Mechanical fire-control computer
Realizes: ballistic trajectory / gun bearing and elevation (multivariate real-time ODE)
Electromechanical analog computers installed on WWII-era warships (e.g. the US Navy Mark 1) continuously computed the correct bearing and elevation for naval guns from up to 25 live inputs: target range, target bearing, own-ship speed and course, wind speed, shell muzzle velocity, and more. Seven classes of mechanism — shafts, gears, cams, differentials, component solvers, integrators, and multipliers — were combined to solve the fire-control problem in real time. Speed: continuous real-time (output updated as fast as inputs change). Capacity: ~25 input variables → 2 output variables (bearing, elevation).
Examples
Mechanical Computer (All Parts) — Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953)
US Navy training film explaining all seven mechanical computing elements: shafts, gears, cams, differentials, component solvers, integrators, and multipliers
Hackaday — Retrotechtacular: Fire Control Computers In Navy Ships
Overview of the Mark 1 fire-control computer and how its subsystems solved the ballistic equations continuously