Retired engineer Tim Robinson maintains a strong interest in the early history of computing, particularly mechanical computing devices, and is actively involved in the restoration of these early machines and the construction of working replicas of Charles Babbage’s conceptual designs. Robinson is responsible for the presentation, operation, and maintenance of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, where he has devoted much of his time to understanding the machine since its arrival in 2008.
In 2003 Tim demonstrated a working model of the beautiful fragment of Babbage's Difference Engine No. 1, constructed in Meccano. In 2006 he demonstrated a working model of the calculating section of Difference Engine No. 2, also constructed in Meccano. More recently, Tim has demonstrated working models of significant sections of the Analytical Engine, including the anticipating carriage and the micro-coded control mechanisms.
