However, every day seems to be very different. Qian Yuzhi gradually understood what this relay is, what shape is the best to process the iron core into, how fast the hand-operated copper wire painting equipment should turn, and different diameter wires
How long should the paint used be heated in the paint boiling kettle... Li Janai and Feng Shan have become very good friends - they are girls of similar age and always work together, which is quite normal.
As for her and himself... Qian Yuzhi couldn't explain clearly. The playfulness and intimacy that made his heart beat faster when they went shopping, chatted, and drank together that day never appeared again. The distance between the two seemed to have been restored.
, but in subtle details that are not easy to detect, there seems to be a hint of tacit understanding and a hint of randomness.
"Yuzhi!" Feng Nuo's greeting interrupted Qian Yuzhi's distraction, "I'm going to the Ministry of Science and Technology for a meeting in the afternoon, and I won't be back today. Don't forget to go through the security check when you leave."
"Okay, Chief." Qian Yuzhi agreed while secretly warning himself not to be distracted again.
This afternoon is a discussion meeting on the tabulating machine accumulator scheme. Because the Ministry of Science and Technology is relocating, it will be held at the Astronomical Observatory, Dr. Zhong’s hometown. There are many precision instruments and equipment here, so the year before last, geothermal air conditioning, security and
Drying measures are also very complete.
There were not many attendees, and the meeting was held in the Taipei Observatory Conference Room, also known as the Second Conference Room of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Feng Nuo had been to the First Conference Room before, and it was similar to a large lecture hall.
It was his first time to come to this second conference room. It was smaller than the first conference room, but it was more than enough for such a small meeting. A set of long conference tables measuring 3 meters x 15 meters was placed in the room.
It doesn't look full at all. Handmade rattan chairs are neatly placed around the conference table. The teak floor made in Siam is laid, and floor power sockets are installed at intervals. One side of the wall is a large integrated viewing glass.
The windows have now been closed with thick velvet curtains. At one end of the conference room is a huge projection screen brought from the old time and space, and a high-resolution projector is also hung from the ceiling. The cables for projection are neatly arranged along the wall.
The reporter can also use the microphone at the speaker's position. Presumably the speakers at the four corners of the wall are used for amplification.
"This is not inferior to the luxurious conference rooms in the old time and space. Dr. Zhong is actually so luxurious!" Feng Nuo was very surprised, but then he thought about it, "The Senate has its own purpose for spending so much money here.
Didn't today's discussion, which was originally more related to the mechanical port, be moved here?" Thinking of this, he felt relieved.
At this time, the staff brought hot tea from the tea room next door and placed it in front of the participants, and then quietly left.
This meeting is different from previous technical meetings. There are two rows of chairs against the wall, which are the auditorium seats for naturalized citizens. In order to strengthen the training of naturalized citizen scientific and technological personnel, the technical seminars that only veterans participated in in the past have begun to relax.
According to the admission conditions, a group of naturalized trainees and technical personnel with solid basic knowledge and considerable talents were selected and granted privileges to participate in relevant seminars.
Because of their presence, the Office of Truth will specifically inform the elders before every meeting to pay attention to their "speeches" during the meeting. Don't leak too many things that cannot be explained.
Among the naturalized citizens attending the meeting this time were Dr. Zhong’s adopted daughter Zhong Xiaoying, Feng Shan, and several students who were either veterans’ disciples or outstanding geniuses currently in the Fangcaodi selection group. There were only a total of
Thirteen people.
As future technology pillars who have access to "black technology", they realize the significance of their appearance on such an occasion, so they are both cautious and excited.
There was no lengthy procedure in the meeting, and it went directly to the discussion of mechanical computers. As the leader of the project team, Feng Nuo first reported on the progress of the project, especially the development and improvement of relays. Then, the meeting entered the next step, which is
Discussion of the principles of tabulating machine manufacturing.
After researching these days, the project team found that there are roughly three ways to implement the accumulation function of the tabulating machine:
First, because the data on the punched card is punched in one column or several consecutive columns to represent the number of each bit, so to calculate the total, you only need to count how many times each hole in each column has been punched in all the cards.
, this can be accomplished with a simple counter.
Next, manually multiply the number of holes in each column by the value of the hole and sum it up. Then the sum of each column is multiplied by 10 or 100 according to whether the column represents the tens/hundreds digit, and finally the sum is added.
That's it. Although the final result needs to be calculated separately using another calculator or manually, at this stage, the results of the tabulating machine still need to be manually copied into the record.
This is not a real totalizer, but Hollerith's tabulating machine does this. The mechanical design is also the simplest. It only needs a relay or a relay-driven pallet fork to turn the dial.
