The first microcomputer: The transfluxor-powered Arma Micro Computer from 1962
2 days ago
- #Arma Micro Computer
- #Historical Technology
- #Aerospace Computers
- The Arma Micro Computer was a 1960s aerospace computer, not a modern microcomputer, but an advanced miniaturized system smaller than an Apple II.
- It used a 22-bit serial architecture for mathematical calculations, with a 1 MHz clock but only 36,000 operations per second due to serial bit processing.
- Built from discrete components on small wafers, it featured transfluxor memory for non-destructive readout, ensuring program integrity in harsh environments.
- Arma evolved from analog naval computers to digital guidance systems for Atlas missiles, pioneering inertial navigation and PROM memory.
- Post-Micro Computer developments included the Micro C and Micro D computers, used in Navy ships, the Concorde, Air Force One, and the Litton LTN-51 navigation system.
- The company illustrates how aerospace tech companies can innovate and then vanish, with Arma shut down in 1982 after acquisition.
- The term 'microcomputer' is a social construct; the Arma Micro Computer fits some historical definitions despite not using a microprocessor.