“Bloodhound on my Trail”Ferranti’s adaptation of military hardware

to process control computer

“Bloodhound on my Trail”Ferranti’s adaptation of military hardware

to process control computer

Jonathan AylenManchester Institute of Innovation Research,

University of Manchester

February 2008

Preface: process control computers by mid-1960s

Preface: process control computers by mid-1960sThree stylised facts:

1. Knowledge acquired by a small community of suppliers and users - group learning

2. Different firms and organisations combined for a common purpose – loyalty to the technology not the firm

3. Interacting technical system of hardware, software, mechanical engineering, instrumentation – at the junction of technologies with uneven pace of development

GE412 control computer, Spencer Steelworks hot strip mill, Llanwern, Newport, Wales

J.Aylen "Megabytes for Metals – The development of computer applications in the iron and steel industry", Ironmaking and Steelmaking, vol.31, no.6, December 2004, pp.465-478

Bloodhound to Argus: The MythBloodhound to Argus: The Myth

“one of the era’s most celebrated adaptations of a military technology to civilian use”

John Wilson Ferranti: A History, Lancaster: Carnegie, 2000

Ferranti Argus

Bloodhound to Argus: The MythBloodhound to Argus: The Myth

The idea of “spin out” from defence is one of the last vestiges of the myth of the linear model

Ferranti Argus

Bloodhound and Argus –not a simple “spin-out”

Bloodhound and Argus –not a simple “spin-out”

• Not just Ferranti: overlapping “communities of practice” in design, in development and, above all in use

• Not “spin-out”: complex and chance re-use of evolving technologies

• Not military: evolution shaped on a civilian trajectory – Ferranti was forced to change

• Paradox of “openess” amid secrecy

Bloodhound to Argus –Creation of a myth and its interpretation

Bloodhound to Argus –Creation of a myth and its interpretation

• The Ferranti Argus: why was it developed ?

• An alternative view of Argus development:– Culture

– System

– “communities of practice”

– Individuals within organisations

• Cold war propaganda ?

Ferranti Argus, making a mythFerranti Argus, making a myth1. Ferranti as defence

contractor & computer maker

2. The Ferranti Argus computer

- The Bloodhound 2 Missile

- The market for process control computers

3. Communities of practice

- Hardware development

- Commercial use

Ferranti Sales brochure, 1961

Ferranti Ferranti –– defence and computersdefence and computers

Ferranti Pegasus computer for R&D use, 1957

Ferranti - defence contractorFerranti - defence contractor

• Family owned company, founded 1882 in heavy electrical engineering

• Culture of technological leadership, long term investment, divisional autonomy and poor cost control

• Major defence contractor from WW2 diversifying into radar, avionics, electronic components and computer systems: Set of competing fiefdoms

• By the mid-1960s depended upon profits from defence

• But, fast growing civilian markets e.g. process control

Ferranti – computer maker – London, Gorton and Wythenshawe

Ferranti – computer maker – London, Gorton and Wythenshawe

Ferranti Pegasus computer, from BISRA Publication 1957

Ferranti – computer makerFerranti – computer maker• Post-war developments in radar and computers, “the

TRE mafia”• Manchester academic-industrial knowledge base• Rivalry between between Gorton and Wythenshawe• Range of scientific and commercial computers

– Pegasus, Mercury, Perseus, Sirius, Orion, Atlas– Argus (and military work) separate survived sale in 1963

• Sophisticated customer base, e.g. R&D in steel, chemicals and aerospace, especially using Pegasus

• UK computer industry following a “civilian trajectory”e.g. Leo from 1951 onwards.

Ferranti Ferranti ArgusArgusMilitary number crunching, Civilian use for chemical

plant control

Bloodhound Mark 2 Launch Control Post, Argus 500 BOAC Reservation Desk, Argus 500

“It is Rocket Science”:The Argus/Launch Control Post computer

“It is Rocket Science”:The Argus/Launch Control Post computer

Identical real time digital control problems:directing radar dish at the end of the boost phase

on Bloodhoundcontrolling roll position and roll gap on steel mill

“The push buttons that were designed to make housework easier came from the same laboratories as the push buttons for guided missiles.”

