As many will know the first digital computer was the 'difference engine' developed by Babbage in the 1840's
It was a mass of sliding bars running 'programs' that were programmed.
It seems to me there are quite large similarities between the interlocking under mechanical signal boxes, and the London Transport interlocking machine, and the difference engine
Can we also include the use of punch cards and punch tape to control these machines. Rolls of punched paper was used by Jaquard to control knitting machines and Babbage foresaw their use in computing, as they were in Colossus at Bletchley Park (where they decoded German Enigma traffic in WW2). The only use of punch cards was LT who had programme machines that had the timetable on a roll pf punched paper, which provided the input to the interlocking machine to set the points and signals for the trains, or to control the ATO on the Victoria Line.
As an aside, Babbage was an associate of IK Brunel. They knew precision engineer Joseph Clement, who built the difference engine to Babbages design.
ATO = Automatic Train Operation.
It was a mass of sliding bars running 'programs' that were programmed.
It seems to me there are quite large similarities between the interlocking under mechanical signal boxes, and the London Transport interlocking machine, and the difference engine
Can we also include the use of punch cards and punch tape to control these machines. Rolls of punched paper was used by Jaquard to control knitting machines and Babbage foresaw their use in computing, as they were in Colossus at Bletchley Park (where they decoded German Enigma traffic in WW2). The only use of punch cards was LT who had programme machines that had the timetable on a roll pf punched paper, which provided the input to the interlocking machine to set the points and signals for the trains, or to control the ATO on the Victoria Line.
As an aside, Babbage was an associate of IK Brunel. They knew precision engineer Joseph Clement, who built the difference engine to Babbages design.
ATO = Automatic Train Operation.