UMC1 – the first polish industry–manufactured computer

W artykule przedstawiono dzieje pierwszego produkowanego seryjnie komputera I generacji czyli lampowej maszyny cyfrowej UMC-1. Zaprezentowano miejsce powstania komputera, głównych autorów jego opracowania oraz podstawowe jego parametry. Ponadto pokazano wpływ tej konstrukcji na dalsze prace badawcze i rozwojowe, a także działalność dydaktyczną placówki, którą obecnie jest Instytut Informatyki Politechniki Warszawskiej.In this paper a history of designing and building of a prototype of the computer UMC-1 is presented. The first Polish computer XYZ was built in the Mathematical Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, but not implemented in production. The next computer named UMC-1 was built in the Warsaw University of Technology. Its special feature was a representation of integers with minus-two base developed by Prof. Zdzisław Pawlak. Once the computer had been constructed, the prototype and its complete documentation were transferred to the factory ELWRO in Wroclaw. It was the first computer manufactured in Poland. The volume of production equaled to 25. The experience gained by the developers' group allowed them to build more sophisticated constructions. The UMC-1 was the first generation computer (built using vacuum tubes) while the next one was UMC-10 which employed transistors (second generation computer). The last models equipped with specialized geodesy-oriented software, were called GEO-1 and GEO-2. When the third generation of computers appeared (employing integrated circuits) the GEO-20 computer was designed and its prototype series was constructed. It was an up-to-day construction of a contemporary minicomputer. The computer was equipped with advanced output-input devices as well as with modern software including an operational system and a FORTRAN compiler