Dynamic Shift Registers - Bitsavers - Trailing-Edge

en>caC.enCC!)>o~en""" C!)tienC!)a:There are many potential new applications formoving-lamp displays in industrial control systems_Functions such as process flow rates throughseveral feeder pipelines or subassembly line ratein an assembly plant, cannot easily be set up on aCRT display_ Complex computer graphic techniquesor very expensive mUlti-gun displays maybe needed.The clock rates and lengths of a number of rowsof lamps can readily be adjusted by hand-operatedcontrols, such as voltage-controlled oscillators andgating between registers chosen by selector switches.Any feeder-line display rate that can be representedby the display rate could therefore be variedat a compressed scale of time and distance until thedisplay operator arrived at the optimum balanceof rates. This is a visual approach to a problem thatgenerally requires complex mathematics and analogcomputers to solve.Nor do the rows of lamps have to be aligned.Individual rows might represent route sections ina transportation network between junctions. Bydriving each section at a display rate simulatingthe speed of a particular train, and switching the"train" of moving lights from row to row viaswitches at the junctions (serial output to serialinput register connections), control personnelcould simulate system operation. Problems suchas tie-ups - or worse - at junctions could be workedout by varying display rates for the trains whoseschedules conflicted.244