Pilot ACE

Pilot ACE
DeveloperNational Physical Laboratory (NPL)
Release date1950; 74 years ago (1950)
CPUapproximately 800 vacuum tubes @ 1 megahertz
Memory128 32-bit words; later expanded to 352 words (Mercury delay lines)
Pilot ACE console
Punch cards, detail view against dark grey background, for Pilot ACE computer, built at the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom), circa 1950. Science Museum London[1][2]

The Pilot ACE (Automatic Computing Engine) was one of the first computers built in the United Kingdom.[3] Built at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the early 1950s, it was also one of the earliest general-purpose, stored-program computers – joining other UK designs like the Manchester Mark 1 and EDSAC of the same era. It was a preliminary version of the full ACE, which was designed by Alan Turing, who left NPL before the construction was completed.

  1. ^ "automatic computing engine". Science Photo Library. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  2. ^ "1950 ace paper cards". Science & Society Picture Library.
  3. ^ Yates, David M. (1997). Turing's Legacy: A history of computing at the National Physical Laboratory 1945–1995. UK: Science Museum, London. pp. 126–146. ISBN 0-901805-94-7.