<s>
AtariLab	B-Application
was	O
a	O
laboratory	O
instrumentation	O
system	O
and	O
related	O
computer	B-Application
software	I-Application
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
8-bit	I-Device
family	I-Device
intended	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
both	O
at	O
home	O
and	O
in	O
science	O
classroom	O
settings	O
in	O
schools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AtariLab	B-Application
Starter	O
Set	O
with	O
the	O
Temperature	O
Module	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
late	O
1983	O
,	O
and	O
followed	O
by	O
the	O
add-on	O
Light	O
Module	O
in	O
February	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
this	O
time	O
the	O
development	O
company	O
organized	O
by	O
Laws	O
had	O
ported	O
the	O
system	O
to	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
and	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Small	O
numbers	O
of	O
the	O
Atari	O
and	O
C64	O
versions	O
were	O
sold	O
commercially	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
version	O
was	O
never	O
completed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
produce	O
a	O
professional	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
for	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
platform	O
,	O
which	O
sold	O
tens	O
of	O
thousands	O
of	O
examples	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AtariLab	B-Application
came	O
about	O
after	O
Laws	O
saw	O
a	O
thermistor	O
dipped	O
into	O
ice	O
water	O
being	O
sampled	O
and	O
graphed	O
on	O
an	O
expensive	O
laboratory	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Laws	O
began	O
using	O
similar	O
devices	O
in	O
her	O
teaching	O
lab	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
Laws	O
 '	O
son	O
owned	O
an	O
Atari	B-Device
8-bit	I-Device
computer	I-Device
,	O
began	O
development	O
of	O
a	O
recording	O
and	O
graphing	O
system	O
on	O
that	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
was	O
because	O
it	O
had	O
a	O
high-resolution	O
graphics	O
mode	O
that	O
was	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
introduction	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
best	O
displays	O
available	O
and	O
easily	O
accessed	O
through	O
Atari	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
was	O
that	O
the	O
engineers	O
had	O
equipped	O
it	O
with	O
joystick	B-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
of	O
unusual	O
flexibility	O
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
them	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
general	O
purpose	O
voltage	O
sampling	O
input	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Laws	O
approached	O
Atari	O
with	O
the	O
idea	O
of	O
commercializing	O
the	O
system	O
,	O
and	O
found	O
a	O
receptive	O
audience	O
in	O
Leslie	O
Wolf	O
,	O
Atari	O
's	O
product	O
manager	O
for	O
Atari	B-Application
Logo	I-Application
and	O
other	O
educational	O
materials	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
middle	O
manager	O
,	O
Mike	O
Nalblah	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AtariLab	B-Application
Starter	O
Set	O
with	O
the	O
Temperature	O
Module	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
late	O
1983	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
Light	O
Module	O
following	O
soon	O
after	O
in	O
February	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
received	O
considerable	O
press	O
,	O
and	O
won	O
the	B-Application
Software	I-Application
of	O
the	O
Year	O
Award	O
for	O
1984	O
from	O
Classroom	O
Computer	O
Learning	O
magazine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AtariLab	B-Application
system	O
was	O
caught	O
up	O
in	O
the	O
confusion	O
,	O
and	O
Wolf	O
was	O
laid	O
off	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
version	O
never	O
shipped	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
market	O
rapidly	O
moving	O
to	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
,	O
they	O
decided	O
to	O
refocus	O
on	O
that	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Atari	O
computer	O
's	O
POKEY	B-Device
chip	O
includes	O
eight	O
potentiometer	B-Device
(	O
"	O
pot	O
"	O
)	O
input	O
lines	O
,	O
connected	O
to	O
eight	O
capacitors	O
and	O
then	O
in	O
pairs	O
to	O
four	O
joystick	B-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
,	O
each	O
port	O
containing	O
two	O
input	O
lines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
lines	O
were	O
originally	O
intended	O
to	O
connect	O
up	O
to	O
eight	O
paddle	B-Device
controllers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
paddle	B-Device
consisted	O
of	O
a	O
potentiometer	B-Device
,	O
whose	O
two	O
terminals	O
would	O
connect	O
to	O
the	O
joystick	O
port	O
's	O
+5V	O
pin	O
on	O
one	O
side	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
pot	O
input	O
pin	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
the	O
paddle	B-Device
's	O
setting	O
influenced	O
time	O
it	O
would	O
take	O
the	O
capacitor	O
to	O
charge	O
fully	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
POKEY	B-Device
would	O
measure	O
these	O
times	O
for	O
each	O
of	O
the	O
eight	O
paddles	B-Device
,	O
and	O
present	O
them	O
as	O
values	O
(	O
between	O
0	O
and	O
228	O
)	O
in	O
its	O
POT0-POT7	O
registers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Writing	O
to	O
POKEY	B-Device
's	O
POTGO	O
register	O
would	O
reset	O
the	O
chip	O
's	O
counters	O
,	O
allowing	O
to	O
repeat	O
the	O
measurement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AtariLab	B-Application
hardware	O
consisted	O
largely	O
of	O
a	O
single	O
circuit	O
board	O
that	O
broke	O
out	O
the	O
pins	O
in	O
the	O
joystick	O
port	O
into	O
RCA	O
jacks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Setting	O
up	O
a	O
probe	O
required	O
nothing	O
more	O
than	O
plugging	O
into	O
the	O
same-colored	O
socket	O
and	O
then	O
running	O
the	O
associated	O
software	O
,	O
supplied	O
on	O
ROM	B-Protocol
cartridge	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
POT0-POT7	O
registers	O
could	O
also	O
be	O
read	O
from	O
Atari	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
using	O
PEEK	O
commands	O
,	O
writing	O
custom	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
system	O
was	O
a	O
simple	O
task	O
.	O
</s>
