Mechanical Computer (All Parts) - Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers

Everyone reading this right now needs to check out this 1950s naval training video on the mechanical fire control computers of battleships: ▶ this video For fun, before you watch, think for yourself how you'd implement addition, multiplication, squaring, etc. with only gears and other mechanisms.

The whole training film on mechanical computers, for navy mechanics I believe: ▶ this video It illustrates the problems and solutions near perfectly, and I've watched it way too many times.

I did not see any link to the full training video[0] the clips in this article were taken from. I highly recommend it. It's a fascinating trip into engineering, computing, and the past. [0] ▶ this video

▶ this video This is an old military instructional video about fire (artillery) control computers, explaining the mechanical aspects of how they work. It's beautiful in its elegance! I have watched it on multiple occasions just for the sheer beauty of the mechanisms involved. And, yes, of course I'm a nerd!

I just smile hearing the term "Millihertz Computer". I'd love it if building and designing mechanical and analog computers grew as a hobby/educational activity as I find them both fascinating and somehow satisfying. Also, this 1950s Naval Training film explaining the fundamentals of how mechanical fire control computers work to solve complex problems is excellent. ▶ this video

Yes, these are awesome. There is another one of these old films about them which is a great explainer: ▶ this video

If you’re interested in some of the individual components, there’s a great 1950’s US Navy training film on the individual components of analog fire control computers here: ▶ this video The ideas are the same, but the technology is about a decade earlier than the CADC, so everything is noticeably more primitive.

Mechanical computers for fire control where the standard solution until very recently. Here's a very interesting video about them: ▶ this video

Apparently the Navy also used mechanical 'computers' on old battleships to calculate firing solutions. Sailors would adjust cranks and shafts to set the input values, and those inputs were connected to cams which were machined in the shape of solutions to the equations that needed to be solved. You can watch an old training video about it from the '50s: ▶ this video

One of my favourites is this 1953 explanation of the workings of mechanical analog computers used by the US Navy: ▶ this video

I recommend watching this video if you're interested in learning about multivariate analysis using mechanical computers. It's very approachable and informative. ▶ this video

This old US Navy training film on mechanical fire control calculators (called "computers" back then, used to calculate firing solutions on warships) is pretty fascinating: ▶ this video