Electronic Analog Computer Research Articles

ВКЛАД ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННЫХ УЧЕНЫХ В РАЗВИТИЕ УСТРОЙСТВ ВЫЧИСЛИТЕЛЬНОЙ ТЕХНИКИ

The study reflected two stages of digital computing, when discrete counting devices and analog computers were created. (Research purpose) The research purpose is identifying the design features of computers in which the ideas of domestic scientists were implemented at the mechanical and electromechanical stages of the development of computer technology. (Materials and methods) Conducted a historical and scientific analysis of literary sources, original works of Russian scientists, descriptions of inventions and patents related to the mechanical and electromechanical stage of the development of computer technology. We studied materials from the Archive of the USSR Academy of Sciences, descriptions of serial computers manufactured in the USSR. (Results and discussion) We considered the outstanding role played by academician P.L. Chebyshev in the history of the construction of continuous counting machines. The design features of the adding machine created by V.T. Odner and further developments of adding machines by domestic engineers (adding machine "Soyuz") were presented. It was noted that with the invention of the Odner adding machine in 1890, the stage of serial production of computer equipment in Russia began. It was shown that in the field of analog computing, a significant contribution was made in the construction of hydraulic integrators by engineer V.S. Lukyanov; electrical integrators by academicians A.N. Krylov, I.S. Bruk. The first electronic analog computers were created at the Electrotechnical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the leadership of L.I. Gutenmacher. (Conclusions) The ideas and design features of mechanical and analog computing devices were reflected in the works of domestic scientists and engineers. We have traced the continuity in the creation of mechanical and electromechanical calculating machines. We have studied unique samples of computer technology, such as the integrator by A.N. Krylov, the hydraulic integrator by V.S. Lukyanov, the electrical integrators by I.S. Bruk, L.I. Gutenmacher, the electro-optical reading machine by engineer V.E. Agapov.

Analog Computer Development in Germany With a Focus on Telefunken [Scanning Our Past

Until the 1930s, analog computers were mostly mechanical and sometimes electromechanical devices that were clumsy, required significant maintainance, and were difficult to reprogram. Reprogramming required the operators to dismantle and rebuild an intricate maze of axles and gears interconnecting the various computing elements. With the advent of electronics, the idea of a purely electronic analog computer was ripe in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The first such machine was devised and built by George A. Philbrick in 1938 and became known as Polyphemus, due to its particular shape-a rack containing a lot of electronic amplifiers and associated equipment with a single oscilloscope mounted on top, which looked a bit like the one-eyed giant.

Realization of Diverse Waveform Converters from a Single Nanoscale Lateral p-n Junction Cu2S-CdS Heterostructure.

A differentiator is an electronic component used to accomplish mathematical operations of calculus functions of differentiation for shaping different waveforms. Differentiators are used in numerous areas of electronics, including electronic analog computers, wave-shaping circuits, and frequency modulators. Conventional differentiators are fabricated using active operational amplifiers or using passive resistor-capacitor combinations. Here, we report that a single Cu2S-CdS heterostructure acts as a differentiator for performing numerical functions of input waveform conversion into different shapes. When a rectangular wave signal is applied through the tip of a conductive atomic force microscope, a spikelike wave signal is obtained from the Cu2S-CdS heterostructure. The Cu2S-CdS differentiator is able to convert a sine wave signal into a cosine wave signal and a triangular wave signal into a square wave signal similar to the classical differentiators. The finding of ananoscale differentiator at extremely small length scales may have profound applications in different domains of electronics.

Analogue makes light work of big data

The author states that computers that process light instead of electrons could provide the boost supercomputers need to get to the exascale generation. There is another way: a return to analogue computing. Once used to simulate nuclear reactions and to control naval guns, electronic analogue computers were quickly swept away by their digital counterparts once they had caught up in performance because the analogue circuitry was inherently inflexible. But a shift to photonics provides both the performance and flexibility that Big Data applications need.

