A Fuzzy Logic-Based Automation toward Intelligent Air Conditioning Systems

Abstract

Most of the energy used in residential buildings originates from air conditioners. Meanwhile, air conditioner manufacturers are addressing this issue by the production of efficient air conditioners. However, the convertible frequency air conditioners are expensive, up to 60% higher than the fixed frequency control air conditioners. Besides the human behavior in determining the temperature, setpoint plays an important role regardless of the air conditioners technology used. This study incorporated intelligence in setting up the temperature by means of specially designed remote control. The Tsukamoto fuzzy reasoning was utilized as a decision making system with two inputs, namely the outdoor temperature and the number of occupants. The device used DHT22 as the temperature sensor and HC-SR04 to detect incoming and outgoing occupants. Furthermore, the fuzzy inference system generated infrared signal associated with the temperature setpoint. This signal was received by the air conditioner receiver to adjust the temperature setpoint accordingly. The result of this study showed that the fuzzy inference system determines the temperature setpoint appropriately under variations of surrounding temperature and the number of occupants. The proposed approach yielded a satisfactory perception of thermal comfort and also a promising approach to energy conservation.