Stephen J. Whitfield, The Culture of the Cold War, Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2nd edition, 1996, p.74

The Bloodhound MissileThe Bloodhound Missile

• SAGW started 1944, public from 1954• Bloodhound “The archetypal Cold War

weapon system”, 1958-91• Guided missile for air-defence of UK and

overseas bases to destroy Soviet bombers• Link to comprehensive radar defence

system of UK• Two stage development:

– pulsed to continuous wave radar– analogue to digital transition

• Bloodhound 2: Bristol Aircraft, Ferranti (Wythenshawe), Bristol Siddeley Engines and EMI Electronics, go-ahead 1960

• Hidden agenda of Bloodhound Mark 3/Command Guidance with “Tony” nuclear warhead/French collaboration Bloodhound Mark 2 in service

Bloodhound 2 Missile ControlBloodhound 2 Missile Control• Launch control post

computer– Initial set-up of launch

trajectory– Control commands in

flight• “Spin-in” from civilian

computer work• Deployed October 1963• Became known as Argus

200

Cocroft et al, 2003

The Ferranti Argus 200The Ferranti Argus 200• Argus process control computer

same as Bloodhound LCP• Dr Alan Thompson of ICI spotted

potential for re-use• Marketed for civilian use from

1959, deployed at ICI Fleetwood May 1962 ahead of Bloodhound LCP

• Used Pegasus instruction set (order code) from Ferranti London

• Developed at Ferranti Automation Division, Wythenshawe – a military site

• Defence production standards used on early commercial machines

Transistors and printed circuit board, Argus, 1961

The market for process control computers by mid-1960s

The market for process control computers by mid-1960s

• Distinct sub-segment of computer market

• Key markets in US and UK• Led by Bunker-Ramo and

GE• Elliott Automation of UK

leading global supplier• Ferranti a “late mover”, but

had dominant design– Digital– Patented ferrite “pegboard”

memory– Transistor based– Ultra-reliable

British Iron and Steel Research Association Publicity promoting computer use, 1957

Early Process Control Computers: three key sectors

Early Process Control Computers: three key sectors

0 200 400 600

Other

Petroleum

Steel

Power

1966 1965 1963

Number of Computers Worldwide

The market for process control:a marriage of computer hardware and

bespoke control systems

The market for process control:a marriage of computer hardware and

bespoke control systems

The view of Control Engineering on skills needed to compete in process control

Market Growth: Sales of Argus, 1961 to 1979

Market Growth: Sales of Argus, 1961 to 1979

• Initial sales ICI, boiler control and radio telescope

• ICI Fleetwood crucial “lead user”

• Second phase steel and chemicals

• Third phase oil, nuclear, universities, Bloodhound 2 modification

• Finally, broad spread including airline reservations, flight simulation, traffic control

0

200

400

600

800

Military

Argus 200Argus 100Argus 300Argus 4,5,600Argus 700

Competition in the market Competition in the market

• competition from Elliott Automation

• need for lower prices to compete: “Eccles” – “Elliott Computers cost less”

• DEC with PDP series crucial later

Dista Products bought Elliott ARCH 102 rather than Argus as far cheaper

Ferranti’s struggle to commercialise Argus

Ferranti’s struggle to commercialise Argus

• Need for bespoke solutions and software across a range of sub-markets

• Focus on lead-users with strong absorptive capacity and complementary software skills (ICI at Fleetwood, United Steels at Rotherham)

• Scepticism among potential customers (e.g. SCOW, Port Talbot) regarding Ferranti’s skills

• Failure to win repeat orders in chosen sectors and make export sales

Emergence of a strategy for ArgusEmergence of a strategy for Argus

“They had to stop thinking military”

Technical support and software development for diverse markets

Competitive pricing (crucial)

Product development– Software– Technical – microcircuits, CRT– Specialisation (e.g. airline

reservations for BOAC, nuclear)

Gain in market share as others quit a fast growing market

Ferranti Cathode Ray Technology and Argus for booking system for BOAC

Development of the Ferranti ArgusDevelopment of the Ferranti ArgusCulture, Systems, Communities of Practice and

Individuals within Organisations

Culture, Systems, Communities of Practice and Individuals

Culture, Systems, Communities of Practice and Individuals

• Culture

• Systems

• Communities of Practice

• Individuals within organisations

Culture, Systems, Communities of Practice and Individuals

Culture, Systems, Communities of Practice and Individuals

• Culture:• Systems:

• Communities of Practice:

• Individuals within organisations:

Cold War background

Surface to air guided weapons

and UK manufacturing

Bloodhound hardware and

process control software

Dr Maurice Gribble, Dr Alan Thompson, Alan Whitwell . .

What is a Community of Practice ?What is a Community of Practice ?

