Article View: comp.arch
Article #11860Re: Pneumatic computers (yes, air-pressure powered)
From: Mark Johnson
Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 01:13
Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 01:13
13 lines
1193 bytes
1193 bytes
In about 1971, I saw a series of pneumatic control gates, flip-flops, etc. at a french automation installation company. Each gate was a machined piece of steel. There were rows of holes to interconnect the gates at one end of each gate. Full circuits were constructed by stacking up the two inch square by about 1/4 inch thick "wafers" alternating with gaskets to get the desired function. Four threaded bolts were run through the corners and nuts were torqued down to complete the assembly. The circuits could be a foot or so high and were very heavy. I was told that they were Russian technology and were useful in explosive atmospheres. If memory serves, IEEE spectrum ran a "whatever happened to" article a couple of years ago describing the technology.
Technical Details
Message-ID:
<1360010@aspen.IAG.HP.COM>Path:
arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpcc05!aspen!mhjohnReferences:
<1991May24.231620.15367@digi.lonestar.org>Show Full Headers
Complete Article Headers
Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpcc05!aspen!mhjohn From: mhjohn@aspen.IAG.HP.COM (Mark Johnson) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: Pneumatic computers (yes, air-pressure powered) Message-ID: <1360010@aspen.IAG.HP.COM> Date: 29 May 91 01:13:34 GMT References: <1991May24.231620.15367@digi.lonestar.org> Organization: Information Architecture Group, HP Lines: 13