"The purpose of this study is to attempt to determine whether the vertical method of teaching calculating machines operation is more effective than the horizontal method of instruction"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1956." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1963. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 139).

This thesis is principally concerned with an investigation into possible methods of achieving the multiplication of two five digit decimal numbers coded in a pulse position form. Several different methods are investigated, the main effort being on devices employing a combination of digital and analog techniques. It is seen that despite the theoretical simplicity of these hybrid units, their practical realization often involves considerable difficulty. The final multiplier configuration studied offers the required accuracies with the use of simple circuitry. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

It is possible to obtain, the best (in the minimum mean-square error sense) linear model of a control system by solving a convolution-type integral for the impulse response of the system. This thesis presents a method for obtaining an approximate solution for the impulse response by solving a system of linear equations which is statistically equivalent to the convolution integral. An analogue computer which can solve the system of equations is described. The computer samples the sign of the input signal at an adjustable rate and stores this information in a shift register. The output signals from the shift register are then used to compute functions statistically related to the correlation functions of the system signals. A set of linear equations relating these functions is solved using an arrangement similar to the Gauss-Seidel Iteration method. The computer utilizes a time-sharing technique and the step response of the system can be generated as a repetitive waveform. The overall operation of the computer is described in block diagram form. The individual circuits are described and the results of a computational test are given. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

This thesis is concerned with the arithmetic circuitry of a time-sequential pulse-position-modulation analog computer. The principal feature of this computer is that functions are represented as pulse positions which occur in time-sequence. Arithmetic circuitry is developed which can manipulate functions in this form on a time-sharing basis. For simplicity in design, the essential arithmetic operations, addition, subtraction, and multiplication, are performed by the various arrangements of three basic units - an integrator, an "on-off type" gate, and a voltage comparator. The remaining aritmetic operation, division, calls for additional units. Input-output operations and function generation utilizing these basic units are also described. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

The large numbers of functions required in computations concerned with systems simulation have often resulted in function generators being very bulky, inflexible and expensive pieces of apparatus. This is because a separate system is often required for each function to be generated. The method proposed here enables a large number of functions to be generated by a minimum of equipment. Moreover, the arrangement is very flexible and should prove accurate to within 1%. This unit is designed for a time sequential analogue computer. This method of computation enables the functions F(X) to be stored and each sampled at a discrete value of X by a single sampling system. The functions are stored as photographs mounted around the surface of a rotating drum. Each function is sampled in turn by a beam of light and a photocell system. The position of the beam, (controlled by a galvanometer), determines the value of X at which the function is being sampled. The output from the photocell is arranged to indicate the value of F(X). In this unit up to 1000 samples per second can be made from 15 different functions - all at different values of X if necessary. The flexibility is such that the number of functions stored could be greatly exceeded with very little extra equipment. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

A computer for solving polynomial equations, performing Fourier synthesis, and displaying system functions is a valuable asset to an electrical laboratory. A number of successful computers have been built for such purposes but each has its limitations. The design of a versatile and precise instrument superior to existing computers is the purpose of this study. Using a voltage analogue of the function, this computer is designed for the solution of 20th - degree polynomials with real coefficients, 10th - degree polynomials with complex coefficients, and Fourier synthesis of either even or odd functions to the 20th harmonic or mixed functions to the 10th harmonic. Provision is made for the addition of circuits which will plot the magnitudes and angles of the polynomial or will form combinations of two 10th-degree polynomials. The computer, using servo phase-shifters harmonically geared in pairs and excited with a two-phase, 400-cps carrier, generates a polynomial term by term in exponential form. The coefficients and radial components of the terms are obtained by the use of precision potentiometers. The terms are summed by operational amplifiers which, mounted as a separate unit, can be removed from the computer for other analogue computations. The radial and angular components of the independent variable, p, of the polynomial may be constant or linear functions of time. The display consists of a long-persistence cathode-ray-tube on which the zeros of a polynomial are automatically plotted. For greater accuracy, zero positions may be determined manually by using a null indicator. Fourier synthesis can be performed with minor changes in the output circuit. The periodic function may be displayed continuously or point by point. The major part of the computer, the phase-shifter unit, has been built and most of the other components partially assembled. Completion and testing of the computer will be part of a further project. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Vectorcardiograms have proved useful in the diagnosis of heart disorders. However, such information as the variation of the magnitude and angle of the vector with time is not directly obtainable from a vectorcardiogram. An electronic device which would present the magnitude and angle of the vector as continuous functions of time, or "polarcardiograph" as it is named, would be useful in electrocardiographic research. It is shown that such a device, which must compute the polar co-ordinates of points from their respective Cartesian coordinates, can be constructed if analogue multipliers, subtractors and adders are available as well as a two-phase sinusoidal voltage source and a device for generating a voltage proportional to the phase difference of two sinusoidal signals. A search of the literature revealed that a similar de-vice had already been constructed, the major difference between it and the present machine being the manner in which multiplication is achieved. The principal difficulty involved in the design of the computer was the development of a simple and accurate multiplier using a pentagrid tube. A mathematical analysis of the dependence of the plate current on the two control-grid voltages was made to determine the operating conditions under which such a tube has an output voltage proportional to the product of the two input voltages. The polarcardiograph was built using the pentagrid-tube multipliers, and when tested proved to have an overall accuracy-well within that required for normal electrocardiographic purposes. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

After a general discussion of matrix norms and digital operations, matrix inversion procedures based on power series expansions are examined. The general class of methods of which the Diagonal and Gauss-Seidel iterations are illustrative is studied in some detail with bounds for the error matrix being obtained assuming, both exact and digital operations. The concept of the condition of a matrix and its bearing on iterative inversion procedures is looked into. A similar derivation and examination is then made for Hotelling's algorithm. Hotelling's iteration is further examined with a view to modifying it. Higher-order formulae are obtained and criticized and a new variation of the algorithm called the Optimized Hotelling method is derived and commented on. Some schemes for constructing initial approximations in connection with Hotelling's iteration (and similar methods) are discussed and a new modification of a procedure proposed by Berger and Saibel is constructed. The final part of the thesis discusses a class of finite-step iterative inversions based on an identity of Householder's. Three members of the class, namely Jordan-type Completion, the Symmetric method and the Quasi-optimum method are defined and briefly discussed. The Quasi-optimum method is then examined in further detail and some of its properties derived for the special case with the unit matrix for an initial approximation. / Science, Faculty of / Mathematics, Department of / Graduate