This is a project to build the "first computer": a fully mechanical version of Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. It is a major undertaking that will take years. As of the start of 2024 the effort has just begun.
This repository will reflect a work continually in progress. It will contain plans, notes, simulations, and designs as they are developed. Nothing here is static, and no decision is immutable until we start construction, and maybe not even then.
19 April 2024: As changes are made to reflect progress, this repository is starting to look more like a blog, especially recently in the test_designs/anticipating_carriage section. GitHub is not the right vehicle for that, so I've transitioned instead to using a real blog: https://worldsfirstcomputer.blogspot.com/. I'll keep putting design and code files here, but the narrative (in the conventional reverse chronological order) will now be in the blog.
If you are interested in this project, the place to start is the latest version of the proposal document in this directory. It will be modified occasionally, but there is a log at the end that highlights what has changed.
Other directories will appear as various parts of the project are developed. These are the first to be added:
- simulations
- instruction_simulator
- timing_simulator
- component_simulator
- test_designs
- digit_wheel
- anticipating_carriage
- mill
Wish us luck.
Len Shustek 4 February 2024