Floating Decimal System(ID:8455/)

GM Allison floating point coding system that possibly developed into AFAC. Described in Horner 1955, but not mentioned in Bemer 1957
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Floating Decimal System => AFAC   Evolution of
References:
  • Horner, J. T. "High Speed Computation of Engine Performance" view details Extract: EASE
    A third class of problems will be scheduled also for the 650. These will be the smaller engineering problems of the type now handled on the CPCs as described previously. At this time a system is being prepared for the 650 Computer which is supposed to make programming on the computer easy for engineers. In fact, we call it the EASE System (Engineering Automatic System of Solving Equations).
    The EASE System actually consists of a method of symbolic coding in
    which a compiling system and elementary generators are used to prepare a program in the 650 language. The engineer, however, need not be aware of all the detail which is used to prepare the actual computer program, instead, he breaks down his equations into a sequence of logical computing steps. The EASE System then assigns computer locations for all instructions and data and generates the appropriate computer instructions. Soon after this system is developed
    and checked (within the next month) we expect to have all smaller
    engineering problems programmed by this system. It is anticipated that these procedures will cause a large drop in present CPC loading. As an example of an EASE problem, consider the following equation:

    Y = A + BCosZ * e X
    The EASE solution to this equation is entered on an EASE program sheet as shown in FIGURE 1.
    Extract: Floating Decimal System
    In the initiaI stages of our procedures planning for computations to
    be handled on the CPC, the Engineering Calculations Grou~ was - - careful to design a system which made it easy to use these computers with a minimum amount of training.
    Soon after this system was designed (Floating Decimal System designed in the fall of 1952) lectures and training material were widely distributed to the design engineers in an effort to make them conscious of this new engineering tool and in order that its potentialities could be exploited. Our opinion was, and still is, that for small engineering problems the computer is a routine engineering working tool useful for problems only slightly more advanced than those which would be handled by the slide rule. Thus, we believe that for problems of this type the engineers should prepare their own computer Despite the lectures and distribution of material, it took an extremely long time for an appreciable number of engineers to concur with this opinion. In fact, a large number of them at this time are still non-adherents to this persuasion. A sufficiently large number, however, are preparing programs to keep the two CPCs operating for a large portion of the 16 hours a day of operation.
    A representative list of problems handled in this manner is as follows:
    Calculation of disk stresses in an axial symmetrical rotating disk with temperature
    grade-in.
    Drawing dimensions for rigid tubing.
    Section Properties, I,,,, I,i,, area, and angle of principal axis for blades.
    High Speed Computation of Engine Performance 79
    Non-dimensional performance calculations for engines.
    Gas flow path calculations.
    Least squares fitting of empirical data.
          in Armour Research Foundation Second Annual Computer Applications Symposium 1955 view details