Abstract :
In 1883, when the Brooklyn Bridge in New York was opened to the public amid much fanfare, electric arc lights illuminated the walkway even though Thomas Edison had invented the light bulb only three years before. Last May the high-technology legacy of the bridge was reinforced when 21 microprocessors were used to control the elaborate light show staged on the bridge for its centennial celebration. Engineers decided to use a microprocessor-based system to control the show because it was less expensive and simpler to operate than a manually operated system, which would have required a mile-long cable and hundreds of extra circuits and switches. And the microprocessor-based system will be used to control the bridge´s lighting for the next 20 to 30 years, according to the engineers who designed the system.
