Editing Meccano (section)

== Other applications ==
[[file:Meccano heptagon.svg|thumb|Meccano may be used to present challenges similarly to [[straightedge and compass construction]], such as this regular [[heptagon]] constructed with only 15 Meccano strips with bar sizes of 9 and 12 holes<ref>[[Gerard 't Hooft]] "[http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~hooft101/lectures/meccano.pdf Meccano Mathematics I]"</ref>]]
[[file:DA Cambridge c1937.jpg|thumb|[[Museum of Transport & Technology]]'s Meccano [[differential analyser]] in use at the [[University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory]], c. 1937. The person on the right is  [[Maurice Wilkes]], who was in charge of it at the time]]

In 1934, Meccano began to be used in the construction of [[differential analyser]]s, a type of [[analog computer|analogue computer]] used to solve [[differential equation]]s using methods which have since been superseded by the digital computer. Though invented on paper in the 19th century, the first such machine had only been built in 1931, and normally they would be built by specialist manufacturers, at great cost.<ref>{{Citation | last = Robinson | first = Tim | title = The Meccano Set Computers A history of differential analyzers made from children's toys | journal = [[IEEE Control Systems Magazine]] | volume = 25 | issue = 3 | pages = 74–83 | date = June 2005 | doi = 10.1109/MCS.2005.1432602| s2cid = 10075776 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/918318 }}</ref>

For example, in 1947, [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] in the US installed a differential analyser built for them by [[General Electric]] at a cost of $125,000.<ref name=UCLADA>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=849&dat=19780109&id=R50oAAAAIBAJ&pg=6329,375623|format=Google News|title= UCLA's Bush Analyzer Retires to Smithsonian|access-date=22 July 2010|publisher=Computerworld|date=9 January 1978}}</ref> However, a "[[proof of concept]]" model of a differential analyser which made extensive use of Meccano parts was built at [[Victoria University of Manchester|Manchester University]], England, in 1934, by [[Douglas Hartree]] and Arthur Porter: use of Meccano meant that the machine was cheap to build, and it proved "accurate enough for the solution of many scientific problems".<ref name=CamDA>{{cite web|url=http://amg.nzfmm.co.nz/differential_analyser.html|title= Differential Analyser |access-date=21 July 2010|publisher=Auckland Meccano Guild}}</ref> This machine is now in the [[Science Museum (London)|Science Museum]] in London.

A similar machine built by J.B. Bratt at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] in 1935 is now in the [[Museum of Transport & Technology]] collection in [[Auckland]], New Zealand.<ref name=CamDA/> After a lengthy period of neglect, a restoration effort began in 2003, and a successful "full run through" of this machine was completed on 16 December 2008.<ref name=CamDA/>

A memorandum written for the British military's Armament Research Department in 1944 describes how this same machine was modified during the Second World War for improved reliability and enhanced capability, and identifies its wartime applications as including research on the flow of heat, explosive detonations, and simulations of [[transmission lines]].<ref>Cairns, W. J., Crank, J., & Lloyd, E. C. ''Some Improvements in the Construction of a Small Scale Differential Analyser and a Review of Recent Applications'', Armament Research Department Theoretical Research Memo. No. 27/44, 1944</ref><ref>{{Cite web | last = Robinson | first = Tim | title = Bibliography | publisher = Tim Robinson's Meccano Computing Machinery web site | date = 7 June 2008 | url = http://www.meccano.us/bibliography.html | access-date = 26 July 2010 }}</ref>

The memorandum is now in [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]], UK.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Piece reference DEFE 15/751 | publisher = The National Archives | url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=6&CATID=1926821&j=1 | access-date = 26 July 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title = MoD History of Innovation | publisher = Ploughshare Innovations Ltd | url = http://www.ploughshareinnovations.com/about/MoD_full_history.pdf | access-date = 26 July 2010 }}</ref> It has been said that this machine was used in preparation for [[Operation Chastise]], otherwise known as the "[[The Dam Busters (book)|Dam Busters]] raid";<ref>{{cite web | url = http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/7627BB58BAFE998DCC257317001AA6D1 | title = Meccano 'Dam Busters' computer stars at MOTAT | work = [[Computerworld]] | first = Rob | last = O'Neill | date = 16 July 2007 | access-date = 17 July 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070817020213/http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/7627BB58BAFE998DCC257317001AA6D1 | archive-date = 17 August 2007 }}</ref> However, after extensive enquiries and literature searches over the last few years, no evidence can be found that the Differential Analyser no. 2, nor any other differential analyser, was used for this purpose.<ref>{{cite web | last = Irwin | first = William | url = http://amg.nzfmm.co.nz/differential_analyser_explained.html | title = The Differential Analyser Explained | access-date = 21 July 2010 | publisher = Auckland Meccano Guild | date = July 2009 }}</ref>

In 1949, an Erector set was used to build the precursor to the modern artificial heart by William Sewell and William Glenn of the Yale School of Medicine. The external pump successfully bypassed the heart of a dog for more than an hour.

