Industrial Automaton

Formed from the merger of two successful droid manufacturing corporations, Industrial Intelligence and Automata Galactica in 32 BBY, Industrial Automaton was one of the biggest droid manufacturers in the galaxy, continuously operating from the Republic Era to the time of the Cold War from the planet Nubia, where their factories were located. The company pioneered the field of astromech droids -specially designed for starship duties- with their R-series which produced at least 7 different models of droids with varying degrees of success as well as the less profitable C-series. Another field the company excelled at was the manufacturing of power droids, including the universally favored GNK- and PLNK-series. Industrial Automaton also manufactured protocol droids, despite the rival company Cybot Galactica's domination of the field; IA protocol droids included the LOM-series protocol droid and the SE8 waiter droid. IA also notably manufactured several models of labor droids, including the successful ASP-series and the DTS-series.

Industrial Automaton's biggest success was its creation of the astromech droid. The company's P2-series was the very first droid to be built as a dedicated astromech, bearing many of the distinctive characteristics that would later be copied into their own R-series -the company's most selling product- as well as the other companies' imitations -such as Lothal Logistics Limited's astromech. Following the P2's warm welcome by the spacefaring community due to its useful functions, the company began experimenting in the field of astrodroids with its C-series, which notably produced the C1-series astromech droid used by the Grand Army of the Republic. Both the P2 and the C1-series saw plenty of use during the late Republic Era due to their multitude of repairing and sensor tools, which proved to be extremely useful for quick repairs or exploration missions on board small ships possibly lacking a dedicated technician.

The company soon turned its attention to a new line of astromech droids, the R-series. This time, they focused on developing the droid's personality along with its equipment, although the first R model, the R1-series, was notable for only being used as a reactor drone. Industrial Automaton continued experimenting with the astrodroid formula, and soon introduced the R2-series astromech droid. R2 units became immensely popular among pilots and smugglers due to their compassionate and kind personality, which resulted in far fewer memory wipes being performed on them, in turn improving their performance. Industrial Automaton attempted to exploit the R2's success by creating even more advanced astromechs based on them, including the R3-series which boasted faster processing abilities thanks to an updated Intellex V processor and the R4-P which was designed to be permanently integrated in Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptors to allow them to interface with Syliure-31 hyperspace docking rings.

Despite these attempts, none of the models succeeding the R2 had the same success, which led IA to essentially copy all of its features to the R5-series with a reduced cost; the cut-price models were, however prone to malfunctions, defects and bad attitudes, which forced Automaton to pull them off the market to save their own reputation. Despite these failures, the R2's universal success allowed the company to continue producing unique astromechs, including the R0 and R6 used by the New Republic. By 34 BBY, Industrial Automaton had already began developing an even newer generation of astromechs in the form of the BB-series, which abandoned the tri-tread configuration of the previous three lines and introduced a spherical rolling body and a electromagnetically attached head. These droids were more versatile and quick than the P2, Cs or even the most advanced Rs and could perform in-flight repairs faster.

Industrial Automaton produced several models of labor droids for purposes including starfighter reclamation, salvaging as well as general manual labor. Most notable of these was the ASP series of labor droids, which included twenty different models- among them the agile and capable ASP-7 labour droid, the less agile but popular ASP-2 and the ASP-19 which was repurposed into a battle droid and used for lightsaber sparring by Jedi during the last years of the Galactic Republic. ASP droids were favorably regarded by many first time droid buyers due to their low cost and simple structure which allowed for easy modifications for specific tasks, ultimately becoming one of IA's most profitable droid series along with the R2s.

Another notable line of IA labor droids were the DTS-series, a class of heavy-duty armed dismantler droids used by the Galactic Empire to disassemble old Republic starfighters in Reklam Station. These droids differed from their ASP counterparts as they were designed to also be used in combat, being heavily armored and equipped with blasters.

Another major product of Industrial Automaton were power droids, of which there were notably two models. The first -and arguably more successful one- were the GNK-series which were essentially walking batteries. The GNKs could understand Galactic Basic Standard and were equipped with basic processors to understand their master's orders; they walked to where they were needed and a worker could use a built-in cable to connect them to the device which needed to be charged. The second model of IA power droid was the PLNK-series, which was designed for heavy-duty work and carried tibanna gas to be loaded into starfighter weaponry. Both models were relatively popular around the galaxy, with GNKs used by civilians and PLNKs by the Republic Navy. Their popularity led both to be known with affectionate nicknames; GNKs were knownas "gonks" and PLNKs as "plunks" -due to the distinctive sounds they made.

Due to the galactic need for capable educators to teach the thousands of potential students of many species and ages, Industrial Automaton produced many models of education and tutoring droids. These included the TTS15-series education and tutorial droid, a basic teacher droid which could be used for a variety of lessons and classes and was later used as the basis for the TTS20-series dialectic droid. This later model was considered to be a skilled conversationalist, being able to engage in complex -if quarrelsome- debates with its masters - a "flaw" in its programming that was, however, welcomed by its target audience. In addition to the TTS-series, IA also produced the BD10-series assay support droid which was used by the Jedi Order to negotiate with less advanced cultures in the Outer Rim thanks to its purpose-built modules which surpassed those of the commonly used 3PO-series protocol droid.

As one of the biggest droid manufacturing companies in the galaxy, Industrial Automaton produced droids for a variety of tasks, including task-specific models. One of these models was the 2-1B-series, a humanoid medical droid which frequently worked as the case doctor alongside Medtech Industries FX-7 medical assistant droids. 2-1B's massive encyclopedic databanks allowed them to treat millions of species other than humans and operate on specialized fields including neurosurgery and cybernetic limb replacement. They were considered one of the most advanced medical droids during the time of the Republic and the Empire, although they were eventually surpassed by the MD-15C.

Another task-specific model produced by the Industrial Automaton was the Marksman-H training remote, a spherical floating droid which was used by the Jedi Order for blaster deflection practice. The tiny droids were able to move fast and change directions rapidly and unexpectedly, shooting stunning bolts from one of several openings in their hull and providing a challenging test for Jedi Padawans.

The RX-Series pilot droid was another one of IA's specialized models. The small humanoid-shaped droids were used as built-in pilots in commercial shuttles, including on the Sacul Industries' Star Commuter 2000 and Lantillian ShipWrights' GX1 short hauler. Their multiple independently-moving appendages and telescopic body allowed them to operate all of a ship's controls more efficiently than a living pilot.

In addition to their production of droids, IA also specialized in the production of advanced non-sentient automata. These included targeting computers such as the "Accu-Strike" integrated targeting computer -one of the most advanced of its kind that included both a computer and a sensor array and could be paired with augmented vibro-motors on the shooter's gauntlets to subtly adjust his hands while shooting and massively improve his accuracy. Another product not technically classified as a droid was the Overwatch Co-pilot, a type of autopilot droid brain used as a co-pilot or autopilot in lightly manned starships.