Astromech droid

When aboard a smaller vessel like a starfighter, an astromech droid mainly served as a substitute or backup to the navigation computer. However, due to limitations in each unit's astrogation buffer, an astromech could only store a limited amount of hyperspace coordinates. The droid also performed in-flight repairs and maintenance, as well as various routine operations, enabling the pilot to concentrate on piloting the vessel.

Larger starships typically had a sizable contingent of these droids to handle malfunctions or battle damage. Certain snubfighters (notably the T-65 X-wing starfighter and the Naboo N-1 starfighter) were equipped with a special port to house a droid for in-flight repairs. In some instances, astromech droids have been known to perform minor cleaning duties, and there have been several recorded cases of slicing being carried out by these droids, although this typically required the installation of specialized programming.

The majority of astromechs could only communicate through written text displayed via another computer system, or through binary, a unique language comprised of clicks, bleeps, and similar sounds. Some vehicles that utilized astromechs could be fitted with astromech translators to aid in communication.

Spacers had been using the term "astromech droid" informally to describe utility droids that performed comparable functions since at least the era of the Jedi Civil War. The term gained widespread usage and became synonymous with the models produced by Industrial Automaton, particularly the R-series of astromech droids, which included models ranging from the R1-series to the R9-series, only decades prior to the Clone Wars.

An R2-series astromech droid manufactured by Industrial Automaton, named R2-D2, was a significant figure in the galaxy.