The P2 unit was the first non-military astromech droid. Designed by Industrial Automation, the prototype astro-droid featured the same basic layout that would continue to be Industrial Automations signature: A rotating head atop a cylindrical body with three legs and several retractable arms. The initial versions of the droid were by no means as compact as those that would come later, standing nearly 2 meters tall and being rather more stout than IA's subsequent R-Units. The droid was clumsy and slow to learn, and could only communicate through its video display screen or computer link. Later models of the P2 benefitted from various technological upgrades, allowing them to be fitted in smaller shells and with limited vocal capabilities. The P2 series was discontinued after a long and costly technology-infringement lawsuit and the left-over shells were later reused in the disasterous R5 series.

The P2 unit was used primarily for repair work and maintenance on bulk cruisers and freighters, which generally travelled only between two major systems unless the ship's owner had become quite wealthy. For this reason, the P2 was designed to only be capable of storing the data for a single hyperroute. In addition, the P2 lacked the computing power to calculate hyperroutes for itself. It had to upload pre-computed Astrogation data from the very large and primitive Nav-computers of the time period. Starfighter duty was rare for these droids, as the standard droid socket was not in widespread use at their inception.

A fairly uncommon sight in the galaxy today, the few functioning P2 droids are often confused with the lesser R5 series--something to which they take great exception to.

Equipment: Three wheeled legs (1 retractable), standard sensor package, 2 fine manipulator arms (+1D repair), video display screen, simple acoustic signaler (squawks and noises), laser welder (2D, 33cm), retractable heavy grasper arm (+1D lifting), small circular saw (4D damage, 33cm range), fire extinguisher.

Notes: Prototype for R-unit series, can only hold 1 set of Astrogation coordinates at a time.

Quirks Specific to P2-D4:

• Keeps his black shell highly polished and in perfect condition.
• Has not had a memory wipe in a number of decades.
• Prefers squawking at lifeforms and newer droids alike instead of actually attempting to communicate with them.
• Is Force sensitive.