Controlling the fluid factors of an environment by sensor and actuator networks

Recently, wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) have been widely discussed. An important application of WSANs is the control of environmental fluid factors, such as temperatures, in an environment. In this paper, we study the control of temperatures in an indoor environment with energy saving in mind. Temperature sensors are deployed in a regular grid or a random manner. Actuators are controllable air conditioners with multiple outlets. Users may be located in any places in the environment. We consider two user satisfaction models: binary and continuous. Based on these assumptions, we present models and control mechanisms to adjust air conditioners to meet users' requirements. Simulation results show that our mechanisms can indeed achieve our goals in an efficient way.