Application of the analogue computer to pharmacokinetic and biopharmaceutical studies with amphetamine-type compounds.

Abstract The kinetics of absorption, metabolism, and excretion of (+)-amphetamine and (+)-methylamphetamine, after oral administration of “free” dosage forms to man, under controlled acidic urine conditions, have been examined using an electronic analogue computer. This device has also been used to determine the in vivo rate of release of the drugs from hard gelatin capsule dosage forms and prolonged-release preparations. In vivo drug release from the prolonged-release preparations was correlated with in vitro drug release data.

The Re-Wiring of History

The Re-Wiring of History

The Meccano set computers: a history of differential analyzers made from children's toys

This paper provides a brief historical review of the Meccano set used to construct a number of mechanical analog computing machines, known as small-scale differential analyzers. While the full-scale machines and most of the early Meccano models have long since been either scrapped or consigned to museums in the form of static exhibits, it remains the case that students and members of the public who have the opportunity to observe a differential analyzer in operation find it captivating. By giving reality to the mathematical symbolism, the differential analyzers brings problems to life in a way that digital and electronic analog computers cannot.

The analogue alternative: the electronic analogue computer in Britain and the USA, 1930-1975

Introduction 1. Analogue Computing Devices in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries 2. The Origins, Form and Function of Electronic Analogue Devices and Computers, 1937-1950 3. Electronic Analogue Computer Development, 1945-1955: Military Programmes, Aeronautics and Electronics 4. Commercialisation, Hybridisation and Competition: the Electronic and Hybrid Computer Industry in the USA, 1945-1975 5. The Origins, Commericialisation and Decline of Electronic Analogue and Hybrid Computing in Britain, 1945-1975 6. Electronic Analogue Computers and Engineering Culture 7. Negotiating a Place for Electronic Analogue Computers: the Analogue Versus Digital Debate. Conclusion.

Chaotic Sound Synthesis

Solutions of chaotic and fractal equations have provided artistically new and interesting classes of images and sounds. Musical scores have been produced from Mandelbrot and Julia set images, and chaotic and fractal techniques have been used to directly synthesize a variety of sound waveforms (see, for example, Monro 1991). One popular approach to sound synthesis is based on Chua's circuit (Mayer-Kress et al. 1993; Mayer-Kress, Choi, and Bargar 1993; Hunt and Johnson 1993). Another method, described here, uses cross-coupled frequency-modulated oscillators (chaotic FM synthesis). Sounds produced by the chaotic FM technique vary from pure sine waves to a variety of complex signals and colored noises. The chaotic FM algorithm includes conventional FM synthesis as a subset. This chaotic FM method can be combined with other chaotic synthesis methods, such as the Ueda attractor, providing an even wider range of sounds. Chaotic synthesis and filtering can be used in both the analog and digital domains, providing similar results. Several examples of chaotic synthesis methods in both domains are provided in this article. The emphasis, however, is on the analog methods, with examples using the Moog modular synthesizer, Buchla electronic musical instruments, and electronic analog computers.

Solution multistability in first-order nonlinear differential delay equations.

The dependence of solution behavior to perturbations of the initial function (IF) in a class of nonlinear differential delay equations (DDEs) is investigated. The structure of basins of attraction of multistable limit cycles is investigated. These basins can possess complex structure at all scales measurable numerically although this is not necessarily the case. Sensitive dependence of the asymptotic solution to perturbations in the initial function is also observed experimentally using a task specific electronic analog computer designed to investigate the dynamics of an integrable first-order DDE.

Analog Computer Simulation

A general purpose electronic analog computer plays a very important role in the present day engineering industries. Although it is not as popular as a digital computer for its accuracy nevertheless because of its speed of computation it has a special position in the field of computation. This paper attempts to introduce this machine. A brief description of the various linear and non-linear computing elements is given. The use of the machine as differential analyzer and simulator has been discussed giving special emphasis on the amplitude and time scaling techniques.

