View source for SAPO (computer)

[[File:SAPO computer.svg|thumb|Artistic representation of the SAPO computer]]

The '''SAPO''' (short for '''''Samočinný počítač''''', “automatic computer”) was the first [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] [[computer]]. It operated in the years 1957–1960 in ''[[Výzkumný ústav matematických strojů]]'', part of the [[Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences]]. The computer was the first [[fault-tolerant]] computer – it had three parallel [[arithmetic logic unit]]s, which decided on the correct result by voting, an example of [[triple modular redundancy]] (if all three results were different, the operation was repeated).

SAPO was designed between 1950 and 1956 by a team led by Czechoslovak [[cybernetics]] pioneer [[Antonín Svoboda (computer scientist)|Antonín Svoboda]]. Svoboda had experience from building in the United States, where he worked at [[MIT]] until 1946. It was an [[electromechanics|electromechanical]] design with 7,000 [[relay]]s and 400 [[vacuum tube]]s, and a [[magnetic drum memory]] with capacity of 1024 32-bit [[word (computer architecture)|words]]. Each instruction had 5 operands (addresses) – 2 for arithmetic operands, one for result and addresses of next instruction in case of positive and negative result. It operated on binary floating point numbers.

In 1960, after a spark from one of the relays ignited the greasing oil and the whole relay unit burnt down, it was decided not to repair the computer because of its obsolescence.

== See also ==
* [[EPOS (computer)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |author-last=Svoboda |author-first=Antonín |author-link=Antonín Svoboda (computer scientist) |title=From Mechanical Linkages to Electronic Computers: Recollections from Czechoslovakia |publisher=[[IEEE]] |date=1980}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.fi.muni.cz/usr/jkucera/pv109/vystavka/xprocha1_index.html Beginnings of computer design in Czechoslovakia (in Czech)], [https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fi.muni.cz%2Fusr%2Fjkucera%2Fpv109%2Fvystavka%2Fxprocha1_index.html&edit-text= Google translation]
*{{cite web|last1=Kovář|first1=Petr|date=|title=Samočinný počítač SAPO {{!}} Historie počítačů v Československu|url=http://historiepocitacu.cz/samocinny-pocitac-sapo.html|website=historiepocitacu.cz|archive-url=|archive-date=|accessdate=4 January 2018|language=cs|trans-title=SAPO Automated Computer {{!}} History of Computers in Czechoslovakia}} [https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fhistoriepocitacu.cz%2Fsamocinny-pocitac-sapo.html&edit-text= Google translation]

[[Category:Electro-mechanical computers]]
[[Category:One-of-a-kind computers]]


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