Refrigerator and method for controlling refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerator may include: a main body defining a storage chamber; a door configured to open and close the storage chamber; a refrigeration cycle device including a compressor and an evaporator and operable to cool the storage chamber; a thermoelectric element operable to cool the storage chamber; at least one sensor configured to produce sensor data associated with the refrigerator; and at least one processor configured to: operate the compressor to perform a refrigeration cycle based on a cooling condition being satisfied, start a cooling mode based on a defined condition associated with a time that the door is open being satisfied, and based on the cooling mode being started, obtain a predicted temperature value of the storage chamber from a temperature prediction model based on the sensor data produced by the at least one sensor, and operate the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber based on a difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and a target temperature value being greater than a defined value.

1 . A refrigerator comprising:
 a main body defining a storage chamber;   a door configured to open and close the storage chamber;   a refrigeration cycle device including a compressor and an evaporator and operable to cool the storage chamber;   a thermoelectric element operable to cool the storage chamber;   at least one sensor configured to produce sensor data associated with the refrigerator; and   at least one processor configured to:
 operate the compressor to perform a refrigeration cycle based on a cooling condition being satisfied, 
 start a cooling mode based on a defined condition associated with a time that the door is open being satisfied, and 
 based on the cooling mode being started,
 obtain a predicted temperature value of the storage chamber from a temperature prediction model based on the sensor data produced by the at least one sensor, and 
 operate the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber based on a difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and a target temperature value being greater than a defined value. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to terminate the cooling mode by stopping operating the thermoelectric element in response to the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value being less than or equal to a reference value after operating the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber. 
     
     
         3 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to terminate the cooling mode without operating the thermoelectric element based on the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value being less than or equal to the defined value until the refrigeration cycle is performed a defined number of times. 
     
     
         4 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the target temperature value based on a set temperature and the sensor data produced by the at least one sensor. 
     
     
         5 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to operate the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber based on the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value being greater than the defined value while the refrigeration cycle is being performed such that the thermoelectric element and the compressor are being operated together. 
     
     
         6 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to operate the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber based on the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value being greater than the defined value while the refrigeration cycle is not being performed such that only the thermoelectric element is being operated from among the thermoelectric element and the compressor. 
     
     
         7 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 operate the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber based on a first control parameter in response to the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value being greater than the defined value, and   while operating the thermoelectric element based on a second control parameter in response to a control condition having higher priority than the cooling mode being satisfied, even though the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value is greater than the defined value, keep operating the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber based on the second control parameter.   
     
     
         8 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 obtain the predicted temperature value of the storage chamber from the temperature prediction model at defined intervals, and   change the defined intervals based on a temperature of the storage chamber.   
     
     
         9 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 obtain the predicted temperature value of the storage chamber from the temperature prediction model at defined intervals, and   change the defined intervals based on the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value.   
     
     
         10 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein
 the at least one processor includes:
 a first processor configured to control the refrigeration cycle device and the thermoelectric element; and 
 a second processor configured to obtain the predicted temperature value of the storage chamber from the temperature prediction model; and 
   the first processor is further configured to send to the second processor an instruction to obtain the predicted temperature value from the temperature prediction model in response to the cooling mode being started, and   the second processor is further configured to:
 obtain the predicted temperature value from the temperature prediction model in response to the instruction of the first processor being received, and 
 send the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model to the first processor. 
   
     
     
         11 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control a duty ratio of the thermoelectric element based on the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value. 
     
     
         12 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine whether to operate the compressor based on the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value. 
     
     
         13 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein
 the defined condition includes a cumulative time that the door is open exceeding a defined time, and   the at least one processor is further configured to initialize the cumulative time based on the cooling mode being started.   
     
     
         14 . A method for controlling a refrigerator including a main body defining a storage chamber, a door configured to open and close the storage chamber, a refrigeration cycle device including a compressor and an evaporator and operable to cool the storage chamber, a thermoelectric element operable to cool the storage chamber, at least one sensor configured to produce sensor data associated with the refrigerator, and at least one processor, the method comprising:
 by the at least one processor,
 operating the compressor to perform a refrigeration cycle based on a cooling condition being satisfied, 
 starting a cooling mode based on a defined condition associated with a time that the door is open being satisfied, and 
 based on the cooling mode being started,
 obtaining a predicted temperature value of the storage chamber from a temperature prediction model based on the sensor data produced by the at least one sensor, and 
 operating a thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber based on a difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and a target temperature value being greater than a defined value. 
 
   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 by the at least one processor,
 terminating the cooling mode by stopping operating the thermoelectric element in response to the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value being less than or equal to a reference value after operating the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 by the at least one processor,   terminating the cooling mode without operating the thermoelectric element based on the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value being less than or equal to the defined value until the refrigeration cycle is performed a defined number of times.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 by the at least one processor,   determining the target temperature value based on a set temperature and the sensor data produced by the at least one sensor.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the operating the thermoelectric element comprises:
 operating the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber based on the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value being greater than the defined value while the refrigeration cycle is being performed such that the thermoelectric element and the compressor are being operated together.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the operating the thermoelectric element comprises:
 operating the thermoelectric element to cool the storage chamber based on the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value being greater than the defined value while the refrigeration cycle is not being performed such that only the thermoelectric element is being operated from among the thermoelectric element and the compressor.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 by the at least one processor,   obtaining the predicted temperature value of the storage chamber from the temperature prediction model at defined intervals; and   changing the defined intervals based on at least one of a temperature of the storage chamber or the difference between the predicted temperature value obtained from the temperature prediction model and the target temperature value.