Cultural Implications of Integrated Media

Nicholas Negroponte's design for the MIT Media Lab logo displays the growing intersection of three areas: the broadcast and motion picture industry, the print and publishing industry, and the computer industry [ 1]. This design could also be read as a metaphor for the integration of media from separate sources: voice, sound, text, video and computer graphics-an integration of hardware, software and communications network design called an 'information system' by technologists [2]. An evolving form of telecommunications information system based on the combination of two developing technologies, fiber optic cable, to deliver communications from multiple integrated sources, and hypertext/hypermedia, a software system for information management, has the ability to handle large amounts of data while drawing on contemporary integrated communication sources that include on-demand video services, interpersonal communications, high-speed information and image communication among fax machines, work stations and computers as well as telemetry services (such as home security and utility monitoring systems). It can utilize electronic analogue and digital computers, optical technology (lasers, fiber optics and optical digital computers) and telecommunication networks (cables and satellites). Within this system, electronic and photonic copying devices can transform works originally produced in traditional media into forms readily accessible for retrieval and manipulation by users with access to integrated media systems [3]. Potential effects of this technology are extensive for the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences as well as for applied fields such as education, medicine, business and law. The very nature of communication, its content and many aspects of society itself will be affected as the use of this system becomes pervasive. The form, content and conceptual basis of this new system should be examined from the standpoint of contemporary philosophical, aesthetic and critical theory to reveal truths about the role of embedded models and beliefs in technologies of communication and their effects upon the perceived nature of reality. Embedded models and beliefs define our culture. Cultural transformation results from the amplification or delegitimation of existing models of thought-models defining the nature of reality (metaphysics), the nature of knowledge (epistemology) and the nature of value (axiology). While classical philosophers separate epistemology and axiology, contemporary theorists are concerned with their interdependence. That is, the form and content of

The differential analyzer as an active mathematical instrument

The essential role played by amplification and control in the successful development of the differential analyzer is described. This first occurred in 1930 with the introduction of the capstan torque amplifier in Vannevar Bush's largely mechanical form, and then in 1947 with the use of the voltage operational amplifier in an electronic embodiment that was called an electronic analog computer. Certain essential components and features of both machines are outlined and contrasted, highlighting how the fast all-electronic machine best exemplifies the distinctive benefits attending the evolution from mostly mechanical to fully electronic implementation. >

Active Vibration Control of Large Civil Structures

This survey of vibration control methods for safety and comfort in large civil structures (LCS), reviews the application of control theory to LCS, and discusses a class of vibration suppression algorithms that avoid the major difficulties encountered in the application of modern control techniques to building structural systems. Two simple, efficienct methods are presented for the on-line pulse control of linear as well as nonlinear, multi-degree-of-freedom systems responding to arbitrary dynamic environments. The latter method is suitable for situations in which detailed knowledge of the system structure is not available. Digital computer simulation studies, electronic analog computer investigations, and experimental tests with several mechanical models of different size and configuration demonstrate the feasibility, reliability, and robustness of the proposed pulse-control methods.

Analysis of dynamic properties of a water turbine governor and study of the stability criteria of a surge tank system in a hydraulic power station.

The speed of a water turbine is regulated by a governor and a typical feed back control system is composed of the governor, the turbine and its load. The paper deals with the characteristics of a tachometric governor with temporary speed droop. First the dynamic properties of the governing system and the controlled system are expressed in the form of a block diagram, and a few considerations such as harmonic response, step response and self-excited oscillations of the system are conducted using an electronic analogue computer. Secondly, concerning the stability criteria of a surge tank system in a hydraulic power station, theoretical studies are pursued and compared with the classical Thoma formula which is based on the governing equation of ηQH=constant. The temporary speed droop equipped in the governor has an effective function to stabilize the surge tank system, and the paper presents a new formula which gives a smaller net area of the surge tank than that obtained from the Thoma formula.

