Slide rules and nomograms are the simplest, while naval gunfire control computers and large hybrid digital/analog computers were among the most complicated. In contrast, digital computers represent varying quantities symbolically and by discrete values of both time and amplitude ( digital signals).Īnalog computers can have a very wide range of complexity. TR-10 desktop analog computer of the late 1960s and early 1970sĪn analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computer that uses the continuous variation aspect of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities ( analog signals) to model the problem being solved.
The Norden bombsight was a highly sophisticated optical/mechanical analog computer used by the United States Army Air Force during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War to aid the pilot of a bomber aircraft in dropping bombs accurately. For the Atari 8-bit computer magazine, see ANALOG Computing.Ī page from the Bombardier's Information File (BIF) that describes the components and controls of the Norden bombsight.
