Calculator, for your viewing pleasure

[Frank Boehm (Germany)]

Enjoy:

Babbage

[Walter B]

Thanks for sharing! d:-)

[Luiz C. Vieira (Brazil)]

Hi, Frank.

I'd also like to thank you for sharing.

I was wondering: had Lord Babbage also invented a

2D plotting device (click for bigger picture)?

Chances are this X- and Y-axis moving table is not used for plotting purposes, but it made me wonder about...

Cheers.

Luiz (Brazil)

Edited: 30 Nov 2012, 7:29 a.m.

[Frank Boehm (Germany)]

I think he created (actually he probably didn't create, but rather designed) a printing mechanism. There are probably more infos to be found on the net.

[Paul Berger (Canada)]

Babbage Printer There is an explanation of the printing mechanism here. It was designed to print on paper, but could also produce printing plates, to eliminate errors in typesetting.

[Patrice]

Yes he did invent the 2D printing device too

But it was build only on the second machine, the one in London don't have it.

The only thing that differ from the original drawing is an additional piece of metal to help resetting the machine, because they discovered the hard way that it is a very tricky operation subject to mechanical break if do wrong.

Patrice

Edited: 30 Nov 2012, 1:43 p.m.

[Frank Boehm (Germany)]

Babbage might have left out the reset due to simple reasoning: "A perfect machine never fails.". :)

(Or it might be a simple oversight. Or, also not unlikely, some kind of intentional bug as a copyright mechanism.)

[Patrice]

Quote:

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Babbage might have left out the reset due to simple reasoning: "A perfect machine never fails.". :)

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It is not a matter of failing, it is a matter of starting a new calculus with the right values.

Quote:

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(Or it might be a simple oversight. Or, also not unlikely, some kind of intentional bug as a copyright mechanism.)

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There was no bug there, it is just a helper to make the reset easier. (as I was told during the demo at mountain view museum)

[Eric Smith]

Actually the one in London does have the printer. Serial number 2, on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, was not commissioned until some time after the printer on serial number 1 was built and installed.

[Patrice]

looks like my misstake, I was sure to read this somewhere.