8 Nov
2000
8 Nov
'00
10:39 a.m.
Ever since the late 60's, very large simulations of
power
grids were being performed on analog computers for the purposes of
contingency analysis and dynamic stability assessment. These
special-purpose analog computers filled entired rooms and sometimes
had thousands of dynamic states (one integrator per dynamic state).
Exactly!
An older elector mechanical device did this for a different problem.
Given variables: speed over surface,
altitude,
gravity,
an objects drag
Problem: At what time do you release an object to hit a
predetermined spot.
Hint: it was top secret in the early 1940s.
Allison