American Computer & Robotics Museum facts for kids

American Computer & Robotics Museum

Established	May 1990
Location	2023 Stadium Drive, Suite 1-A, Bozeman, Montana
Type	Computer museum

The American Computer & Robotics Museum (ACRM) is a cool place in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It's a museum that shows the amazing history of computers, how we communicate, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics.

The museum's main goal is to look at the past and imagine the future of the "Information Age." This means they explore how technology has changed our world. They do this through interesting exhibits, fun stories, and by sharing new ideas.

History of the museum

The American Computer & Robotics Museum was started by George and Barbara Keremedjiev. They created it as a non-profit organization in May 1990. A non-profit organization uses its money to help its cause, not to make a profit for owners. It's probably the oldest museum in the world focused on computer history that is still open today!

The museum has collected items that show over 4,000 years of computing history. This includes everything from ancient tools to modern technology. George Keremedjiev passed away in 2018. But his wife Barbara, the museum's board, and its director are still working hard. They continue his goal to "collect, preserve, interpret, and display" the history of the information age.

Exhibits on display

The museum has many exciting exhibits you can explore.

Benchmarks of the Information Age

This exhibit shows how information technology has grown over time. It starts around 1860 B.C.E. (Before Common Era) with ancient writing systems. It goes all the way up to 1976 C.E. (Common Era) with the first Apple I personal computer.

NASA Apollo Program

You can see real NASA artifacts here! These items are on loan from the National Air and Space Museum. They include an Apollo Guidance Computer, which helped guide spacecraft to the Moon. You can also see a watch worn on the Moon by Apollo 15 Commander David Scott. Plus, there's the last surviving mainframe computer from the Apollo 11 mission, a UNIVAC 418-II.

Early Personal Computers

This part of the museum has a huge collection of early personal computers. You can see famous ones like the Altair 8800, IMSAI 8080, Commodore PET, Apple II, Apple Lisa, and the first Apple Macintosh.

Other Cool Exhibits

The museum also has exhibits about:

• The Enigma machine used for codebreaking during World War II.
• Neural computing and artificial intelligence.
• Old office and communications technology.
• Robotics and automation, even with some Hollywood movie props!
• The history of video games.
• The future of computing, including quantum computing.

The museum's special exhibit right now is the Vintage Mac Museum. This is a private collection of old Apple Macintosh computers. It was recently given to the ACRM by the family of a collector named Adam Rosen.

Awards

The American Computer & Robotics Museum has won important awards.

In 1994, it won the Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits. This award is from the Society for the History of Technology.

Since 1997, the museum has given out the Stibitz-Wilson awards. These awards celebrate people who have made big changes in technology.

Stibitz Award

The George R. Stibitz Computer & Communications Innovator Award is named after Dr. George R. Stibitz. He built the first electric binary adding machine in 1937.

Wilson Award

The Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Innovator Award is named for Dr. Edward O. Wilson. He was a famous professor from Harvard who studied biodiversity.

Lifetime Achievement Award

In 2011, the museum added a new award category called Lifetime Achievement. This award honors people who have made important contributions over their entire careers.

Collection

The ACRM has a huge collection of items that show over 4,000 years of information technology.

Ancient Technology

The collection starts with a Babylonian cuneiform tablet from around 1860 to 1837 B.C.E. It also has a copy of the Antikythera Mechanism. This was an ancient Greek analog computer from about 80 B.C.E. It was used to predict where planets would be and when eclipses would happen.

Historical Documents and Books

The museum has many old books, documents, and artifacts about computing and communication. Some date back to 1605! This includes original writings by famous thinkers like Francis Bacon and René Descartes. You can also see original copies of Isaac Newton's Principia and Opticks.

Early Office and Military Technology

The museum has a large collection of early office machines. These include mechanical adding machines, old calculators, telephones, and typewriters. They also have military technology, like a Minuteman 1 Missile Guidance Computer and a Norden bombsight.

Robots and Mainframes

You can see mechanical, electrical, and electronic toys, and even an industrial robot. There's also a copy of the Model K, which was the first binary adder. Its inventor, George R. Stibitz, built this copy for the museum himself!

The museum also has many large mainframe computers from the 1950s to the 1990s. These include the IBM 1620 Model II and the UNIVAC 1004.

One special computer is the UNIVAC 418-II. NASA used this computer to help with the Apollo missions, including Apollo 11. It was also used for the first Space Shuttle tests. This UNIVAC 418-II is the last surviving mainframe computer that NASA used for the Apollo missions!

Signed Artifacts

The ACRM has some very special items signed by famous people. You can see an original Altair 8800 signed by Ed Roberts. There's also an original Apple I computer signed and given to the museum by Steve Wozniak. The museum even has a January 1975 Popular Electronics Magazine announcing the Altair. This magazine is signed by Ed Roberts, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Monte Davidoff.

See also

• Computer museum