IoT Based Architecture for Model Predictive Control of HVAC Systems in Smart Buildings
1
Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Polytechnic of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
2
CRIStAL Laboratory UMR 9189, Ecole-Central of Lille, 59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Sensors 2020, 20(3), 781; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20030781
Received: 16 December 2019 / Revised: 10 January 2020 / Accepted: 28 January 2020 / Published: 31 January 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensor Based Smart Grid in Internet of Things Era)
The efficient management of Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems in smart buildings is one of the main applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. In this paper we propose an IoT based architecture for the implementation of Model Predictive Control (MPC) of HVAC systems in real environments. The considered MPC algorithm optimizes on line, in a closed-loop control fashion, both the indoor thermal comfort and the related energy consumption for a single zone environment. Thanks to the proposed IoT based architecture, the sensing, control, and actuating subsystems are all connected to the Internet, and a remote interface with the HVAC control system is guaranteed to end-users. In particular, sensors and actuators communicate with a remote database server and a control unit, which provides the control actions to be actuated in the HVAC system; users can set remotely the control mode and related set-points of the system; while comfort and environmental indices are transferred via the Internet and displayed on the end-users’ interface. The proposed IoT based control architecture is implemented and tested in a campus building at the Polytechnic of Bari (Italy) in a proof of concept perspective. The effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm is assessed in the real environment evaluating both the thermal comfort results and the energy savings with respect to a classical thermostat regulation approach.
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Keywords:
Internet of Things; Model Predictive Control; Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning System; Predicted Mean Vote; smart buildings
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MDPI and ACS Style
Carli, R.; Cavone, G.; Ben Othman, S.; Dotoli, M. IoT Based Architecture for Model Predictive Control of HVAC Systems in Smart Buildings. Sensors 2020, 20, 781. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20030781
AMA Style
Carli R, Cavone G, Ben Othman S, Dotoli M. IoT Based Architecture for Model Predictive Control of HVAC Systems in Smart Buildings. Sensors. 2020; 20(3):781. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20030781
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarli, Raffaele; Cavone, Graziana; Ben Othman, Sarah; Dotoli, Mariagrazia. 2020. "IoT Based Architecture for Model Predictive Control of HVAC Systems in Smart Buildings" Sensors 20, no. 3: 781. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20030781
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