Z1 ( rus. "Cet-ains" ) - a computing device created in 1938 , became the first limited- programmable computing machine of the German engineer Konrad Zuse . This is a binary computer with data input using the keyboard , in decimal notation in the form of floating point numbers. The main difference from the more well-known Z3 computer ( 1941 ) was the lack of square root computation. [one]
Creation History
Having transferred to full-time part-time work in 1936 , while remaining in the position of mechanical engineer at the Heinkel Aviation Factory, where he had been working since 1935, Tsuze, for two years at his own expense and money borrowed from friends, carried out the development and assembly of the device designed by him [2] . The finished machine was located on several tables moved together in the living room of the parental home and occupied about 4 m² of its area. [3] The weight of the device reached 500 kg. [four]
Technical Description
The Z1 was an electrically driven binary mechanical computer with limited programming capability. Data was entered and displayed in the decimal system, in the form of floating point numbers. The input of commands and data was carried out using the keyboard , made on the basis of a typewriter , and the output - using the small panel on the bulbs. The memory of the calculator was organized using a capacitor alternating layers of glass and metal plates . This design made it possible to store sixty-four 22- bit real numbers , each of which consisted of a 14-bit mantissa and 8 bits, allotted for sign and order . In the same 1936, this unique solution was patented by Konrad Zuse. The processor had two 22-bit registers . The clock frequency was 1 Hz , speed - an average of 1 multiplication in 5 seconds. The machine was equipped with a punch card reader and was driven by a motor from a vacuum cleaner with a capacity of 1 kilowatt .
Multiplication and division were performed using the same procedure of repeated additions and subtractions, which was used by Blaise Pascal in the construction of his summing machine . Readable program instructions were immediately executed without loading into memory.
Performance Specifications
Z1 did not work reliably due to insufficient precision in the execution of its components. To carry out calculations in practical use, the machine was not used. However, Tsuse was satisfied with the work of his brainchild. It was on the basis of Z1 that he further developed other programmable machines Z2 , Z3 , Z4 , etc.
Copies
During the bombing of Berlin during the Second World War, the original machine along with all the documentation was destroyed. In 1987 - 1989, Zuse recreated the Z1. The finished model consisted of 30 thousand components, cost 800 thousand German marks and required 4 enthusiasts (including Zuse himself) to assemble the work. The project was financed by Siemens AG (which at that time owned the assets of the company created by the inventor on its behalf - the limited partnership Zuse KG , acquired by Siemens in 1967) along with five other companies.
Notes
- ↑ RAÚL ROJAS. Konrad Zuse's Legacy: The Architecture of the Z1 and Z3
- ↑ Atherton, WA Pioneers. Konrad Zuse: Inventor of the first successful computer. (Eng.) // Electronics and Wireless World . - NY: Reed Business Publishing, July 1989 .-- Vol.95 - No.1641 - P.732 - ISSN 0266-3244.
- ↑ Meet: Computer / Ed. V. M. Kurochkina
- ↑ Description of Z1 Archived on October 13, 2009. (English) on the website of Hornst Zuse at the Technical University of Berlin
Literature
- Meet: computer = Understanding computers: Computer basics: Input / Output / Transl. from English K. G. Bataev; Ed. and since V.M. Kurochkina. - M .: Mir, 1989 .-- 240 p. - ISBN 5-03-001147-1 .
Links
- Museum of High Technologies: Z1 (inaccessible link) (Russian)
- Z1 - Zuse Design for Memory Capacitors in Binary Computing (1936) (eng.) Technical University of Berlin