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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Many problems encountered in scientific or engineering work involve mathematical
equations or sets of equations whose solution in most cases is difficult or practi-
cally impossible to obtain by the classical approach to equation solution.
The TR-20
Analog Computer provides the technical worker with a general purpose computer which
permits the rapid solution of linear or non-linear equations.
Although the analog machine is correctly termed a computer, it does not perform its
computations by serial calculations as does the desk calculator or digital computer.
Instead it performs the required mathematical operations in a parallel manner on con-
tinuous variables.
In the TR-20, as in most modern analog computers, the continuous
variables are direct current voltages.
The electronic analog computer makes it pos-
sible to build an electrical model of a physical system, where the voltages on the
computer represent the dependent variables of the physical system.
Except for a
constant of proportionality, or scale factor, each voltage will behave with time in
a manner similar to the physical system variable.
Thus, if the vertical position
of the center of gravity of an automobile oscillates with time during a disturbance,
then the voltage representing the height of the center of gravity above the surface
will also oscillate; if the temperature of the coolant at the exhaust port of a con-
denser rises exponentially to a steady value, then so will the voltage representing
it on the computer.
It can be said that the actual system and the electrical
mode~
are analogous in
that the variables which demonstrate their characteristics
ar~
described by relations
which are mathematically equivalent.
The actual system has thus been simulated
because of the similarity of operation of the electrical model and the physical
system.
This capability of the analog computer is of great value in performing
scientific research or engineering design calculations because it permits an in-
sight into the relationship between the mathematical equations and the response
of the physical system.
Once the electrical model is completed, well-controlled
experiments can be performed quickly, inexpensively, and with great flexibility
to predict the behavior of the primary physical system.
Although the analog computer utilizes electronic components in its operation, it
is not essential that the user have an extensive knowledge of electrical circuits.
The TR-20 is basically a set of mathematical building blocks, each able to perform
specific mathematical operations on direct voltages and capable of being easily
interconnected.
By appropriately interconnecting these building blocks, an
elec-
trical model is produced in which the voltages at the outputs of the blocks obey
the relations given in the mathematical description of a physical problem.
1
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