Second, instead of meshing the main power gear directly with the rotating shaft of the dial, a relay is used to control the gear connecting the two. Only when a relay corresponding to the numbers 0-9 is energized can the main power drive the corresponding mechanical structure.
Turn the dial.
At this time, you can make the mechanical structures corresponding to 0-9 operate differently when turning the dial, or turn it multiple times, or turn multiple digits at once, so as to achieve the purpose of accumulating the numbers in each hole. As for the carry,
The same as the first solution, it is completed by adding a relay between 9 and 0 of the low-digit dial to drive the high-digit dial to rotate.
Such a mechanical structure is slightly more complicated and definitely takes up more space. The advantage is that it combines the accumulation of each column and hole, avoiding a large number of manual calculations of multiplication and summation, and even the carry problem can be solved. The final number on the dial is
It is the cumulative result, what you see is what you get.
Finally, there is the solution of simply using relays to build a binary accumulator. The theoretical design is not difficult. However, Dr. Zhong circulated at the meeting the all-relay version of the arithmetic logic unit that he found and built by a relay fanatic in the old time and space (
ALU) drawings and information pictures, the densely packed relays like a honeycomb made the scalp of the attendees numb. A patient with trypophobia immediately asked to go out to take a rest and "get some fresh air".
Dr. Zhong explained that if only the function of the adder could be stripped out, it would probably not be particularly complicated. However, the attendees were probably frightened by the ALU built by this madman, and they all shook their heads. Even Feng, who was originally looking forward to the solution,
Nuo also gave up this idea. Mainly because he knew the performance of the relays he developed himself too well. Even if he just stripped off the function of the adder, it also involved the mutual control of a large number of relays.
I'm afraid the goods may not meet the reliability requirements.
The third option was abandoned at first, but Dr. Zhong planned to continue the experiment to accumulate some experience for designing binary computers in the future. Feng Nuo also agreed to give priority to the next step of developing relays that are more sensitive, reliable, smaller and lighter.
For testing purposes of this solution - the premise is that the mechanical port can provide sufficiently thin copper wires, and his local insulating paint is still effective on thin wires.
Next, the meeting had a lengthy discussion on the first and second options. The veterans of the mechanical port said that there was definitely no problem with the first option and that they can trial-produce it now when they go back. The second option requires re-optimizing the design, and it also needs to be re-optimized.
It depends on whether the performance of the relay provided by von Nuo is sufficient.
In the end, the project team decided to go with option one first. This was because after various evaluations, this option had the least chance of problems - after all, the structure was simple and reliable, and it was easier to achieve based on their difficult material level.
"It's back to the level of 1890." Vonnno sighed secretly. This solution is not much better than the last solution that was ridiculed as a "money detector". But the punch card has been in place for several months and has been in use.
The warehouse is full of insects and mold, so we can't always let the data wait for the machine. From the Governor's side, it's best to report good news in the near future. It's almost the end of the year...
At the end of the year, it’s time to assess projects again. If you can’t get results, you have to at least put out a few papers as “phased results.” Otherwise, the Planning Institute and the Ministry of Finance will have a hard time. Feng Nuo is not a person who likes to socialize.
people.
Next, the elders attending the meeting had a lengthy discussion on the specific mechanical design, technology, materials and supporting equipment of the tabulating machine. The discussion was very detailed, so the meeting often became a marathon meeting - but it was very necessary: Elder
The institute's industrial system is extremely incomplete, and almost any new equipment must be manufactured from scratch. Coupled with the shortage of technicians and skilled workers, raw materials are even more scarce. It is impossible to create anything by issuing design plans and drawings as in the old time and space.
.The entire equipment - whether it is a core component or a mere screw, must be implemented down to the last detail, from raw materials to processing procedures.
Two weeks later, the first prototype of the tabulating machine was finally completed. The machinery factory manufactured various components of the mechanical system, including two solutions for using steam power and electric motors as the main power. Feng Nuo took Qian Yuzhi.
The relay control part is assembled.
Von Nuo immediately moved the cards and started actual testing, and the test results were satisfactory. In multiple tests, they entered the census cards of different communes and calculated the age sum of the population of the commune, and then compared it with the manually calculated results. There was no
There were calculation errors. This showed that the design of the tabulation machine was reliable, and Vonn Nuo breathed a sigh of relief. However, the efficiency of the equipment was much slower than expected, and it could only process one card every 10 seconds. This time
It's too long. It can only process 6 cards per minute, which is much faster than human power.
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangdong and Guangxi Strategy Chapter 51