NASA-Ames Hybrid Computer Facilities and Their Application to Problems in Aeronautics

It has been our privilege at the Ames Research Center to be able to participate in the design and development of two advanced hybrid computing machines, the Ames Linkage System and the Digital Logic Simulator. The Ames Linkage System was built around requirements of a specific simulation, and because of the magnitude of the mission, the unit was designed primarily to fit these specifications. The unusual features of the linkage are emphasized along with a general discussion of its capabilities. The Digital Logic Simulator was developed for aiding in the expeditious solution of simulation problems containing logic elements. However, a wide variety of interesting applications of this device have been worked out at the Center and it is felt that these applications indicate the future potentialities of this class of machine. Three recent applications will be discussed in some detail.