• “Community of Practice”– Etienne Wenger, Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning

and Identity, Cambridge UP, 1998

• “Communities of Technological Practice”– Edward W. Constant, “The social locus of technological practice:

Community, system or organization” in W. E. Bijker, T.P. Hughes and T.J. Pinch, The Social Construction of Technological Systems, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1987

What is a Community of Practice ?What is a Community of Practice ?• Learning as a social process• Variety of “communities of practice”: family, work groups,

gangs, university disciplines• Common set of interests characterised by social

relationships• Informal and pervasive (do not issue membership cards,

but may all sign the Official Secrets Act)• ‘Trajectories of participation’ as members constantly

renegotiate their identity• New practices mean new communities

Significance of Communities of Practice Significance of Communities of Practice

• A different conception of “learning” and “knowing” –not individual, but socially based

• Stresses importance of tacit knowledge and organisational skills – “soft knowledge”

• Individuals: learn through engaging and contributing• Communities: refine their practice, develop

membership, span institutional boundaries• Organisations: sustain the networks of communities

of practice which is how an organisation “knows”• Ferranti Argus a “Boundary Object”; a focus of ideas

Communities of Practice for Argus –evolving over time

Communities of Practice for Argus –evolving over time

• Design – membership shaped by military participation and

civilian needs

• Manufacture of the computer– “locus of knowledge” largely within the

organisation of Ferranti

• Software and Implementation:key user groups– development largely outside Ferranti’s hands- Ferranti bought software from their customers

Overlapping Communities of Practice for Argus

Overlapping Communities of Practice for Argus

• Design (among others)– Ministry of Supply driving Guided Weapons programme– Defence Research Policy Committee driving choice of

programme– RRE, debate over analogue v. digital (pulsed to cw radar)– Competitor team recruited from Elliott Automation to

Ferranti London encouraged modular architecture• Product Development

– Ferranti Wythenshawe (design and production) with London influences (e.g.modular units, order code)

• Software and Implementation: key user groups– ICI, United Steels, CEGB and Esso generated software,

process control know-how and instrumentation to make Argus work

Argus Design Phase: Overlapping Systems

Argus Design Phase: Overlapping Systems

Bloodhound SAGW System

(Officially Secret)

Process Plant Users:

Steel, power, chemicals

Argus Design Phase: Ferranti as an organisation

Argus Design Phase: Ferranti as an organisation

BloodhoundProcess Plant

Ferranti: Wythenshawe (also London)Argus and Bloodhound design

Argus Design Phase: Communities of Practice in Process Control

Argus Design Phase: Communities of Practice in Process Control

BloodhoundProcess Plant

Ferranti staff at Wythenshawe

TRE, Malvern

Trials at Woomera

RAE Farnborough

Elliott Design team, from 1953

University of Manchester, Electrical Engineering

Babcock & Wilcox

Argus Use Phase: Communities of Practice in Process Control

Argus Use Phase: Communities of Practice in Process Control

BloodhoundProcess Plant

Ferranti staff at WythenshaweICI (their own community)

United Steels

CEGB

Conventional view: Bloodhound to ArgusConventional view: Bloodhound to Argus

• Linear view “spin-out”

• Argus ideal process control technology shaped by defence needs – re-engineered for civilian use

• Skills for development different to skills for initial design: Ferranti learned technical support, software, pricing policy, cost control, marketing

• Spin out to civilian markets a slow, costly learning process because UK industry unreceptive

Revisionist view: Bloodhound to ArgusRevisionist view: Bloodhound to Argus• Ferranti is not the relevant unit of analysis

• Overlapping “communities of practice” drove the hardware design and implementation software

• Participation in “communities of practice” by technically strong individuals: military, “fiefdoms” in Ferranti, extremely capable user group

• Ferranti not fully aware of what was going on in process implementation – customers led technically

• Technology does not know whether it is civilian or military – shaped by community practice concerned

Communities of Practice: ImplicationsCommunities of Practice: Implications

Mobility of ideas: knowledge moves freely within a community regardless of official secrets (the broad principles were public anyway!)

Specifiers, Suppliers and users: contribute towards design and implementation, not just manufacturer

Open innovation: paradox “secret” defence is “open innovation” - by its very nature it is less insulated than much private R&D as it involves sharing know-how across interested parties.

Acknowledgments & ReferencesAcknowledgments & ReferencesVarious rocket scientists and engineers of distinction, including Argus and Bloodhound designers

Argus users and pioneers

Former members of Ferranti Personnel Department

Argus project engineers

Former “L” Man, RAF West Raynham, A Flight, 85 Squadron Bloodhound

Adopters of rival systems

Archivists at Corus Colors, Shotton; Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester; Public Record Office; Imperial War Museum, Duxford; Computer History archives, John Rylands Library

Academic colleagues

Participants at the “Technology and the Cold War” Workshop, Hagley Museum, Delaware, 2007

J.Aylen "Megabytes for Metals – The development of computer applications in the iron and steel industry", Ironmaking and Steelmaking, vol.31, no.6, December 2004, pp.465-478