Comment by pippy
10 years ago
How did they do this without transistors? The only thing I can find is this diagram here which looks like a small box: http://www.twinbeech.com/images/TURRETS/cfc/CFC%20computer19... which is smaller than a vacuum tube. I'd assume you'd need vector calculus to calculate the path of a bullet?
The first thing to keep in mind is that these are not general purpose machines. They only do one thing, which is estimate the trajectory of a particular type of bullet, given several inputs.
This lets the designer do a lot of precalculation, so they might use a series of cams that approximate known curves or differentials some known ratio.
Useful google terms are things like "mechanical fire control computer" or "mechanical tide predictor".
Check out "Old Brass Brains" it might give you an idea of how to approach this kind of problem mechanically; or at least how sophisticated a mechanical approach can be.