Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Mechanical Computing

Posted by timothy on from the meccano-punk dept.

FTL writes "Tim Robinson has built a computer capable of solving polynomial equations -- using Meccano. His difference engine (mirror) uses a similar approach to Babbage's design. He's also created a differential analyzer (mirror) complete with a GUI. Both could be scaled up indefinitely to handle larger problems. 'Computing by steam' is possible."

5 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Tinkertoys by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Don't forget about the Tinkertoy computer

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  2. MIT's 1930s differential analyzer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mechanical computers were built and used over 60 years ago to solve differential equations and other analytical type problems. I know MIT and UCLA had pretty good mechanical computers in the WWII era. Check out MIT's famous mechanical differential analyzer for and idea of what was and is and awesome piece of hardware.

  3. May I be the first to say... by the_twisted_pair · · Score: 5, Funny
    640 nuts and bolts should be enough for anybody

    Serious kudos due here - it's a labour of love.

  4. Mechanical PDAs by scattol · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That's OK, but for the man of the 50's on the go what do you do? You get a CURTA calculator. They were said to be popular with rally drivers for instance.

    They are relatively valuable and pretty nifty calculator. You can try to get a feel for it with the simulator. Enjoy!

  5. The Antikathera Mechanism by bsDaemon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    big deal. This Thing is over 2,000 years old! It's an astronaumical computer and clock thingie. With gears and everything. "boo ya," as the kids say.