Mechanical Monsters: Part 2 Flashcards
Need for complex numbers
Design of electrical devices and apparatus (telephone lines) involved extensive calculations and manipulation of complex numbers
Stibitz Prototype (1938)
Stored a 2 bit number;
Had 2 light bulbs powered by 2 manual relays, and 2 large batteries as power source
Purpose of the Stibitz prototype (1938)
To see if such a device using relays was even possible
Who made the Complex number calculator(1940)
Stibitz had the idea, Williams designed the relay circuits and oversaw the project
Operations of the complex number calculator
Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division; Used a keyboard
Significance of the complex number calculator
First machine to use timesharing;
Remote access (Dartmouth college connecting to calculator in New York)
complex number calculator details
Only required 450 telephone relays;
Logic was simplified using Binary coded decimal
Relay Interpolator Model II
Not only solved the task for AA gun tracking, but also became a general use computer
Relay Interpolator Model II reliability
Relays would eventually fail through wear and tear
Bi-Quinary encoding
Each decimal digit would require 7 relays;
1 = relay set, 0 = not set
Relay Interpolator Model II specification
5 registers (digits);
Input: Tape;
Output: Printer
Upgrade to Relay Interpolator Model III
More memory, relays, could now perform division and multiplication
Upgrade to Relay Interpolator Model IV
Added feature to allow for the calculation of negative angles
Upgrade to Relay Interpolator Model V
Could handle the case where errors was detected, but was slower; Used CADET architecture
Upgrade to Relay Interpolator Model VI
Could store 10 digit numbers rather than 7