Analogue computer simulation and phase space study of a synchronous machine with flux-decay effect transient stability

The paper describes how a general-purpose electronic analogue computer and the phase space method may be used to solve the transient stability problem of a synchronous machine connected to an infinite bus. In the machine analysis emphasis is placed on the effects of the flux-decay, damping power and saliency during transient disturbances. The swing equation of the machine is a third-order nonlinear differential equation. In the paper the phase plane method is extended to this third-order nonlinear swing equation and the system trajectories, the boundary surface of asymptotic stability and the critical clearing time of the system have been obtained by the use of an analogue computer. A numerical example is given.

Helmut Hoelzer's Fully Electronic Analog Computer

A fully electronic general-purpose analog computer was designed by Helmut Hoelzer, a German electrical engineer and remote-controlled guidance specialist. He and an assistant built the device in 1941 in Peenemunde, Germany, where they were working as part of Wernher von Braun's long-range rocket development team. The computer was based on an electronic integrator and differentiator conceived by Hoelzer in 1935 and first applied to the guidance system of the A-4 rocket. This computer is significant in the history not only of analog computation but also of the formulation of simulation techniques. It contributed to a system for rocket development that resulted in vehicles capable of reaching the moon.

George A. Philbrick and Polyphemus: The First Electronic Training Simulator

In 1937-1938 George A. Philbrick developed what he called an Automatic Control Analyzer. The analyzer was an electronic analog computer, hard-wired to carry out a computation, or simulation, of a typical process- control loop. The analyzer consisted of several vacuum-tube amplifier stages interconnected to simulate a three-term PID controller operating on a four-lag process, with a number of switches and potentiometers provided for easy variations in the circuit configurations and parameter values. The whole assembly was battery operated and mounted in a standard rack. It contained a built-in oscilloscope: a Dumont 5-inch oscillograph, Type 208, which was one of the early CRT devices on the industrial market. Philbrick named the single-screen analog computer Polyphemus, after the one-eyed Cyclops who, according to Greek mythology, was blinded by Odysseus.

Calculation of the kinetics of pulsed luminescence by means of an analog computer

Electronic analog computers are successfully used to solve kinetic equations in, for example, the radiation physics of crystals [1] and chemical kinetics [2]. They have been used in a number of calculations of the kinetic constants in the equations that describe thermoluminescence [3–7]. However, it must be borne in mind that the numerical values found in these studies are relative in nature, since they are not connected to the parameters of a definite substance. The aim of the present work is to see if the mathematical equations give an adequate description of the physical processes in a definite material and to make calculations with an analog computer of the capture and recombination probabilities and effective cross sections of the corresponding electron centers. Concretely, an MN-18 analog computer was used to analyze the kinetics of pulsed luminescence of the phosphor KI-T1 (1 mole % T1) in the temperature range 200–300°K. It was established earlier that at these temperatures the electron-hole processes in the crystal have a number of features that lead to a change in the amplitude-time characteristics of the luminescence. For example, it is necessary to take into account the localization of free holes at V2 centers and the thermal instability of the activator hole centers above 290°K, which influences the luminescence intensity [11]. On the other hand, thermal destruction of the electron T10 centers leads to delayed luminescence [10].

Random Excitation of a Nonlinear Vibration Neutralizer

An approximate analytical solution is obtained for the stationary response of a highly nonlinear auxiliary mass damper (a dynamic vibration neutralizer with motion-limiting stops) attached to an oscillator that is subjected to random excitation. Experimental measurements with an electronic analog computer and numerically simulated solutions generated by means of a digital computer verify the findings. Results are given for the power spectral density and root-mean-squared level of the response. The effects of various damper parameters on the response of the primary system are determined. The nonlinear damper under consideration is shown to be significantly more effective than the conventional dynamic vibration neutralizer in controlling the response of systems subjected to random excitation.