The IBM 1720 was a pilot project to create a

real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

process control An industrial process control in continuous production processes is a discipline that uses industrial control systems to achieve a production level of consistency, economy and safety which could not be achieved purely by human manual control. ...

computer based on the

IBM 1620 Model I The IBM 1620 was announced by IBM on October 21, 1959, and marketed as an inexpensive scientific computer. After a total production of about two thousand machines, it was withdrawn on November 19, 1970. Modified versions of the 1620 were used as ...

. Only three 1720 systems were ever built: one for the

Amoco Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, India ...

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liq ...

Whiting, Indiana Whiting is a city located in the Chicago Metropolitan Area in Lake County, Indiana, which was founded in 1889. The city is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. It is roughly 16 miles from the Chicago Loop and two miles from Chica ...

; one for the

Socal Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ag ...

oil refinery in

El Segundo, California El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 16,731 as of the ...

; and one for E. I. du Pont in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Unami language, Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North ...

. All were installed in 1961. The Amoco and Socal systems ran for many years. The 1720 led to the

IBM 1710 The IBM 1710 was a process control system that IBM introduced in March 1961. It used either a 1620 I or a 1620 II Computer and specialized I/O devices (e.g., IBM 1711 analog-to-digital converter and digital-to-analog converter, IBM 1712 discre ...

Process Control systems that IBM introduced in March 1961; these were cheaper and less elaborate than the 1720.

External links

"Evolution of Small Real-Time IBM Computer Systems"
(1.25 MB PDF file), from the IBM Journal of Research and Development.

1720 Events January–March * February 10 – Edmond Halley is appointed as Astronomer Royal for England. * January 21 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm (Great Northern War). * February 17 – The Treaty o ...

See also

External links