| Information: | In 1959, Hursley embarked on a project to develop a scientific computer, code named SCAMP – Scientific Computer And Modular Processor. SCAMP was one of the first machines to incorporate Maurice Wilkes’ invention of microprogramming.
In order to implement this technology, Hursley developed the Transformer Read Only Storage device (TROS), of which this is an example. It was a horrendously complicated piece of engineering to reproduce, and an attempt by Vic Williams to devise an automated manufacturing tool was doomed to failure from the start.
Further development of SCAMP was overtaken by the formation of the Spread Committee, whose task it was to come up with a future mainframe strategy for IBM. All development in multiple locations was halted while the committee looked for a new strategy. Out of this came System/360, designed to ensure commonality between processors, peripherals and software across the entire range.
The SCAMP TROS concept was successfully redesigned in Hursley into a more compact, easy to manufacture TROS that was used in the Hursley developed System/360 Model 40. |