Word: computerizing
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Dates: during 1970-1970
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In Arthur Clarke's space odyssey 2001, the most intriguing character is not flesh and blood but an extraordinary computer called HAL (for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer). Amazingly lifelike, HAL speaks with flawless diction, calmly disposes of almost any problem and-when it turns "psychotic"-does the same to...
Billions of Miles. Called STAR (for Self-Testing And Repairing), the experimental electronic whiz is the prototype of a computer that is being designed for a most demanding assignment: guiding the first unmanned expeditions to Jupiter and the other outer planets later in the decade. These far-ranging planetary "grand...
With STAR, controllers should rest easy. Built by a Lithuanian-born J.P.L. engineer named Algirdas Avižienis, 38, the computer consists of ten separate units, each designed to perform a specific function (computation, logic, communications, memory and monitoring). More important, some of the units always stand by as spares...
The really remarkable feature of Avižienis' brainchild is a specially gifted unit dubbed TARP (for Test And Repair Processor). Like a zealous office manager always peering over the shoulders of his clerks, TARP can almost instantly spot errors, determine who has made them, and take steps to...
Like HAL, the self-repairing computer is not entirely foolproof. It could not, for example, cope with a flurry of failures that knocked out parts faster than they could be replaced. But in most test situations, STAR has proved a stellar performer. On one occasion, J.P.L. scientists taught it to...