[HN Gopher] The Globus INK: a mechanical navigation computer for...
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The Globus INK: a mechanical navigation computer for Soviet
spaceflight
Author : picture
Score : 72 points
Date : 2023-01-21 17:37 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.righto.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.righto.com)
| borissk wrote:
| No doubt similar systems were installed on the soviet ICBMs,
| probably still in use today.
| krisoft wrote:
| > No doubt similar systems were installed on the soviet ICBMs
|
| I very much doubt it. This is a display unit. Has zero purpose
| on an uncrewed system.
|
| Furthermore ballistic missiles remain suborbital. This device
| is usefull to track your position on orbit.
|
| Ballistic missiles don't reenter using retro rockets, so
| showing the reentry point to the no-existing crew in case they
| activate the non-existing retro rockets has limited usefullness
| either.
|
| In short ICBM's don't have this or similar systems for the same
| reasons they don't have cuckoo clocks. They are not usefull
| there.
| cleansingfire wrote:
| Wow! An analog dead reckoning computer with a beautiful display.
| I'm especially intrigued by the cam based CVT (constantly
| variable transmission.) I'm glad to know this exists. Thank you
| for sharing the details.
| kens wrote:
| Author here if you have questions about the Globus or other space
| hardware.
| janoc wrote:
| No questions but thanks to all of you guys. That's one heck
| fascinating stuff you are working on there and big kudos for
| researching and documenting the tech history!
|
| I remember seeing this Globus device in all Russian spaceflight
| photos since I was a kid and we learned about Gagarin and
| others (I am from ex-communist country) - and nobody has ever
| published much information about how this thing works, until
| now. Yet it was a staple of Soviet spaceflight until early
| 2000s and similar devices flew also on all Soviet space
| stations (Salyuts, Mir).
| krisoft wrote:
| > nobody has ever published much information about how this
| thing works
|
| I'm afraid you are mistaken on that. The instrument has a
| very extensive wikipedia page since years: https://en.m.wikip
| edia.org/wiki/Voskhod_Spacecraft_%22Globus...
| usgroup wrote:
| This is a naive question, but how does one even begin to
| conceive of a device like this? What does a "mechanical
| computer" development life cycle look like?
| contingencies wrote:
| Not so different from software I would hazard a guess.
| Document requirements (accuracy over intended usage period,
| human interface, weight, size) and identify potential
| subsystems and interfaces. Obtain industrial base with both
| practical and theoretical expertise in mechanical
| engineering. Brainstorm possible solutions and compare to
| requirements. Prototype and iterate. Test. Train.
| kens wrote:
| I think it's basically a process of figuring out the
| equations you want, then how to "mechanize" them with gears,
| cams, and differentials. Then it is mechanical engineering to
| fit all the gears in a box. (The equations are generally much
| simpler than you'd implement in software, and you're not
| dealing with algorithms.)
|
| Another thing is that the Globus went through multiple
| revisions so the original didn't have as much functionality.
| So it's kind of like any project where you make the minimum
| viable product and then incrementally add features.
| nosianu wrote:
| Just like with electronics, it all started with individual
| components. It only looks so incredibly complex when all
| those individual units are composed into a big whole.
|
| Underneath it there is order similar to the layering of
| software though.
|
| Here are a few mechanical computing components explained, the
| context here was real-time in- and output to control ship
| guns against ground, sea or air targets, taking into account
| own speed, angles, angular speeds, distances and their
| changes, and other factors, like wind, if they could be
| measured.
|
| https://youtu.be/s1i-dnAH9Y4 -- "Basic Mechanisms In Fire
| Control Computers - US Navy 1953"
|
| So, the engineers coming up with the top level design
| probably did not think in "gears" but in higher level
| computing and transmission units.
| iancmceachern wrote:
| Exactly, we think in terms of interfaces. The apollo moon
| mission technical history is a good example. At a high
| level there is a big diagram with things like transmissions
| and modules drawn as single blocks. We define how those
| blocks need to interact with eachother. Then teams of
| engineers work on each block, designing and making each
| block to do what it was defined to do on that big flow
| chart. Each part is tested to its interfaces (which can be
| mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, control, etc) and if
| each part does what it's supposed to the whole thing
| should.
| Koshkin wrote:
| > _The name Globus (Globus) seems to be a nickname, and I suspect
| it 's more commonly used in English than Russian._
|
| Actually, "globus" is just the Russian word for the familiar
| model of the globe (like those found in classrooms), which is
| what this thing is. No mystery there :)
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| > _Although the Globus is mostly mechanical, it has an
| electronics board with four relays and a transistor_
|
| a transistor (!!)
| kens wrote:
| The funny thing about this germanium transistor is that it
| looks like a TO-3 power transistor package, the large flanged
| metal. But the Russian packaging is different: the flange is
| separate from the transistor and clamps down the round
| transistor package. I'm not sure that makes sense, but here's
| an eBay photo: https://www.ebay.com/itm/203509582918
| schiffern wrote:
| Archived for posterity: https://archive.ph/J9mEb
| Koshkin wrote:
| > _I 'm not sure that makes sense_
|
| Maybe this is done in order to decouple the orientation of
| the leads from that of the holes, so one does not force the
| other? (Just a guess.)
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(page generated 2023-01-21 23:00 UTC)