Air conditioner and control method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018209681-A1
Application number	US-201715845672-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 18, 2017
Priority date	Dec 19, 2016
Publication date	Jul 26, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

An air conditioner may include a camera to obtain an image, an area recognition module for recognizing an area in which an occupant is located in an indoor space divided into a plurality of areas from the image obtained by the camera and distinguishing a living area with respect to the plurality of areas based on a result of recognizing a location of the occupant, and an airflow controller controlling airflow based on the distinguished living area, whereby airflow optimized for each living area of the indoor space may be controlled.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An air conditioner comprising:
a camera that obtains an image of an indoor space; an area recognition device that determines, from the image obtained by the camera, a location of an occupant in the indoor space that is separated into a plurality of areas, and the area recognition device distinguishes a living area with respect to the plurality of areas based on a result of determining the location of the occupant; and an airflow controller that controls airflow of the air conditioner based on the distinguished living area.

2 . The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the area recognition device accumulates results of determining a location of an occupant, and distinguishes the living area with respect to the plurality of areas based on the results of the accumulated locations.

3 . The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the area recognition device includes:
a human body recognizer that determines, from the image obtained from the camera, presence or absence of the occupant and the location of the occupant; and an area recognizer that distinguishes the living area with respect to the plurality of areas based on the result of determining the location of the occupant.

4 . The air conditioner of claim 3 , wherein the area recognition device includes a signal generator that provides an airflow control signal based on the distinguished living area.

5 . The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the airflow controller provides a control signal based on the distinguished living area.

6 . The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the area recognition device separates the plurality of areas into the living area and a non-living area.

7 . The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the area recognition device separates the plurality of areas into a residential living area, a movement living area, and a non-living area.

8 . The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the airflow controller controls a fan motor or a wind direction adjusting device based on the distinguished living area.

9 . The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the area recognition device distinguishes the living area with respect to the plurality of areas using the result of determining the location of the occupant as input of data previously learned by machine learning.

10 . The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the area recognition device includes an artificial neural network that is previously learned by machine learning, and
the area recognition device accumulates the result of determining the location of the occupant and provides a histogram that includes information on the plurality of areas, and the area recognition device distinguishes the living area by using the histogram as input data of the artificial neural network.

11 . The air conditioner of claim 1 , further comprising:
a communication device that receives, from a server, data related to machine learning, wherein the area recognition device is updated based on the data, received from the server, related to machine learning.

12 . A control method of an air conditioner, the control method comprising:
obtaining, by a camera, an image of an indoor space; determining, from the image obtained by the camera, a location of an occupant in the indoor space that is separated into a plurality of areas; distinguishing a living area with respect to the plurality of areas based on a result of determining the location of the occupant; and controlling airflow of the air conditioner based on the distinguished living area.

13 . The control method of claim 12 , further comprising:
accumulating results of determining a location of an occupant, wherein distinguishing the living area includes distinguishing the living area with respect to the plurality of areas based on the results of the accumulated locations.

14 . The control method of claim 12 , wherein controlling the airflow includes controlling a fan motor or a wind direction adjusting device based on the distinguished living area.

15 . The control method of claim 12 , wherein distinguishing the living area includes separating the plurality of areas into the living area and a non-living area.

16 . The control method of claim 12 , wherein distinguishing the living area includes separating the plurality of areas into a residential living area, a movement living area, and a non-living area.

17 . The control method of claim 12 , wherein distinguishing the living area includes distinguishing the living area with respect to the plurality of areas using the result of determining the location of the occupant as input of data that is previously learned by machine learning.

18 . The control method of claim 12 , further comprising:
accumulating the result of determining the location of the occupant and providing a histogram that includes information on the plurality of areas, and wherein distinguishing the living area includes distinguishing the living area by using the histogram as input data of an artificial neural network that is previously learned by machine learning.

19 . The control method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving data related to machine learning from a server; and updating the previously learned data based on the data, received from the server, related to machine learning.

20 . An air conditioner comprising:
a camera that obtains an image of an indoor space; and a controller that is configured to:
determine, from the image obtained by the camera, a location of an occupant in one of a plurality of areas of the indoor space,
determine, from the plurality of areas, a living area as the determined location of the occupant based on previous location data of the occupant, and
control a direction or strength of airflow to the living area.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Song Taeyup
• Song Jaeyong
• Han Dongwoo

Classifications

• F24F11/54

  using one central controller connected to several sub-controllers · CPC title

• F24F11/65 Primary

  for selecting an operating mode · CPC title

• F24F11/74

  for controlling air flow rate or air velocity · CPC title

• F24F11/79

  for controlling the direction of the supplied air · CPC title

• F24F11/56

  Remote control · CPC title