May 5th, 2020 : AKAT-1

The AKAT-1, a Polish made analog computer from 1959.
The world's first differential equations analyzer based on transistors.

Jacek Karpiński (9 April 1927 – 21 February 2010) was a Polish pioneer in computer engineering and computer science.
During World War II, he was a soldier in the Batalion Zośka of the Polish Home Army, and was awarded multiple times with a Cross of Valour. Later, he became a developer of one of the first machine learning algorithms, techniques for character and image recognition.

In 1971, he designed one of the first minicomputers, the K-202. Because of the policy on computer development in the People's Republic of Poland, belonging to the Comecon (Soviet directed Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) that time, the K-202 was never mass-produced.

Being a popular war hero who fought the Nazis he might become a threat to the commies
so his creations were not produced and he wouldn’t get personal credit.

He said OK, I’ll be a pig farmer, and in 1981 they let him move to Switzerland.

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Wondering what the strip on the floor is for/what it says/does...:eyebrow:

I'm curious what kind of display, or "output device" that is, but I can't find any details on it.

looks like the xy coordinate system on which one might plot the points of a differential equation

Probably up on the screen.

Gravdigr;1052166 wrote:

Wondering what the strip on the floor is for/what it says/does...:eyebrow:

The 2-over-5 (rows of dots) pattern is reminiscent of an abacus, widely considered the first computing "machine" and thus an ancestor of the AKAT-1, and of course all modern computers.



I can't tell if there's anything meaningful in the dots in the strip on the floor. I think it's more likely that someone chose the pattern because it looks kinda cool, and is appropriate for the computer room.

Gravdigr;1052166 wrote:

Wondering what the strip on the floor is for/what it says/does...:eyebrow:

It looks like ASCII punched tape.

Apologies for not posting a link but presently on a superannuated iPad which doesn't lend itself to such niceties.

Perhaps a fellow Dwellar would be kind enough to step into the breach?

I believe it's 2 over 4. Looks like the punched tape used for input on early NC machines in the machine shop.

The ASC II is 3 over 5.

xoxoxoBruce;1052256 wrote:

I believe it's 2 over 4. Looks like the punched tape used for input on early NC machines in the machine shop.

It is 2 over 4. I can't count. And there was even something way, way back in my memory saying that it was some kind of tape, but once I thought it was 2 over 5, I thought of the abacus.

This site has always been a group effort, lord knows I make enough mistakes to keep a bunch of editors busy. :lol: