Elliott 152 facts for kids
| Developer | Elliott Brothers |
|---|---|
| Release date | 1950 |
| Units sold | 1 |
| Memory | 256, 16-bit words (16 Williams tubes) |
The Elliott 152 was an early computer built in England. It was made by a company called Elliott Brothers. This computer was special because it was designed to help control naval guns. It was one of the first computers that could work in real-time, meaning it could process information instantly. The Elliott 152 was the very first computer ever made by Elliott Brothers. Only one of these computers was built, and it started working in 1950.
Contents
What Was the Elliott 152?
The Elliott 152 was a type of computer that used vacuum tubes. These tubes were like tiny light bulbs that helped the computer do its work. It was a "fixed-program" computer. This means it was built to do a specific set of tasks, like controlling guns on a ship. It couldn't easily be reprogrammed for other jobs.
How the Elliott 152 Worked
This computer used special ways to handle numbers. It worked with "16-bit words," which are like small chunks of data. It also used a method called "two's complement" for doing math. This is a common way computers handle positive and negative numbers.
The computer's memory was made of 16 special tubes called Williams tubes. Each Williams tube could store a small amount of information. Together, they gave the computer a total memory of 256 "words." The speed of this memory affected how fast the computer could work. It could multiply two numbers very quickly, in about 60 microseconds. A microsecond is a millionth of a second!
Building the Computer
The parts of the Elliott 152 were put together on glass "printed circuit board" modules. These modules were like small boards with wires printed on them. However, these glass modules often broke down. This made the computer unreliable.
Why the Elliott 152 Was Important
The Elliott 152 was meant to be a key part of a new gun control system for the British Navy. But because of its reliability problems, the Navy decided to use a different system. Even though the Elliott 152 wasn't used for its main purpose, it was still very important. Elliott Brothers learned a lot from building it. This experience helped them create many other successful computers later on.
See also
- List of vacuum tube computers
