Analog computer facts for kids
An analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computer that uses the continuously changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved. In contrast, digital computers represent varying quantities symbolically and by discrete values of both time and amplitude.
Analog computers can have a very wide range of complexity. Slide rules and nomograms are the simplest, while naval gunfire control computers and large hybrid digital/analog computers were among the most complicated. Systems for process control and protective relays used analog computation to perform control and protective functions.
Analog computers were widely used in scientific and industrial applications even after the advent of digital computers, because at the time they were typically much faster, but they started to become obsolete as early as the 1950s and 1960s, although remained in use in some specific applications, such as aircraft flight simulators, the flight computer in aircraft, and for teaching control systems in universities.
More complex applications, such as aircraft flight simulators and synthetic aperture radar, remained the domain of analog computing (and hybrid computing) well into the 1980s, since digital computers were insufficient for the task.
Analog computing devices are fast, digital computing devices are more versatile and accurate, so the idea is to combine the two processes for the best efficiency. This kind of hybrid technique is mainly used for fast dedicated real time computation when computing time is very critical as signal processing for radars and generally for controllers in embedded systems.
In the early 1970s analog computer manufacturers tried to tie together their analog computer with a digital computer to get the advantages of the two techniques. In such systems, the digital computer controlled the analog computer, providing initial set-up, initiating multiple analog runs, and automatically feeding and collecting data.
The largest manufacturer of hybrid computers was Electronics Associates. Their hybrid computer model 8900 was made of a digital computer and one or more analog consoles. These systems were mainly dedicated to large projects such as the Apollo program and Space Shuttle at NASA.
Only one company was known as offering general commercial computing services on its hybrid computers, CISI of France, in the 1970s.
The best reference in this field is the 100,000 simulations runs for each certification of the automatic landing systems of Airbus and Concorde aircraft.
After 1980, purely digital computers progressed more and more rapidly and were fast enough to compete with analog computers.
Images for kids
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TR-10 desktop analog computer of the late 1960s and early 70s
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Polish analog computer AKAT-1 (1959)
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EAI 8800 Analog computing system used for hardware-in-the-loop simulation of a Claas tractor (1986)
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Analog circuit for the dynamics of a spring-mass system (without scaling factors)
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Damped motion of a spring-mass system
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William Ferrel's tide-predicting machine of 1881–1882
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Switching board of EAI 8800 analog computer (front view)
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A 1960 Newmark analogue computer, made up of five units. This computer was used to solve differential equations and is currently housed at the Cambridge Museum of Technology.
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X-15 simulator analog computer
See also
In Spanish: Computadora analógica para niños
