Migration or journeys over land are fairly simple because of the uniqueness that countless land features provide. Unique land features are called 'landmarks'.
There are no 'landmarks' to tell location in relation or reference to where you want to go in the vastness of oceans, seas and sky. There is only the sun in the daylight sky, and the countless stars of the universe in the night sky, to provide points of reference, to determine your location, points of departure and locations of desired destinations.
Consequently, navigation, using location of the sun during the day, depending on the time of day, and location of stars at night, depending on the time of night, inspired, if not forced, application of the knowledge of trigonometry, or measurement using three angles; and geometry, or measurement using different shapes, to make measurements of time and distances of locations in respect to one another. This requirement and application of knowledge led to development of the 'periscopic sextant', used by sailors since the time of "wooden ships and iron men ", to solve the navigation problem.
All navigation by aircraft, over land and seas, depended on the ancient periscopic sextant, until development of radio signals or radio beams after World War I made life easier for aircraft pilots and navigators.
The B-17, called the Flying Fortress, and the B-29, called the Superfortress, depended on use of the periscopic sextant to solve the air navigation problem. These aircraft depended on the optical bombsight, the 'Norden Bombsight' (named after its inventor), to solve the bombing problem.
The B-36 was a bomber aircraft developed during World War II. The B-36 dwarfed the size of the B-29, but World War II was over before it could be put into production in time for action. With six pusher propeller engines, the B-36 could fly a radius of 10,000 miles with a crew of twelve. The B-17 and B-29 were designed and manufactured by the Boeing Co. The B-36 was designed and manufactured by Convair in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Coincident with development of the B-36, the Sperry Co. designed and built what was called the 'Sperry K-System', to solve the navigation and bombing problem for the propeller driven B-36.
The Sperry K-System was a mechanical analog computer system that solved both the navigation and bombing problems.
The navigation problem is the great circle navigation problem, solving for required heading or direction that would provide the shortest ground distance and time between two points on the curved surface of the Earth. The navigation problem then is a problem solved using spherical trigonometry.
The bombing problem solved for required heading or direction that would provide the shortest ground distance and time between two points on the most linear, or most flat, portion of the curved surface of the Earth.
Example: The horizon (where earth and sky meet) is always roughly 20 miles from your point of observation, and it looks flat; but it isn't flat, it's curved. (What are called 'straight lines' are only extremely short or tiny segments of a complete circle.) The bombing problem is a short range navigation problem, and is solved using plane (flat surface) trigonometry.
The Sperry K-system solved those mathematical problems, using tiny electric motors to drive mechanical shafts and gears - to position shafts to represent some mathematical value, and drive cams shaped to represent mathematical functions or statements.
The marvels of mechanical engineering that enabled performance of calculations, using cams and gears and clutches, had its origins in the mechanical devices constructed by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century. (There was no application for these mechanical devices when Leonardo built them, but their existence set the stage for the evolutionary merger of mathematics and mechanics for construction of the calculating devices of today.)
However, Sperry K-System technology, from 50 years ago, established and remains the foundation for 'robotics', i.e., development and manufacture of machines or systems for automation of all factory machining and assembly operations - from machines that make milk cartons from flat pieces of paper, to those used to perform welding and assembly operations for the manufacture of automobiles.
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