Post by Marcus Starkiller on Oct 19, 2006 20:03:30 GMT -5
"A meter-tall stack of the worst business decisions you could possibly want."
— Mechtech Illustrated
The R5-series astromech droid was a line of low cost astromech droids built by Industrial Automaton. Based upon the success of prior astromech models, such as the wildly popular R2-series, Industrial Automaton intended the R5 series to cater to budget buyers at the cost of some functionality.
Because of their inexpensive construction, however, droids of this series were plagued by a number of design flaws—most obviously, a sullen demeanor and sharp attitude resulting from deficiencies in the machine's personality matrix. Media outlets soon picked up on these errors: Mechtech Illustrated called the launch of the R5 model "a meter-tall stack of the worst business decisions you could possibly want."
During the Clone Wars, members of the R5-series were used by the Republic for a variety of roles, including use aboard starfighters like the ARC-170. They weren't quite as commonly used by Rebellion pilots because the extra height of the R5 made them a more prominent target in an X-wing's droid socket.
After a particularly poor sales year, Industrial Automaton discontinued the R5 series in 22 BBY. To cover losses, the droid manufacturing firm repackaged R2-AG-series and R4-series droids in excess R5 shells.