AKAT-1 is a historic

analog computer An analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computation machine (computer) that uses physical phenomena such as Electrical network, electrical, Mechanics, mechanical, or Hydraulics, hydraulic quantities behaving according to the math ...

. Constructed in 1959 by

Jacek Karpiński Jacek Karpiński (9 April 1927 21 February 2010) was a Polish pioneer in computer engineering and computer science. During World War II, he was a soldier in the Batalion Zośka of the Polish Home Army, and was awarded multiple times with a C ...

and

Janusz Tomaszewski Janusz Teofil Tomaszewski () (born 13 September 1956 in Pabianice) is a Polish politician. A Solidarity activist, member of Solidarity Electoral Action. He was a vice-prime minister and Minister of Internal Affairs from 31 October 1997 to 3 Septem ...

it was the world's first

transistor A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch electrical signals and electric power, power. It is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semicondu ...

ised differential equations analyzer.

Background

Karpiński built the device at the

Polish Academy of Science's Institute of Automatics Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

. AKAT-1 aimed to simulate various complex dynamic processes like thermodynamics,

heat transfer Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the generation, use, conversion, and exchange of thermal energy (heat) between physical systems. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as thermal conduction, ...

or a

shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulics, hydraulic device designed to absorb and Damping ratio, damp shock (mechanics), shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typic ...

's mechanics. The device's innovativeness was acknowledged by computer science historians, e.g.

Maciej Sysło Maciej (Polish pronunciation: ) is a Polish given name, the etymological equivalent of Matthias. Its diminutive forms are Maciek, Maciuś. Namedays according to Polish calendar: 30 January, 24 February, 14 May Maciej may refer to: Arts and ente ...

claims it has to be conceded that Karpiński's effort preceded any other similar device.Lipiński 2014, p. 136 The construction was also lauded for its aesthetical merits. The panel designed by leading Polish artists

Emil Cieślar Emil may refer to: Literature *''Emil and the Detectives'' (1929), a children's novel *"Emil", nickname of the Kurt Maschler Award for integrated text and illustration (1982–1999) *''Emil i Lönneberga'', a series of children's novels by Astr ...

, Olgierd Rutkowski,

Stanisław Siemek Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...

and

Andrzej Wróblewski Andrzej Krystyn Wróblewski (Polish pronunciation: ; 15 June 1927 – 23 March 1957) was a Polish figurative painter who died in a mountaineering accident in 1957 when he was only 29. He is recognized by many as one of Poland's most prominent ar ...

at the

Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual, visual arts and applied arts located in the Poland, Polish Warsaw, capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the ...

had been considered to 'innovatively merge all functions in a congruent and attractive form that anticipated the future trends'. The machine has been domestically welcomed warmly, having been covered by a host of country-wide media, including national television

TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Telewizja Polska 1'', ''Program Pierwszy Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of Telewizja Polska, TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's national television broadcaster. It was the first Po ...

and Polish Film Chronicle.

Production

The AKAT-1 was only implemented as prototype. Due to political reasons the system never went into mass production.{{cite web , last1=Here , first1=Poland , title=Poland here: AKAT-1 - Retro Computer - Made in Poland 1959 , url=https://polandhere.blogspot.com/2011/01/akat-1-retro-computer-made-in-poland.html , website=Poland here , access-date=2 December 2024 , date=27 January 2011

Current state

A prototype of the machine is exhibited in the Museum of Technology in Warsaw.

References

Analog computers Computers designed in Poland

Background

Production

Current state

Further reading

References