Ferranti Argus

Originally designed for a military role, a re-packaged Argus was the first digital computer to be used to directly control an entire factory.

They were widely used in a variety of roles in Europe, particularly in the UK,[1] where a small number continue to serve as monitoring and control systems for nuclear reactors.

To reach these ranges, the missile was "lofted" in a nearly vertical trajectory at launch, flying as quickly as possible to high altitude where it suffered less drag during the subsequent long cruise toward the target.

[2] Argus began as a system to read the radar data, compute the required trajectory, and send that to the missile in-flight.

During a visit by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in November 1957, they set up a system with an automotive headlamp connected to a handle that could be moved by hand to shine at any point on a wall, while the computer attempted to move a second headlamp to lay on the same spot on the wall.

[4] Ferranti continued development of the system, and during 1958 they completed a prototype of a commercial product which they showed publicly for the first time at the Olympia in November.

The earlier machine was so slow that these sorts of issues were dealt with simply by checking every physical input in a loop, but with the much faster performance of the new design this was no longer appropriate as most of the tests would reveal no changes and thus be wasted.

Data memory was supplied in a 12-bit, 4096 word, core memory store, while up to 64 instruction words were stored in a separate plugboard tray then 8 trays to a box and 4 boxes in a rack giving 2048 lines of program, using ferrite pegs dropped into holes to create a "1".

He suggested placing the computers at the Orange Yeoman radar sites as calculation centers that would feed this information to the missile batteries.

[25] Whitehead was a friend of Gribble's and was aware of his work on a small computer, and first raised the issue sometime in autumn 1959.

Once the decision had been made to move to a digital computer, all sorts of secondary tasks were handed off to the machine.

This included everything from maintenance testing to missile launch control to the calculation of Doppler "zero points" where the signal would be expected to drop to zero as the target crossed at right angles to the radar.

[a] Unlike the original, the Argus 100 used a flat 24-bit addressing scheme with both data and code stored in a single memory.

The Argus 400 used silicon transistors in a NOR-logic designed by Ferranti Wythenshawe called MicroNOR II,[30] with more "conventional" logic where 0 and +4.5 represented binary 1 and 0, respectively.

It was designed to be plugged into a larger 19 inch rack mounted frame, together with up to four core store (memory) units.

The Argus 500 initially used the same packages, and also wire-wrap, on larger boards, but later versions employed dual-in-line ICs which were soldered flat onto the PCB and were much easier to remove.

A CORAL 66 high-level programming language compiler for the Argus 500 was developed by the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment under contract to Ferranti for use in industrial control and automation projects.

This removed the multiply and divide functions as these used a significant number of expensive JK flip-flops and it was cost effective at the time to save these 24 and a few other components.

The Argus 600 was an 8-bit machine, intended for use by manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment who required a relatively simple computer or programmable control device.

A simple mnemonic programming language called ASSIST, comprising 17 single-address instructions, was developed for the new machine.

It could be linked directly or via telephone lines to larger computers and its hardware interface allowed modules from the Argus range of peripheral and plant connection equipment to be added as required.

Design of the 700 started around 1968/9 and the range was still in production in the mid 1980s achieving international success for industrial and military applications.

The Argus 700S had the option of faster 150 ns bipolar memory with independent access for input-output processors.

[41] The Argus 700 also played an important historical role in the development of packet switching networks in the UK.

M700 included a range of computers which were all based on the same architectural features and instruction set ensuring a high level of compatibility and interchangeability in hardware and software terms.