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Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

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Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

#41

Post by ethbr1 »

mdorazio wrote: post #27
snakeyjake wrote: post #14

The US Navy's old training materials are fantastic for learning about various technologies. I think their masterpiece is "Basic Hand Tools" a handbook written in plain English that describes the use of practically every hand tool ever invented. "Basic Hand Tools" on the hammer: >Whoever conceived the idea of cracking a nut with a rock unknowingly invented a tool. When a later genius tied a stick to the rock, he inven…

Not just military training videos, older ones in general are often superior to what gets made today. My favorite is probably this one on vehicle differentials: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAw79386WI

Periscope Films uploads a lot of public domain US government material, and has it decently organized. The asbestos series is also interesting, hindsight being 20-20.

See https://m.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm/playlists

Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

#42

Post by schiffern »

andrewstuart2 wrote: post #13
teqsun wrote: post #2

Thought it was very interesting to see the precursors of modern computers and how they achieved the various mathematical functions mechanically

And fascinating too that, unlike digital computers where operations take clock cycles, calculations in an analog computer are effectively instantaneous.

The neat part is that it's almost instantaneous, but not quite.

How electricity flows through analog circuits and chooses the right path is another fascinating subject. Seeing how it actually works "in action" seems to glimpse some insights into ultra-fast computing paradigms: not just computing with analog circuits, but also structuring computation like circuits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AXv49dDQJw

Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

#43

Post by gausswho »

gausswho wrote: post #38
ape4 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Low quality received, poor accuracy out.

Made me look up the origin of 'garbage in garbage out. Interesting that GIGO descends from LIFO and FIFO.

More info: https://wordhistories.net/2022/12/05/garbage-in-garbage-out/

Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

#44

Post by meroes »

andrei-akopian wrote: post #37

Modern educational videos/films feel lower quality (in terms of content) even with all the modern tech at their disposal. Better technology doesn't seem to improve education. The quality of the content is 99% the skill of the teacher.

Sometimes I feel like if we had a video like this for every concept we’d be in Star Trek utopia by now.

Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

#46

Post by cwillu »

pmcf wrote: post #24

In 1989 I was a data systems tech on a Destroyer going through some overhaul at the shipyard in Pascagoula Mississippi. Moored right next to us was the battleship Wisconsin. Huge relic from WW2 but still going through modernization. A bunch of us that worked on combat systems got invited for a tour of their fire control systems. Wow. Just wow. All mechanical computers calculating fire control solutions for the big 16…

Apropos: https://www.navalgazing.net/Fire-Control-Part-1

Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

#47

Post by retrac »

pmcf wrote: post #24

In 1989 I was a data systems tech on a Destroyer going through some overhaul at the shipyard in Pascagoula Mississippi. Moored right next to us was the battleship Wisconsin. Huge relic from WW2 but still going through modernization. A bunch of us that worked on combat systems got invited for a tour of their fire control systems. Wow. Just wow. All mechanical computers calculating fire control solutions for the big 16…

By the end of WW II American torpedoes were automatically programmed (direction, speed, fusing) before firing. The heavy calculations would be done by the shipboard firing computer while the parameters set would be used by the simple computer on the torpedo (which had inertial guidance). I struggle to imagine how people managed to design such things with just pencils and slide rules.

Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

#48

Post by dr-detroit »

retrac wrote: post #47
pmcf wrote: post #24

In 1989 I was a data systems tech on a Destroyer going through some overhaul at the shipyard in Pascagoula Mississippi. Moored right next to us was the battleship Wisconsin. Huge relic from WW2 but still going through modernization. A bunch of us that worked on combat systems got invited for a tour of their fire control systems. Wow. Just wow. All mechanical computers calculating fire control solutions for the big 16…

By the end of WW II American torpedoes were automatically programmed (direction, speed, fusing) before firing. The heavy calculations would be done by the shipboard firing computer while the parameters set would be used by the simple computer on the torpedo (which had inertial guidance). I struggle to imagine how people managed to design such things with just pencils and slide rules.

[dead]

Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

#49

Post by poikroequ »

Great video! I love the simple straightforward presentation, it explains the concepts so well. The many applications of cams continue to impresses me.

The fundamentals of mechanical computers go back much further, well into the 1800s and possibly even earlier. Much of it has its roots in clockwork.

Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]

#50

Post by bluGill »

thesuitonym wrote: post #21
cynicalpeace wrote: post #16

This made me think of engines as computers- the crank shaft connected to the timing belt goes up to the camshafts to instantly calculate the positions of the valves.

Likewise, an automatic transmission is a hydraulic computer.

50 years ago that was true. Sometime ago though (I don't know when, but I'd guess starting in the 1990s) they changed to electronic computers. Using electronics makes some things simpler and puts the complex parts in standard hardware (a CPU is much more complex but it isn't custom designed for you), or software (easy to change if you get it wrong.
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