Post by Marcus Starkiller on Oct 19, 2006 19:57:00 GMT -5
The R1-series astromech droid was Industrial Automaton's first production model of their new consumer-market R-series astromech droid line.
It integrated and improved on the developments of the P2 prototype astromech, and was a natural evolution of that model, despite its unconventional appearance. To save on R&D and retooling costs, IA reused the jet black body shells from its long running Mark II reactor drone series. The dense shielding of the heavy shell gave the R1 protection against the most intense radiation. The two meter tall droid moved about via a treaded unipod, which often malfunctioned, stranding the droid where they stood.
The center of the R1's design was the Intellex III computer brain, which contained a comprehensive catalog of 500 starship configurations. In addition, the R1 was the first IA astromech able to calculate navigational coordinates for a single hyperspace jump.
Due to their cumbersome size (though it was far less cumbersome than the P2-series), R1s were stationed aboard capital warships and large freighters. The droids array of retractable tools made them adequate technicians, but owners often complained of their obstinate personalities and unreliable method of locomotion. IA promised to address all these issues in their next model, the R2-series.
The cobbled together nature of the R1 did not give of the impression of sophisticated electronics, but IA did use the model to introduce Droidspeak to the market, which has become the standard for all inter-droid communications.