Gus Wirth wrote:
SJS wrote:
[snip]
Of course, you could solve mathematical equations directly with an
analog
computer. . . look, ma, no registers!
Which I have done. It is particularly useful for solving things like
partial differential equations. The other nice thing about analog
computers is how easy they are to program. Just a few dials and patch
cords, set a few initial conditions, then let it run. Of course, it
helps to know advanced calculus and things like Laplace transforms. On
my bookshelf I have "Introduction to Analog Computation" by Joseph J.
Blum, Harcort, Brace & World, Inc. Maybe I should post some problems
and see how people would solve them in the digital realm.
Gus
Are there general purpose analog computers? Can they run programs in
the sense that digital computers can?
From what I understand, analog circuits are not as susceptible to EMP
or short circuits. I once saw a show where a guy had built two
mechanical spider like robots, one with digital circuits, the other
analog. They were both crawling along when he took his soldering iron
and ran it along the exposed circuit board of the one with digital
circuits and it instantly stopped cold. It was toast. Then he did the
same with the other one, raking the soldering iron back and forth
repeatedly. Aside from the sparks, it was almost like he was merely
petting a crawling spider. It was undaunted and kept on going, like it
didn't even notice, or just didn't care. But analog circuits don't
necessarily mean that it's an analog computer, or does it?
I think I may have asked this before, but it's been a while and I don't
recall the answers.
--
Ralph
--------------------
I hope I never meet a man so narrow minded as to spell a word in only one way.
--Thomas Jefferson
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