Mechanical vs Analog vs Digital Sytems

Course Name: ESS 102, Digital Design

Student Name: Mohammed Ibrahim
Student ID: IMT2023112

09 August 2023

Abstract
For the last 300 years, computers have transitioned from mechanical to analog and finally to digital
systems. This report aims to explore the shift in these computer models and understand the working
mechanisms, pros, and cons of all the aforementioned models.

1 Introduction
Since the invention of the first computer, computers have revolutionized humanity into a more advanced civi-
lization. The first computers were mechanical computers that operated on gears and were converted into analog
computers. Analog computers operated on continuous signals. Later on, after the invention of solid-state
transistors, computer models have now shifted to digital systems. [1]

2 Mechanical Computers
Mechanical computers were the very first computers and they operated on gears. One of the oldest mechanical
computers is the Antikythera Mechanical Computer invented by the Greeks. This computer entirely worked on
gears and had a very specific function: to observe the motion of the sun and the moon. Its gears were analogous
to the motion of the sun and the moon. While mechanical computers were very useful in the early times, each
mechanical computer was designed to do a very specific task and the design itself was very complex. They had
another shortcoming: the gears were mechanical objects. This meant that they were very energy inefficient.
This is the reason why mechanical computers had to be replaced with something more efficient, and thus, analog
computers were introduced. 2

Figure 1: The Antikythera Mechanism

[2]

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3 Analog System
The analog system was innately used in mechanical computers, such as the Antikythera mechanism mentioned
earlier. Analog systems were different from mechanical computers in the way they work: They operated on
continuous electrical signals such as voltages or currents, these electrical signals such as voltages are analogous
to the task to be performed. Analog computers are powerful, they could solve complex differential equations
very accurately. The analog computer shown in the figure can solve many such differential equations such as
the damped oscillation in a spring-mass system. They are energy efficient, unlike mechanical computers.
But analog computers have their own shortcomings. Just like mechanical computers, they are very specific in
their tasks. One major con of an analog computer is that their errors are not negligible, even a slight inaccuracy
in the electrical signal can cause a significant error. Analog computers played a key role in the early 20th
century. It was only after the 60s that digital systems started to replace analog computers.

Figure 2: Analog Computer

[3]

4 Digital System
The very first digital systems were introduced in the 19th century after the discovery of the Thompson effect.
This led to the idea of transistors and the initial transistors were made of vacuum tube bulbs integrated with
a grid. The first digital computer ENIAC was created with numerous such vacuum tubes and required a
huge space. Then came the discovery of solid-state transistors, which revolutionalized digital systems. Digital
systems operated on discrete inputs(0s and 1s), unlike analog computers which operated on continuous signals.
The binary logic was adapted after Claude Shannon proved that any mathematical operation can be performed
with boolean algebra using only three gates: AND, NOT, and OR. Digital systems are very versatile and can
perform almost any task with the right program as evident from this current era. One more advantage of digital
systems is that the inaccuracy is negligible since it will only change a few bits which is a marginal error. Analog
computers didn’t have any of these advantages and thus digital computers eventually replaced them.

5 Conclusion
Mechanical computers could perform basic tasks and arithmetic but they were very inefficient and hard to
design. Analog computers were a much better replacement because they could perform complex tasks with
much better efficiency. But analog computers could not be used for general purpose and their errors were
very significant. Digital computers have none of these shortcomings and hence have replaced analog computers.
Analog computers are still being researched because of their ability to solve more complex problems which digital
computers can’t. But as of now, digital computers are the most used computers because of their versatility.

6 References
References
[1] Derek Muller. Analog computers.

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[2] Derek Muller. Analog computers.

[3] Derek Muller. Analog computers.

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