- Email: [email protected]
Pile programs
CIL service CIL have opened a new servicing and maintenance workshop in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, to handle all drum and flatbed plotters along with electronic office equipment. New UK operations controller is Bob Stewart from Systems Reliability Ltd. (Com-
puter Instrumentation Limited, Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh, Hants 505 3YY, UK. Tel: (04215) 66321. Tx: 4 7326)
8 pen plotter
Dynamic Graphics Option 30, now available on the Tektronix 4045 desktop graphics computer, allows the user to work directly with design elements. BASIC commands are used to create and manipulate objects like straight lines, words, complex shapes or menus. Once created, the objects can be saved in dynamic memory and recalled later. This is quicker than drawing direct from program. (Tektronix UK Limited, Beaverton House, PO Box 69, Harpenden, Herts, UK. Tel."Harpenden 63141. Tx: 25559)
Bananas to beams Civil and structural engineering packages developed mainly at Stirling Maynard and Partners of Peterborough, UK are now available on Geest microcomputers. Geest, who are big in bananas, went into minicomputers three years ago. Seeing a gap in the desktop calculator replacement market, they recently launched a series of microcomputers based around the Texas Instruments 16-bit 9900 microprocessor and 990/5 CPU board. The Stirling Maynard programs are written in FORTRAN and are available on the G4 and G5 models. The 15 programs aid: calculation of earthwork quantities, highway design, surveying, stability of slopes analysis, finite-element analysis, plastic analysis of portal frames, design of sheet pile walls, design of standard and continuous prestressed beams, pile group calculations, design of beam cross-sections for elastic bending, elastic analysis of frames, analysis of continuous beams with varying section
158
properties, concrete column and base design to CP110 and critical path analysis. Another 55 programs are being adapted for release. The top computer in the micro range is the G5, based around Tl's 990/5 board, 64k RAM, 10 Mbyte hard disc, VDU and pinter. It costs about £t4 000 and software can be licensed for E5 - 75 a month. Bill Young of Stifling Maynard sees the systems filling the gap between desktop calculators and the larger minibased systems. To keep costs to a minimum, no graphics interface has been provided. (Geest Micro Systems, Centre City House, Hi//Street, Birmingham B5 4UB, UK. Tel: 021643 3013)
Pile programs WA Dawson have made their sheet pile retaining wall programs available for sale or they will run data for users. Trial runs will be undertaken to demonstrate the programs free of charge. (WA Dawson itd, Sundon Park, Luton, Beds LU3 3AB. Tel: Luton 597501. Tx: 826735)
The Philips PM 8151 intelligent multipen plotter is being marketed in the UK by Pye Unicam of Cambridge. Based around a Zilog Z80 microprocessor, the plotter has a programmable choice of eight pens and can produce drawings up to DIN standard size A3. Microprocessor control provides linear interpolation for vector generarian, circles and arcs, and up to 120 different characters in five different fonts. Plotting area is 280 mm x 338 mm with an accuracy of 0.1 per cent full scale. Programmable offsets and window plotting are also featured. V24 serial or IEC 625/IEEE 488 bus interfacing are available and an 800 byte buffer, extendable to 1 kbyte, provides storage for incoming data. Special characters and userdefined subroutines can be added on ROM. (Pye Unicam Limited, York Street, Cambridge, UK. Tel: (0223) 358866. Tx: 817331)
VAX interface A Multi Picture System interface to DEC's VAX 11/780 computer is available now from Evans & Sutherland. The interface will provide a native-mode UNIBUS link between the VAX and Evans & Sutherland's dynamic 3D vector graphics system. The new interface shares hardware with the existing PDP11/Multi Picture System interface. Software compatibility allows existing graphics programs to move from a PDP11 to a VAX by recompiling.
(Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation, Gatwick Road, Crawley, Sussex RHI 0 2LR, UK. Tel: (0293) 511504)
computer-aided design
puter Instrumentation Limited, Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh, Hants 505 3YY, UK. Tel: (04215) 66321. Tx: 4 7326)
8 pen plotter
Dynamic Graphics Option 30, now available on the Tektronix 4045 desktop graphics computer, allows the user to work directly with design elements. BASIC commands are used to create and manipulate objects like straight lines, words, complex shapes or menus. Once created, the objects can be saved in dynamic memory and recalled later. This is quicker than drawing direct from program. (Tektronix UK Limited, Beaverton House, PO Box 69, Harpenden, Herts, UK. Tel."Harpenden 63141. Tx: 25559)
Bananas to beams Civil and structural engineering packages developed mainly at Stirling Maynard and Partners of Peterborough, UK are now available on Geest microcomputers. Geest, who are big in bananas, went into minicomputers three years ago. Seeing a gap in the desktop calculator replacement market, they recently launched a series of microcomputers based around the Texas Instruments 16-bit 9900 microprocessor and 990/5 CPU board. The Stirling Maynard programs are written in FORTRAN and are available on the G4 and G5 models. The 15 programs aid: calculation of earthwork quantities, highway design, surveying, stability of slopes analysis, finite-element analysis, plastic analysis of portal frames, design of sheet pile walls, design of standard and continuous prestressed beams, pile group calculations, design of beam cross-sections for elastic bending, elastic analysis of frames, analysis of continuous beams with varying section
158
properties, concrete column and base design to CP110 and critical path analysis. Another 55 programs are being adapted for release. The top computer in the micro range is the G5, based around Tl's 990/5 board, 64k RAM, 10 Mbyte hard disc, VDU and pinter. It costs about £t4 000 and software can be licensed for E5 - 75 a month. Bill Young of Stifling Maynard sees the systems filling the gap between desktop calculators and the larger minibased systems. To keep costs to a minimum, no graphics interface has been provided. (Geest Micro Systems, Centre City House, Hi//Street, Birmingham B5 4UB, UK. Tel: 021643 3013)
Pile programs WA Dawson have made their sheet pile retaining wall programs available for sale or they will run data for users. Trial runs will be undertaken to demonstrate the programs free of charge. (WA Dawson itd, Sundon Park, Luton, Beds LU3 3AB. Tel: Luton 597501. Tx: 826735)
The Philips PM 8151 intelligent multipen plotter is being marketed in the UK by Pye Unicam of Cambridge. Based around a Zilog Z80 microprocessor, the plotter has a programmable choice of eight pens and can produce drawings up to DIN standard size A3. Microprocessor control provides linear interpolation for vector generarian, circles and arcs, and up to 120 different characters in five different fonts. Plotting area is 280 mm x 338 mm with an accuracy of 0.1 per cent full scale. Programmable offsets and window plotting are also featured. V24 serial or IEC 625/IEEE 488 bus interfacing are available and an 800 byte buffer, extendable to 1 kbyte, provides storage for incoming data. Special characters and userdefined subroutines can be added on ROM. (Pye Unicam Limited, York Street, Cambridge, UK. Tel: (0223) 358866. Tx: 817331)
VAX interface A Multi Picture System interface to DEC's VAX 11/780 computer is available now from Evans & Sutherland. The interface will provide a native-mode UNIBUS link between the VAX and Evans & Sutherland's dynamic 3D vector graphics system. The new interface shares hardware with the existing PDP11/Multi Picture System interface. Software compatibility allows existing graphics programs to move from a PDP11 to a VAX by recompiling.
(Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation, Gatwick Road, Crawley, Sussex RHI 0 2LR, UK. Tel: (0293) 511504)
computer-aided design