On Jan 29, 2018, at 8:09 AM, James Propp <jamespropp@gmail.com> wrote:
Anyone know of any good designs for an easy-to-make analogue computer based on springs, masses, and dashpots? Jim, you have to go beyond linear components to make a computer. For example, static friction that breaks down at some force threshold might help you make a diode.
-Veit
That is, we want a supply of easily-interconnectable components that we can combine in ways that correspond to a prescribed differential equation, so that the behavior of the system will be a solution of the equation.
As I recall, there’s also a way to get hydraulic analogues of LRC networks (though I forget what the three sorts of components are called); is there a good design for a hydraulic computer?
Jim Propp