In the 1970s, information theory pioneer [[Claude Shannon]] constructed a bounce-juggling machine from an Erector set.

In the late 1980s, with an Erector Set, various old toys, and bits of jewellery, [[Jack Kevorkian]] jury-rigged a machine he called the Thanatron (later renamed to the Mercitron.) Three bottles were suspended from a beam: one filled with a saline solution to open a patient's veins, another with barbiturates for sedation, and a third with potassium chloride to stop the heart. The concept was that the doctor connected the patient to an IV, and the patient would pull a chain on the device to start the lethal medications flowing. He called it his "[[Rube Goldberg machine|Rube Goldberg suicide device]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bidoun.org/articles/a-very-still-life|title=A Very Still Life: Jack Kevorkian and the muse of genocide|website=Bidoun|language=en-US|access-date=2018-04-10}}</ref>

In 2005, Tim Robinson displayed his own Meccano differential analyser at the [[Computer History Museum]], at [[Mountain View, California]], US, and Robinson has also built and exhibited two models of [[Charles Babbage]]'s [[difference engine]], also using Meccano.<ref>Robinson, Tim, [http://www.meccano.us/differential_analyzers/robinson_da/index.html Tim Robinson's Differential Analyzer] (10 February 2005), [http://www.meccano.us/difference_engines/rde_1/index.html Robinson's Difference Engine #1] (3 April 2006), [http://www.meccano.us/difference_engines/rde_2/index.html Robinson's Difference Engine #2] (7 May 2006). [http://www.meccano.us/ Tim Robinson's Meccano Computing Machinery web site]. Retrieved 29 July 2010.</ref>

In 1990 Meccano S.A. built a giant [[Ferris wheel]] in France. It was modelled after the original 1893 [[Ferris Wheel (1893)|Ferris Wheel]] built by [[George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.]] at the [[World's Columbian Exposition]] at Chicago and was shipped to the United States to promote "Erector Meccano" after Meccano S.A. had bought out the "[[Erector Set|Erector]]" trade name and began selling Meccano sets in the U.S. It went on display in New York City after which it was purchased by [[Ripley's Believe It or Not!]] and put on display in their [[St. Augustine, Florida]] museum. The model, the largest at the time, was {{convert|6.5|m|ft|abbr=off}} high, weighs {{convert|544|kg|lb|abbr=off}}, was made from 19,507 pieces, 50,560 nuts and bolts, and took 1,239 hours to construct.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dalefield.com/nzfmm/gm20c/gm2.html |title=Greatest Meccano Models of the Twentieth Century |work=The New Zealand Federation of Meccano Modellers |access-date=17 July 2007}}</ref> At this mass and size, some deviation from Meccano-only parts was a necessity, to prevent it collapsing (mainly in the structural spokes). The largest model by mass would certainly be in contention but some models have topped {{convert|600|kg}}.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

In the late 1990s, engineer Mark Sumner utilised Erector to create a working model for "Soarin'", an attraction at Disney's California Adventure in [[Anaheim]], California and Walt Disney World's [[Epcot]] near [[Orlando, Florida]].

A large model, weighing approximately {{convert|500|kg}} and {{convert|23|m}} long, was built in September 2009 by TV presenter [[James May]] and a team of volunteers from the engineering department of the University of Liverpool, who created a Meccano bridge spanning the [[Leeds & Liverpool Canal]] in [[Liverpool]]. As with other models of this size and weight some non-Meccano parts were used. It was built from "[about] 100,000 pieces of real Meccano", taking 1,100 hours, and consisted of a {{convert|9|m|ft|abbr=off|adj=on}} "[[swing bridge]]" section, and a {{convert|12|m|ft|abbr=off|adj=on}} "[[drawbridge]]" section.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nwmg.org/james%20may%20meccano%20bridge.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100824225116/http://nwmg.org/james%20may%20meccano%20bridge.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 August 2010 |title=Meccano bridge challenge |date=8 August 2009 |access-date=6 February 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8191273.stm | work=BBC News| title=May builds Meccano canal bridge| date=8 August 2009 | access-date=12 May 2010}} See [[James May's Toy Stories#James May's Meccano Bridge (Episode 3)|James May's Toy Stories]].</ref> A contender for the largest model on record was built in 2014 by Graham Shepherd of [[Grahamstown]], South Africa. The fully motorised [[Bagger 288|Krupp 288 Bucket Wheel Excavator]] (as used on large opencast mining) is complete with auxiliary conveyors. Construction utilised Meccano parts as well as replica and strengthened parts (thickened profile plates and high tensile bolts in areas carrying large loads). Shepherd reports the model as being {{convert|1,335|kg|lb|abbr=off}} in mass and {{convert|17|ft|order=flip}} tall. It required substantial timber support frames to facilitate final assembly.<ref>[http://bagger288meccano.blogspot.com/ bagger288meccano.blogspot.com], 14 October 2014</ref>

Meccano and Erector remain very versatile constructional mediums. Almost any mechanical device can be built with these systems, from structures, to complex working [[Crane (machine)|cranes]], [[Automatic transmission|automatic gearboxes]] or clocks.