| Joseph Jacquard's Analytical Loom | |
|---|---|
| |
|
Origin |
Joseph Jacquard |
|
Year of Creation |
1801-05 |
|
Type |
Clothing Loom |
|
Function |
Weaves thread and punches cards in corresponding patterns |
|
Modifications |
Connected to mathematical compiler machinery to advance calculations faster |
|
Location |
|
|
Collected by |
Warehouse 12 |
|
Retrieval |
Spring 1856 |
|
Usage Period |
1856 - 1966 |
| [Source] | |
Origin[]
Joseph Marie Charles Jacquard (7 July 1752 – 7 August 1834) was a French weaver and merchant. He played an important role in the development of the earliest programmable loom (the "Jacquard loom"), which in turn played an important role in the development of other programmable machines, such as an early version of digital compiler used by IBM to develop the modern day computer. This use of replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware, having inspired Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine.
Jacquard Loom[]
The Jacquard Loom is a mechanical loom that uses pasteboard cards with punched holes, each card corresponding to one row of the design. Multiple rows of holes are punched in the cards and the many cards that compose the design of the textile are strung together in order. It is based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean-Baptiste Falcon (1728) and Jacques Vaucanson (1740).
To understand the Jacquard loom, some basic knowledge of weaving is necessary. Parallel threads (the "warp") are stretched across a rectangular frame (the "loom"). For plain cloth, every other warp thread is raised. Another thread (the "weft thread") is then passed (at a right angle to the warp) through the space (the "shed") between the lower and the upper warp threads. Then the raised warp threads are lowered, the alternate warp threads are raised, and the weft thread is passed through the shed in the opposite direction. With hundreds of such cycles, the cloth is gradually created. By raising different (not just alternate) warp threads and using colored threads in the weft, the texture, color, design, and pattern can be varied to create varied and highly desirable fabrics. Weaving elaborate patterns or designs manually is a slow, complicated procedure subject to error. Jacquard's loom was intended to automate this process.
The Jacquard head used replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations. It is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware. The ability to change the pattern of the loom's weave by simply changing cards was an important conceptual precursor to the development of computer programming and data entry. Charles Babbage knew of Jacquard machines and planned to use cards to store programs in his Analytical Engine. In the late 19th century, Herman Hollerith took the idea of using punched cards to store information a step further when he created a punched card tabulating machine which he used to input data for the 1890 U.S. Census. A large data processing industry using punched-card technology was developed in the first half of the twentieth century—dominated initially by the International Business Machine corporation (IBM) with its line of unit record equipment. The cards were used for data, however, with programming done by plugboards.
Operation[]
Requires paper cards to run, although Claudia has debated souping up the interface with a digital screen and a reusable magnetic strip to read data. Putting in punched cards as the command inputs creates a desired pattern from the threads as the resultant function. Hooking it up to other equipment, such as an early operating system allows it to perform complicated math functions with greater ease than either machine alone. Was used during Warehouse 12 to create their very own prediction machine Nostradamus and in the subsequent incarnation for inventory organization upkeep.