Robots again

From: Captain Napalm <spc_at_armigeron.com>
Date: Tue Mar 17 22:19:44 1998

It was thus said that the Great Bill Yakowenko once stated:
>
> OBCC: Is there any such thing as a stored-program analog computer?
> I guess Babbage's analytic engine would fit that category, but all
> of the other analog "computers" that I've heard of (not many) just
> performed some fixed calculation. In my book, a stored program with
> sequence-control makes the difference between a computer and a
> calculator, manufacturer's labelling notwithstanding.

  Several years ago I had the pleasure of seeing an actual analog computer.
The professor I worked for (a clinical psychologist working in the math
department at the university I attended - it's best not to ask 8-) aquired
it for his research into chaos theory. It was a rather large beast,
something like 8' high, 10' long, 5' deep, weighing on the order of a ton or
two (I don't recall the make or model - it has since been scrapped). Each
program was stored on a board some 5'x4' using patch wires. The board was
the front of the computer and the particular model we had had three boards
that could be "programmed" although only one program was written for it
during the time the professor had it.

  Not sure if this fits the bill though.

  -spc (Real cool once it worked)
Received on Tue Mar 17 1998 - 22:19:44 GMT