About the seminar

Construction of the mechanical and electronic parts of the EDSAC is substantially complete and many sub-systems have been shown to work correctly standalone. For the past 18 months the focus has been on commissioning the machine as a whole. In the course of so doing several lessons have been learned and design improvements made: from the historical records it would appear we are often following in the footsteps of the pioneers as they brought the original machine to life.

Andrew and Chris will give a progress report, and in so doing discuss some of the logical design and electronic circuit issues that have arisen and how they have been addressed. The aim will be to keep the talk accessible to those with a general knowledge of computer architecture whilst giving a taste of some of the depth of understanding required by the volunteers building the replica.

About the speakers

Andrew Herbert is the project manager of the EDSAC Replica Project and Chris Burton is its technical leader having previously led the re-creation of the first Manchester computer the “Manchester Baby”.

Click to see a podcast of this event.