> This email is intended for Paul Lamar. If you're not Paul Lamar then I
 > apologize for the intrusion and please disregard.
 >
 >
 > Paul,
 >
 > I stumbled across your website during a google search for information on
 > the SuperKIM. References to the SuperKIM are few and far between on the
 > web. Being an avid collector of vintage technology and a former SuperKIM
 > owner I was compelled to contact you. My interest in the SuperKIM was
 > recently rekindled when I saw one on ebay.
 >
 > In the late 70's I was engaged in the development of motion control
 > systems for use in the animation and special effects industry at a
 > company in Northridge, CA. At that time there were commercially
 > available systems for such work but they were based on PDP-11s and
 > prohibitively expensive. We began experimenting with KIM-1s to control
 > several stepping motors which drove cameras and various mechanical
 > actuators. Like you, I didn't really know what an assembler did and
 > generated all of our code by hand in hex for manual entry into the KIM.
 > I began experimenting with the MOS 6522 chip and was able to generate
 > motor control signals and track motor position, which was critical to
 > our application. At some point one of my colleagues showed me an
 > advertisement for the SuperKIM (I don't recall which publication) and we
 > decided to make the road trip to Redondo Beach to check it out. To this
 > day I remember that visit to your shop and the feeling that we were on
 > the bleeding edge of a technological revolution. We purchased a SuperKIM
 > and, eventually, an AIM-65 as a development system. For the next couple
 > of years we produced numerous film projects using our SuperKIM-based
 > system which aired throughout the US and internationally.
 >
 > I want to thank you for your contribution to the early years of embedded
 > computing and the motion picture special effects industry.
 >
 > Sincerely,
 >
 > Rob Burton
 > Toronto, ON
 >
 >
 > P.S. - I hope I win the ebay auction for the SuperKIM. I have KIM-1's
 > and and AIM-65, but the SuperKIM would really really round out the
 > collection.
 >
 >
 > Your welcome Rob.

 > Yep that's me Rob. I just threw out a whole box of Kim 1 manuals.
 > I have lots of doc left. Included is a complete set of 6502 Micro
magazines.
 > I have a ton of stuff including SK printed circuit art work and Kim 1
ROMS.
 > There are some unpopulated SK PC boards as well. Many chips. I would
like to get
 > rid of it but I can't bring myself to throw it out yet. I need the
room however.
 >
 > http://www.rotaryeng.net/RT1.pdf
 >
 > It is getting cold up there. If you can come out to California
 > you can gather up a lot of stuff and take it back with you.
 > I'll sell you everything I have for $500 U.S.. You can stay in the
apartment
 > above my hangar for free for a couple of days. 10 minutes from the beach.
 > Pick out what you want. Bring a truck :)
 >
 > One of my very young ex employees Steve Linn developed a machine that
converted
 > 35 mm film to video in real time. Prior to that it cost over a
million to
 > convert a film movie to video. He got to be a millionaire before he
was 30.
 > Steve learned 6502 assembler when he was 14.
 >
 > I'll be gone to London (UK) :) for a few days next week so make it
later than that.
 >
 > Paul Lamar

Dear Paul:

Rob Burton wrote:  "In the late 70's I was engaged in the development of
motion control systems for use in the animation and special effects
industry at a company in Northridge, CA."

There was only one animation and special effects company of note in
Northridge, CA in the late 1970's: an obscure outfit called "Industrial
Light and Magic".

Rob Burton wrote: "For the next couple of years we produced numerous
film projects using our SuperKIM-based system which aired throughout the
US and internationally."

Around that time, there are some little-known titles that used
motion-control, such as "Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope" (1977), and
 "Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" (1980).

On iMDB.com, Mr. Burton's filmography lists other, small, ILM
motion-control films such as:
 - Short Circuit 2
 - Total Recall
 - The Mask
And, as part of DreamQuest Images:
 - The Rock
 - Con Air
 - Armageddon

So, Paul, yes, your SuperKIM really, really "done good."  I also thank you.

Les Nordman

I remember Con Air well. Also Total Recall but I cannot remember what it was
about. Looking it up on Google refreshes my memory. Our current governor
starred in it :) Good movie.

As I recall the system was a large 3D cable system that translated  or
"flew" a gyro stabilized film camera around. Four cables went up to tall
poles on the edges of the field. The tension on the cables was tailored by
computer controlled winches. For example you could chase or lead a football
player from close up across the field from just above him. I don't know for
sure if this is the same outfit. I am not sure about this as we were a
Sage/Stride 68000 computer dealer later on and that may have been a
Sage/Stride application.

Paul Lamar

I used my 6502 assemly skills to program the 68hc11 and was
able to be awarded patent:

http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT5671008

Thanks to Paul Lamar and was able to learn about computers
and hardware at 14 (30+ years ago) and now work at
Rhythm and Hues Studios helping them do special effects
for about ten years.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1315023/

They have only been around since 1987.

Steve

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve and I holed up in the closed shop for a week non stop rewriting the 2nd gen road test system software in 6502 assembly language. I would sleep on the floor and he would program. When he got tired I would program and he would sleep. People slipped pizza and Jolt cola through the mail slot :) Just kidding about the last part.

To get a free copy of Steve's patent put 5671008 in the search engine on this
web site. http://www.pat2pdf.org/pat2pdf/foo.pl

Paul Lamar

BTW, thanks for the offer to stay at your place and collect some cool SK
stuff, but I don't have an y pans to be in LA in the immediate future. I
do get out there at least once every 12 months though.

I though you might be interested in the SK ebay results. I was outbid
and it sold for $185. There were no competing bids on it until the last
few hours of the auction and the winning bid was an obvious snipe as it
was submitted just 6 seconds before the end. Obviously there are a few
folks out there that recognized the significance of the SK and this was
the first time I'd ever seem one on ebay.

Take care.

Rob Burton.

Thanks Rob.
Unfortunately that is the way ebay works. If you want something you have to
make sure you are on there just before bidding closes.

I have a couple here so if you want one you can always get it later.
I also have the original Road & Track wire wrap prototype which should be in the
Smithsonian. Maybe I'll get around to taking some pictures of the inside of it
after I get back from Oxford next week.

http://www.rotaryeng.net/RT1.pdf
http://www.rotaryeng.net/skid-pad-C&D.pdf

Paul Lamar