Definition: Astromech droids, or astro droids for short, were designed to perform repairs and maintenance on starships. They could also aid hyperspace navigation, supplementing the work of a starship's navigation computers. The most well-known example of an astromech droid is R2-D2, whose owners include Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, and Cade Skywalker.
In-universe: For a long time, "astromech droid" was a generic term for droids that served as starship mechanics.
By the time of the Clone Wars, however, the droid manufacturer Industrial Automation's R-series astromech droids were the most popular and commonly available astromechs. As a result, the term became associated with the distinctive look of the IA R-series.
Industrial Automation released nine R-series droids, R1 through R9. Each had slightly different designs, such as the shape of the head, but had the same basic shape: a cylindrical body about three feet high, two legs attached at the "shoulders," and a third leg that could be lowered for added stability. The small size and streamlined shape made them perfect navigators for X-wings.
Most astromech droids were not equipped with speech synthesizers. They could communicate in text by connecting to a ship's computer or speak out loud using binary, also known as droidspeak. All droids and some living creatures were able to understand these beeps and whistles.
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