# US 10,871,302 B2 · Artificial intelligence air conditioner and control method thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,871,302 B2 - Document ID: US10871302B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/845,672 - Filed: 2017-12-18 - Published: 2018-07-26 - Granted: 2020-12-22 - Earliest claimed: 2016-12-19 - Assignees: LG Electronics Inc. - Applicants: LG Electronics Inc. - Inventors: Taeyup Song; Jaeyong Song; Dongwoo Han - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10871302B2 ## CPC - F24F 11/65: for selecting an operating mode - F24F 11/64: using pre-stored data - F24F 11/74: for controlling air flow rate or air velocity - F24F 11/77: by controlling the speed of ventilators - F24F 11/79: for controlling the direction of the supplied air - G05B 13/027: {using neural networks only} - G06V 10/82: using neural networks - G06V 20/52: Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69) - G06V 40/10: Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands - F24F 11/54: using one central controller connected to several sub-controllers - F24F 11/56: Remote control - F24F 2120/12: Position of occupants - Y02B 30/70: Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating - F24F: AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING (removing dirt or fumes from areas where they are produced B08B15/00; vertical ducts for carrying away waste gases from buildings E04F17/02; tops for chimneys or ventilating shafts, terminals for flues F23L17/02) - G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G) - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract An artificial intelligence 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. ## Claims ### Claim 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, and wherein the area recognition device separates the plurality of areas into a residential living area, a movement living area, and a non-living area, the airflow controller controls the airflow differently depending on the residential living area, the movement living area, and the non-living area, and controls airflow for cooling the residential living area first and before cooling the movement living area and the non-living area; and 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, an area recognizer that distinguishes the living area with respect to the plurality of areas based on a result of determining the location of the occupant, and a signal generator that provides an airflow control signal based on the distinguished living area, and wherein a direction of airflow is controlled so that airflow is transmitted only toward the resident living area in an intensive cooling/heating mode, wherein the direction of airflow is controlled so as to be transmitted only toward the living area in a direct heating and cooling mode, wherein the direction of airflow is controlled such that an indirect cooling/heating operation is performed to transmit airflow only to the non-living area and the movement living area, except for the residential living area in an indirect cooling/heating mode, wherein the area recognition device accumulates results of determining the location of the occupant to a histogram, and distinguishes the living area with respect to the plurality of areas based on the accumulated results of determining the location of the occupant, wherein the histogram is generated in a matrix type in which detection frequency by distances and angles have a plurality of rows and columns. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) 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. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) 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. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) 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 the 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. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) 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.