Patent ID: 7386421

Claim:
A control system, comprising an energy measurement portion, a plurality of control portions, at least one comparison portion, and at least one judgment portion, wherein the energy measurement portion sends to the judgment portion energy information relating to an amount of energy consumed by the control portions, the comparison portion includes a sampling portion that samples observation information and a storage portion that has target information, and sends to the judgment portion a comparison result in which the observation information and the target information are compared, the judgment portion carries out a judgment as to whether a predetermined condition is met, based on the energy information and the comparison result, and sends a result of the judgment to the control portions, the control portions are capable of carrying out, based on the judgment result, variation control in which a current control value is changed by a predetermined variation amount, and return control, the observation information is generated based on control values controlled by the plurality of control potions, the control portions carry out the variation control through at least one of: setting of the predetermined variation amount as an amount that is varied randomly; setting of a return variation amount in the return control as an amount that is varied randomly; random changing of a timing for carrying out the variation control; and random changing of the frequency of the variation control, and return the control amount to a previous value when the energy consumption has increased as a result of the change in the control amount, and, when the judgment is that the predetermined condition is not met after the variation control, the control portions cause the observation information to approach the target information by returning the control amount to a previous value so that the predetermined condition is met.