History of the Institute

Several panels describe the way of working with computer technology at that time and tell the story of the founding of the institute. The Institute was founded in 1975 as the main computing centre of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and scientists - especially numerical mathematicians - formed only part of the staff. The Institute started in rented premises, but later a new building was built. The scientific part administered, among other things, the academy-wide archive of programmes, participated in the State Plan of Basic Research, and organised scientific conferences. The Institute also had its own social life.

Over time, the proportion of scientists in the structure of the Institute increased and the Institute was eventually classified as a scientific institute in 1980. In 1991, the computer centre ceased to operate, due to the advent of readily available PC-based desktop computing. The following tables summarise the further development of the Institute and the changes in its focus up to the time of the creation of the exposure.

Part of the panels is dedicated to the activities of the first director of the Institute, prof. ing. Mirko Novák, DrSc., who has a major contribution to the establishment of the Institute, its anchoring in the structure of the Academy of Sciences (CSAV), the construction of a new building, the operation of the computing centre, the construction and development of the scientific part and the orientation of the scientific part to new issues, especially neural networks, image recognition, etc. His further work at the Faculty of Transport of the CTU is also mentioned.

Hall computers used at the Institute

The institute was founded under the original name of the Central Computer Centre and its main task was to make the hall computers installed there available to a wide range of CSAV departments. The first computer was an EC1040 computer from the GDR, temporarily located in the building of the Institute of Physics. Task assignments and processed results were delivered twice a week by car to the CSAV institutes in Prague and its vicinity. In addition, a network of intelligent terminals, which allowed remote on-line access, was being introduced.

The most important mainframe was a complex of two EC1045 computers, referred to as VK2M45, supplemented by a matrix processor. It was also remotely accessed by a network of increasingly upgraded intelligent terminals (originally a JPR 12 processor, later SAPI1 and the first PC). Their total number reached almost seventy and covered even remote workplaces from Pilsen to Ostrava. The Institute cooperated with other departments to automate scientific research, and several online experiments were connected.

In addition, the institute was building a radio relay network in Prague for data transmission between the institute building, the city centre, the campuses in Spořilov, Krč, Ondřejov, Petřiny, Suchdol and Řež u Prahy.

The exhibition shows configurations of hall computers and intelligent terminals, operational statistics and visual documentation.

Other computer equipment used in the Institute

This part occupies the largest part of the museum. There are exhibited components of microprocessor systems JPR12 and SAPI1 from Tesla Strašnice, modems, printers, tape storage, elements of network infrastructure from thin Ethernet to structured cabling.

We still have a working historical HP 9000/T500 RISC minicomputer.

The exhibit shows laptops from the earliest to near-contemporary, including a demonstration of internal components. Similarly, there is a range of PCs from the earliest PC XTs to the present day and examples of server technology from the earliest PC-based to specialised solutions. The demonstration includes several generations of technology used for demanding computing.

For each exhibit there is a short technical description and, for interest, their price, which, put in the context of prices and salaries at the time, may be quite surprising, especially for young visitors. Many of the computers and devices have open casing, so that the development of internal components can be observed.

Development of some elements of computer technology in examples

The last part is several showcases with examples of individual elements of computer technology and their transformation over time. There are examples of printed circuit boards, processors, memories, various storage media - flexible disks, hard disks, flash drives, magnetic tapes. For example, hard drives are shown with their insides, normally hidden from the user. A curiosity is the removable disks of mainframe computers, which everyone can try.

There are also examples of small portable devices, power supplies, specialised PC cards, etc.