I’m surprised they implemented division and square roots as hardware instructions, given the extra complexity and costs, rather than leaving them for a software implementation like the EDSAC. Presumably the real-time constraints of the application necessitated it.
The Arma Micro Computer is just one of the dozens of compact aerospace computers of the 1960s, a category that is mostly forgotten and ignored.
I think this is partly due to the question of whether this falls into aerospace history or computing history. As an embedded device, it would fall naturally into a history of improved guidance controls and their transition from analog to digital.
I’m surprised they implemented division and square roots as hardware instructions, given the extra complexity and costs, rather than leaving them for a software implementation like the EDSAC. Presumably the real-time constraints of the application necessitated it.
I think this is partly due to the question of whether this falls into aerospace history or computing history. As an embedded device, it would fall naturally into a history of improved guidance controls and their transition from analog to digital.