Difference between revisions of "Average Response Computer"
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| − | The '''Average Response Computer''' was not actually a [[computer]] (as implied by the name), but a [[digital]] [[transistor]] data recording/analysis device. It took a number of data samples, provided by an [[analog-to-digital converter]], and summed and averaged them (hence the 'computer'), to remove the [[noise]]. It was built at [[Lincoln Laboratory]] in 1958. Its importance was as a predecessor to the [[LINC]] (see the tale in the Clark history, below). | + | The '''Average Response Computer''' (sometimes referred to as the '''ARC-1''') was not actually a [[computer]] (as implied by the name), but a [[digital]] [[transistor]] data recording/analysis device. It took a number of data samples, provided by an [[analog-to-digital converter]], and summed and averaged them (hence the 'computer', since 'computing' is being done), to remove the [[noise]]. It was built at [[Lincoln Laboratory]] in 1958. Its importance was as a predecessor to the [[LINC]] (see the tale in the Clark history, below). |
==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
Latest revision as of 07:53, 5 November 2025
The Average Response Computer (sometimes referred to as the ARC-1) was not actually a computer (as implied by the name), but a digital transistor data recording/analysis device. It took a number of data samples, provided by an analog-to-digital converter, and summed and averaged them (hence the 'computer', since 'computing' is being done), to remove the noise. It was built at Lincoln Laboratory in 1958. Its importance was as a predecessor to the LINC (see the tale in the Clark history, below).
Further reading
- W. A. Clark, R. M. Brown, M. H. Goldstein, C. E. Molnar, D. F. O'Brien, H.E. Zieman, "The Average Response Computer (ARC): A Digital Device for Computing Averages and Amplitude and Time Histograms of Electrophysiological Responses", IRE Trans. Biomed. Electronics, 1961
- W. A. Clark, Section B, "Average Response Computer (ARC-1)", in Communications Biophysics Quarterly Progress Report, No. 49, Research Laboratory of Electronics, April, 1958 - includes a description, block diagram and sample data
External links
- Wesley A. Clark, The LINC Was Early and Small, ACM, Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations, 1986, pp. 133-155 - covers the ARC on pp. 136-137
- John C. Conley, Average Response Computer Program (ARC), 1960 - program to implement the functionality of the ARC on a PDP-1
