Design and installation of an advanced EIB™ fuzzy indoor comfort controller using Matlab™

The aim of this paper is to present the design and installation of a fuzzy logic controller of indoor thermal and visual comfort as well as indoor air quality, using the EIB (European Installation Bus) system through interconnection with Matlab. An experimental chamber is implemented for testing and optimization of the system. The chamber which controls the indoor environment, consists of interconnected nodes (sensors and actuators) in an EIB fieldbus network infrastructure connected with a PC, through RS-232 port. Control is achieved by a fuzzy controller, which is programmed in Matlab. The interconnection between EIB and Matlab is realized via the EIB OPC server and an OPC Client for Matlab. In this way artificial intelligence control, EIB-based platforms and Matlab are interconnected in order to explore the possibilities of using advanced control techniques in energy efficient practices in real buildings. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.