VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONER (VAC) CONTROL  SYSTEM BASED ON PASSENGER COMFORT:  A PROOF OF CONCEPT

Suroto Munahar; Bagiyo Condro Purnomo; Muhammad Izzudin; Muji Setiyo; Madihah Mohd Saudi

doi:10.31436/iiumej.v23i1.1812

Authors

Suroto Munahar Department of Automotive Engineering
Bagiyo Condro Purnomo Department of Automotive Engineering
Muhammad Izzudin Department of Automotive Engineering
Muji Setiyo Universitas Muhammadiyah Magelang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6582-5340
Madihah Mohd Saudi Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9120-1702

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumej.v23i1.1812

Keywords:

Air conditioner, Control system, Humidity, Temperature

Abstract

The air conditioning system (AC) in passenger cars requires precise control to provide a comfortable and healthy driving. In an AC system with limited manual control, the driver has to repeatedly change the setting to improve comfort. This problem may be overcome by implementing an automatic control system to maintain cabin temperature and humidity to meet passenger's thermal comfort. Therefore, this paper presents the development of a laboratory-scale prototype air conditioning control system to regulate temperature, humidity and air circulation in the cabin. The experimental results show that the control system is able to control air temperature in the range of 21 °C to 23 °C and cabin air humidity between 40% to 60% in various simulated environmental conditions which indicate acceptance for comfort and health standards in the vehicle. In conclusion, this method can be applied to older vehicles with reasonable modifications.

ABSTRAK: Sistem penyejuk udara (AC) pada kenderaan penumpang memerlukan ketepatan kawalan bagi menyediakan keselesaan dan kesejahteraan pemanduan. Melalui sistem AC dengan kawalan manual terhad, pemandu perlu berulang kali mengubah penyesuaian latar bagi meningkatkan keselesaan. Masalah ini dapat diatasi dengan menerapkan sistem kawalan automatik bagi menjaga suhu dan kelembapan kabin agar memenuhi keselesaan suhu penumpang. Oleh itu, kajian ini merupakan pembangunan prototaip sistem kawalan AC skala laboratari bagi mengawal suhu, kelembapan dan peredaran udara dalam kabin. Hasil eksperimen menunjukkan sistem kawalan ini mampu mengendali suhu udara pada kitaran 21 °C hingga 23 °C dan kelembaban udara kabin antara 40% hingga 60% pada pelbagai keadaan persekitaran simulasi yang menunjukkan penerimaan standard keselesaan dan kesejahteraan kenderaan. Sebagai kesimpulan, cara ini dapat diaplikasi pada kenderaan lama dengan modifikasi bersesuaian.

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