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Smart HVAC System

Smart HVAC System that can optimize energy consumption by adjusting the air conditioning power intensity in different zones inside an office

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Problem:
The problem often found in HVAC systems is that energy got wasted because the system uses more energy than necessary or the system cannot quickly adjust to the changing needs in a dynamic environment. To tackle the problem, we need a system that manages its power intensity based on what is necessary for each zones in real-time for a given environment. The power intensity necessary for each zones can be derived from the following data: number of person, time duration spent inside, and/or the person’s activity.

Our Solution:
Smart HVAC System that can optimize energy consumption by adjusting the power intensity in different zones inside an office or a residential space (zones with more people, more activity and longer time durations will need more cooling/heating and vice versa). The zone heat mapping will be generated using data obtained from Nicla Vision (with Edge Impulse's ML model embedded) that’s mounted on the ceiling, but not as a surveillance cam

The project uses Edge Impulse FOMO (Faster Objects More Objects) custom ML algorithm  to detect multiple objects and its coordinates using a compact micro-controller with on-board camera (Nicla Vision). The object detection ML model will use the top view of miniature figures with standing and sitting positions as objects. The data captured will be divided into training and test data. Then the Impulse with Image and Object Detection as learning blocks and grayscale color blocks will be created.

The accuracy result for this training and test model is above 90% so there is confidence when counting the number of objects (person) and tracking its centroid coordinates.

The ML model is then deployed to the Nicla Vision. The number of objects in each zone is displayed into the OLED display. The Nicla Vision also communicates to an Arduino Nano via I2C which we are using for the fan speed controller.

This system will increase fan intensity on areas/zone that need more cooling/heating, which means more activity/people on a certain zone will increase fan intensity on that zone. The total HVAC power output can also be adjusted based on the total number of people in the space.

The project tested using a 1:50 scale model with an office interior with several partitions and furniture and miniature figures. The space is divided into 4 zones, each zone has a small fan installed. The OLED display is used in this demo to show the output of this simulation.

System Diagram, Arduino Nicla Vision, aluminium extrusion frame, and 3D printed miniature model (1:50)

Prototyping in breadboard, and Smart HVAC System with our custom design PCB

Nicla_front.stl

Upper part case for Nicla Vision

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 270.79 kB - 06/25/2023 at 08:08

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Nicla_Bottom.stl

Bottom part case for Nicla Vision

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 136.41 kB - 06/25/2023 at 08:08

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SmartHVAC_gerber (1).zip

Smart HVAC PCB design with Raspberry Pico as peripheral

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nanoHVAC_gerbers.zip

Smart HVAC PCB design with Arduino Nano as peripheral

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Standard Tesselated Geometry - 20.98 kB - 06/25/2023 at 08:08

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View all 11 files

  • 1 × Arduino Nicla Vision Ready-to-use standalone camera for analyzing and processing images on the edge
  • 1 × Arduino Nano or Raspberry Pico As a peripheral via I2C to control OLED and DC fan motors
  • 2 × TB6612 Motor Driver
  • 4 × DC 5V Mini Fan (3cm)
  • 1 × SSD1306 0.96inch LED Display with yellow and blue color display

View all 11 components

View all 2 project logs

  • 1
    Prepare Data / Photos

    In this project we will use a smartphone camera to capture the images for data collection for ease of use. Take picture from above in different positions with backgrounds of varying angles lighting condition to ensure that the model can work under slightly different conditions (to prevent overfitting). FYI, lighting and object size are crucial aspect to ensure the performance of this model.

    Note: Keep the size of the objects similar in size in the pictures. Significant difference in object size will confuse the FOMO (Edge Impulse Faster Objects More Objects) algorithm.

  • 2
    Data acquisition, and labelling

    Open studio.edgeimpulse.com , login (or create an account first) then create a new project.

    Choose Images project option, then Classify Multiple Objects. In Dashboard > Project Info, choose Bounding Boxes for labelling method and Nicla Vision for target device. Then in Data acquisition, click on Upload Data tab, choose your photo files, auto split, then click Begin upload.

    Click on Labelling queue tab then start drag a box around an object and label it (person) and Save. Repeat.. until all images labelled.

    Make sure that the ratio between Training and  Test data is ideal, around 80/20.

  • 3
    Training and building model using FOMO Object Detection

    Once you have the dataset ready, go to Create Impulse and set 96 x 96 as image width - height (this help in keeping the ML model small in memory size). Then choose Fit shortest axis, and choose Image and Object Detection as learning blocks.

    Go to Image parameter section, select color depth as Grayscale then press Save parameters. Then click on Generate and navigate to Object Detection section, and leave training setting for Neural Network as it is — in our case is quite balanced pre-trained model, then we choose FOMO (MobileNet V2 0.35). Train the  model by press the Start training.. and you can see the progress.

    If everything is OK, then we can test the model, go to Model Testing section and click Classify all. Our result is above 90%, then we can move on to the next step — deployment.

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