that is located in the space and connected to a network or a gateway.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the user data includes at least one of gender of the user, age of the user, purpose of travel, travel period, a number of companions, and ages of the companions,

wherein the environmental data includes at least one of date, day and weather,

wherein the building data includes at least one of characteristics of an area where the building is located, information about a periphery of the building, data related to an event in a vicinity of the building, and a past or current user-specific occupancy pattern of the building, and

wherein the energy control system data includes data related to previous energy control execution.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the temperature controller is configured to:

upon determining to initiate energy control, determine whether pre-reserved information is present for energy control, and in response to the pre-reserved information being present, set a reservation for performing energy control based on the pre-reserved information,

wherein the pre-reserved information comprises a time information for initiating energy control and the target temperature.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the temperature controller is configured to:

calculate an amount of energy consumed based on scheduling information of the energy control, and calculate the amount of energy consumed when a room temperature of the space is maintained constant; and

store the calculated amount of energy consumed based on the scheduling information of the energy control and the calculated amount of energy consumed when a room temperature of the space is maintained constant, to use for future energy control.

17. A method of controlling a climate in a room, the method comprising:

determining whether a user is present in the room; and

in response to the user being not present in the room for a period of time, initiating a temperature control sequence,

wherein the temperature control sequence comprises;

collecting information about departure habits of the user and arrival habits of the user;

determining an arrival probability of the user in each of a plurality of time intervals based on the departure habits of the user and arrival habits of the user;

determining an arrival probability of the user in a current time interval by comparing the current time interval to each of the plurality of time intervals; and

adjusting a temperature of the room according to the determined arrival probability,

wherein a length of the each of the plurality of time intervals is determined based on energy consumption corresponding to a temperature change.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the determining whether the user is present in the room comprises at least one of detecting a card key in a lock and detecting motion using a motion sensor.