Programs For Machines Research Articles (Page 4)

This article describes four C language functions for programming the IBM PC and compatibles for timing with millisecond precision. The technique, which is based on a reprogramming of the PC’s real time clock, requires no additional hardware, no assembly language code, and no programming of machine or software interrupts. One function restores the PC’s time-of-day clock.

A computer-aided method of defining and machining 2-metre ship hull forms for hydrodynamic testing is described. The hull shape is faired from the original table of off-sets using a minimum number of smooth three-dimensional parametric skeletal-lines along the length of the boat. A fine set of smoothly blending station-lines is therby formed. The hull shape is preformed in two halves through a lamination process and machined on a three-axis numerically controlled machining (CNC) centre. A carbide-tipped, end-milling cutter is directed along the closely spaced station-lines to rapidly form an accurate hull shape requiring a minimum of hand work. The fairing and machining programs, called G-surf, run on a personal computer and are used to transmit the data and control the CNC machine in real time. The resulting hull shape is symmetrical and far more accurate than manually lofted and preshaped models.

Possibilities of graphic simulation of NC programs

For the past 3 years (1980-83), students at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, have had 24-hour access to a vending machine which dispenses over the counter medicines and contraceptives. The machine is located in a small health facility near the undergraduate residence halls. The health facility is staffed by a registered nurse who provides treatment for minor illnesses, health education information, and referrals to the university's medical center. The facility stresses self-care, and a bulletin board located near the vending machine provides numerous health education brochures. The vending machine program represents a continuation of the emphasis on self-care. Instead of fostering dependency on the nursing staff the vending machine helps the students become self-reliant in reference to assessing their own health needs. Items dispensed by the machine include condoms, condoms and foam, aspirin, Sudafed, Robitussin, Acetaminiphen, Chlortrimeton, Cepacol, bandages, and thermometers. The items are sold to the students at cost. Condoms are the most popular item, and in 1982-83, 404 condom packages, priced at US$.50, were sold. Students who know what kind of medicine or health aid they want no longer are required to obtain these items by visiting the nursing staff. The image of the nurses at the facility is no longer that of a dispenser of over the counter drugs but that of someone who provides counseling, health education, and referrals. A survey conducted in 1983 revealed that the majority of the student body knew about the vending machine. This awareness reached 100% among senior class males. The purpose of the vending machine project is to make nonprescription medicines readily available to students, to make contraceptives available on a 24-hour basis, and to emphasize that the primary role of the facility's nursing staff is to provide education, counseling, and referral services.

Abstract Debugging tools are usually highly machine and compiler dependent programs that are either impossible to move or require a tremendous effort to move to another machine. This paper describes Ctrace, a portable debugging tool for the C language that provides the same, easy‐to‐use debugging environment on all machines. A similar debugger can be written for any language. Ctrace is a preprocessor that inserts source language debugging code into the program before compilation that, at execution time, prints the text of each source language statement along with the values of variables it uses and modifies. Redundant trace output from program loops is detected and eliminated. Tracing can be limited to selected statements or functions. Ctrace has shown its usefulness and popularity by its installation on over 200, computers at Bell Laboratories. It has proven its portability by being used to test software on four different operating systems and nine different processors.

Accommodating a turnkey CAD/CAM system to organizational needs

Abstract This paper describes an application of Keyword‐in‐Context/KWIC/Keyword‐Out‐of‐Context/KWOC programs (IBM 1401‐CR‐02X) to indexing masters' theses and doctoral dissertations at the Catholic University of America. Two recent (1970) computer‐produced indexes, one covering 5,458 masters' theses and doctoral dissertations accepted in all schools between 1961 and 1967, inclusive, and the other covering 975 masters' theses in nursing accepted between 1932 and 1961, are described. The machine configuration, programs, general system and costs are discussed.

The original machine and your secondary school physical science program

This note reports on the application of the Balas algorithm for linear programs with zero-one variables on larger problems involving up to 159 variables. Two modifications of the algorithm are discussed. Some information about the machine program and numerical results are given.

logic of the development of computer programming for the solution of problems has made it necessary to study human problem solving processes in order to apply principles used by man in perfecting machine programs. The practical expansion of computer potential, writes V. M. Glushkov, depends on the ability to introduce programs for appropriate tasks. There is, perhaps, no other way to actually program highly complex intellectual problems except by studying the processes of human thought [41.

Research at R.R.E.—No. 5. High-speed programming of an electron beam machine : T. E. Price, Brit. Comm. Electron., January 1964, p. 25

The problem of space-current calculation is reviewed briefly to point out the inadequacy of the classic solution for modern close-spaced electron tubes. A more accurate solution for the space current is obtained by calculating the current distribution from the potential field in the grid-cathode space, corrected for space charge and initial electron velocities. A machine program set up on a large high-speed computer permits the calculation of complete voltage-current characteristics and their derivatives from basic input data. A brief account of the sequence of machine operations illustrates the large number of detailed steps and the flexibility of the program. The accuracy of the calculations is demonstrated by a comparison of the computed and measured characteristics of a nuvistor triode.