Post by Marcus Starkiller on Oct 19, 2006 20:10:28 GMT -5
"TARIS: We received a dreadful welcome when T3 droids at the starport made off with our baggage."
— Trampeta's Star Guide, circa 4,086 BBY
The T3-series utility droid was an astromech/utility droid produced by Duwani Mechanical Products at some point prior to the Great Droid Revolution. They remained popular for years to come, and were still the most recent of a long line of physically identical models as of 3,956 BBY. Earlier models in the same series included the 3C, IT, and T1 models. The T3 was internally more advanced than its predecessors and had better skills.
The T3 unit was originally designed for repair and general maintenance duties, and worked at its optimum level aboard starships. As with other utility droids of the era, the T3 unit had four wheeled legs, of which the front two were attached to the droid's blocky chassis by rotating joints, allowing the droid to slide backwards and forwards to adjust the unit's height. The T3's flattened, cylindrical head featured a single photoreceptor, a broadcast antenna and vocabulator that allowed the droid to communicate in Droidspeak. Without periodic memory wipes, these models developed personality traits and behavioral traits. It was even known for some units to form gangs, making a living as thieves. Others sold their computer slicing skills to criminals.
Some custom T3 droids had weapon mounts able to fit a number of readily available blaster pistols mounted in the droid, an unusual feature for a droid designed for everyday tasks. One of the most famous droids of this series was T3-M4, a prototype of an upgraded T3 unit Duwani introduced prior to the Jedi Civil War.
It is quite probable that the ancient T3's were the predecessors of the R2-series astromech droids. During the time of the Galactic Alliance, what few T3 units remained in the Galaxy were seldom found outside of private collections.