1935 Meccano "Dam Busters" Computer Restored

rob1959 writes "A 1935 analog computer, built at Cambridge University and used to help plan the Dam Busters attacks on the Ruhr hydro dams in World War II, has been restored and put on display at Auckland's Museum of Transport and Technology. The computer came to NZ around 1950 and was used, ironically, to build hydro dams there — and to calculate rabbit population numbers."

Comments

Grandaddy rulez

[Anonymous Coward]

gR4NP4 W45 4 l337 H4x0R, 0Wn3d 7H023 N421 m0F05 l0L.

Re:Grandaddy rulez

[fatmal]

This is /. - we're likely to be the last of our family lines!

Re:Grandaddy rulez

[FlopEJoe]

Anyone working on this was likely to be your great-grandfather, not grandfather. New generations usually start every 20-30 years.

Hmmm... my father was born in the 1930's making my grandfather old enough to be working on this project (not that he did). And, may I add, "Git off me lawn you young whipper-snappers!"

Rabbits?

[lordperditor]

Would of thought they needed the sheep population controlled more than the rabbits...

Re:Rabbits?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, the kiwis are quite happy with the sheep population ever since they discovered a fabulous new benefit - it seems apart from the obvious use, you can get meat and wool from them as well.

Re:Rabbits?

[CmdrGravy]

They should just introduce foxes to Australia, foxes eat rabbits - problem solved, what could possibly go wrong.

Or cats can eat rabbits too if they're hungry enough so maybe increasing the cat population in rabbit infested areas would help.

Re:Rabbits?

[mrsym0r]

we know exactly how many sheep we have here in New Zealand, just the same as everyone else in the world knows how many lovers they have too.

Apple reference

[Anonymous Coward]

Aha! I knew this would have something to do with the Mac!

Pratt says Steve Wozniak, the Mac's designer, was known to have posters of the DG Nova on his wall.

Jeeze

[ilovegeorgebush]

From TFA:

"Covering a base of three or four square metres, MOTAT's machine is a complex arrangement of cogs, string and chains, used to drive a plotter (pictured)"

Jeeze, thank god computers got smaller. That thing wouldn't fit in my lounge...let alone my bedroom :O

Re:Jeeze

[skoaldipper]

No. From the picture, thank God the work dress code got more casual. I'm guessing with motor oil and 3 piece suits, there was a laundromat next door.

What's not mentioned

[faloi]

The rabbit population metrics were actually being used to determine how many rabbits it would take to destroy a dam. The dams the computer was used to build were just intended to be targets.

Re:You've just cherry-picked the worst paragraphs.

[jafiwam]

The Dams Raid was, like many British air raids, undertaken with a view to the need to keep drawing German defensive effort back into Germany and away from actual and potential theatres of ground war, a policy which culminated in the Berlin raids of the winter of 1943-44. In May 1943 this meant keeping the Luftwaffe and anti-aircraft defence forces' effort away from the Soviet Union; in early 1944, it meant clearing the way for the aerial side of the forthcoming Operation Overlord. For you new generation folks:

The Dams Raid was, like many British air raids, basically base camping to keep the uber-GER clan from capping flags and holding the helo spawn point. Though the RUS clan was previously unimpressed, it let them get four levels higher on the PWNAGE ladder. Three BRIT-"lol-nub" team tipped the scales and made some righteous Fraps vids for Youtube.