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 COMPUTERONICS

 CHRONOMETER

 COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE

COMPUTERONICS

The evolution of Computer has passed through a number of stages before it reached the present state of development. In fact, the development of the first calculating device named ABASCUS dated back to 3000 B.C. From ABACUS to the micro-computer, the counting system have undergone a tremendous change. The efforts are still continuing to make the machine more and more versatile.

The stone age man used pebbles for counting cattle. Later on when man became more civilized, abacus came in use. Abacus seems to be the earliest calculating machine, which was developed by Chinese 3000 year ago.

Interestingly enough, abacus is still being used in Soviet Union, Japan, Far East and even in India for primary education. It consists of a rectangular wooden frame with horizontal rods which carry round beads. Counting is done by shifting the beads from one side to another. Experienced users can calculate very quickly using abacus.

Sometime later odometer (now called speedometer) was discovered, perhaps before the birth of Christ which led to the development of mechanical adders and multipliers. In 1617 John Napier, the distinguished Scottish mathematician developed the method of Logarithm. Logarithmic tables actually represent analogue computing techniques. In this system multiplication and division can be done by adding and subtracting not the numbers themselves but with the help of related numbers known as logarithms. Logarithm is nothing but an application of indices.

All engineering calculations were being done with the help of logarithms, until a device known as slide-rule was developed in Germany. The slide-rule was developed in 1620, just three years after the invention of logarithms, Williams Oughtred invented the slide-rule which is a calculation device that used the principle of logarithms. Slid-rule was taken over by pocket calculators of digital design in the start of 80’s in this century for office use. Another electro-mechanical device known as FACIT desk calculator was in vogue in sixties which not only did the calculations but was typing the results also.

Clive Sinclair, the well known scientist, had designed the first pocket calculator. He declared, "The fifth generation (of computer) is the greatest battle ground of the century. It will determine a new balance of power in the world.

Howard Aiken and IBM Mark I

All the calculating machines invented hitherto were basically mechanical machines. The American multinational company IBM persuaded Howard Aikens and Grace Hopper of Harward University in 1930 to produce a general purpose electrically operataed computer. This computer was very unwieldy and had a shape like a monster about 15m long having wiring about 80 KM. This was called Mark-I and had thousands of electromagnetic relays and multiple number of other components. Mark-I could come in actual shape only in 1948 and remained in use till 1959. Mark-I which was the first computer in the real sense of the term (that is, one which could store a program of instructions) ran for 52 minutes on 21st June. But remember that this computer was purely an electrical computer as electronic components were not available during those days. Mark-I could multiply two, twenty digit numbers in about 5 seconds. (This speed is much slower than current pocket calculators) and made a lot noise. It sounds like a room full of ladies knitting. Although this computer was faster than the machines made earlier, think of the problem of finding a fault or faulty relays. It actually proved to be very troublesome job for the inventor to trace the fault in Mark-I, when it refused to function. Finally they could catch the fault and the culprit. A moth got entrapped in between the contacts of one of the relays and hence the relay could not close properly. The happening was recorded in the log book – "THE MARK-I was debugged today". The underlined word had been later on adopted as a standard term in computeronics. Debugging means to trace the errors in the program and to remove them from the language. In 1950, the Ferranti Mark-I based on Manchester (Harward) Mark-I was sold commercially in Europe.

First Generation of computers: The first generation computers were voluminous computers. These computers used electronic valves like the ones used in radios and hybrid televisons. ENIAC was the first computer of this category.

Second Generation of Computers: Thanks to Nobel Prize winners John Burdeen, Walter H. Brattain and William B. Shockley who jointly discovered the transistor (short name for transfer resistor) in the laboratories of Bell Telephone, the company that even today runs most of American telephone systems. The inventor of transistor in 1948 led to the development of second generation computers. Transistors replaced valves completely as they were far more superior in performance on account of their miniature size, small power consumption and heat production rate. Although faster, smaller and more powerful, they were still expensive machines which only large commercial organization could afford. In such computers, transistor circuits called flip flops formed the basis of internal binary operation and storage of binary coded data. The use of transistors reduced (I) size (ii) manufacturing and running costs and improved (iii) reliability and processing power.

Third Generation of Computers: In 1964, the third generation computers were introduced. These had integrated transistor circuits (I.C.) having higher speeds, large storage capacities and lower prices. These computers were called mini computers.

Forth Generation of Computers: ICs which have the entire computer circuitry on a single silicon chip are called MICRO-PROCESSORS. The computers using these chips are called micro-computers. These are, in fact, the scaled down version of mini-computers.

Fifth Generation of Computers: The fifth generation is the story of the new super-breed of comptuers now being planned by the Japanese. These computers will contain bits of information and will be able to think and make decisions- and in certain instances better than human beings. Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is thus emerging form behind the curtains to take its place in real world. Radically different from the proceding four generations in their construction, capabilities and application, this generation is all set to bring momentary qualitative changes in human life styles.

The Japanese call their firth generation machines knowledge information processing system (KIPS). KIPS will work as amplifier of human thought and intelligence. The entire world is likely to become dependent on these machines for greater efficiency.

Hybrid Computer: Hybrid computer is a combination computer using all good qualities of both, the analog and digital computers. In such a computer, some calculations are done in analog portion of computer and some are done in digital portion of computer. Then it utilizes the services of the devices which covert analog signals into digital, and digital signal into analog wherever necessary. Such units are called Modem.

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CHRONOMETER

Chronometer is a Portable timepiece or timing device made to measure time very accurately. The first accurate chronometer was developed during the 1700's. The chronometer can be used to measure longitude, and is therefore of great importance in mapping un-known country, and in navigation. Longitude is measured in degrees from the Greenwich Meridian, an imaginary line passing through Greenwich, England, To calculate longitude, the chronometer is set at Greenwich Mean Time, which is then compared with local time. In each hour's difference between the two, the earth, which turns through 360° in 24 hours, will have turned through 15°. From this, the exact position east or west of the Greenwich Meridian can be calculated.
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COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE

A satellite which enables telephone calls, radio messages, and television programs to be sent from one part of the world to another. Communications satellites may be either passive or active. Passive satellites reflect radio waves from a sending station to a receiving station. while active satellites carry radio receivers and transmitters, and receive and amplify the signals before returning them to earth. Early Bird and Telstar are examples of active satellites.

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