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BD UNIT
Affiliation:
Various
Manufacturer:
Unknown (defunct)
Class:
Scout droid
Locomotion:
Legged, bipedalPower Supply:
Rechargeable power cell, 72-hour duration
Sensors:
- 1x photoreceptor
- 1x infrared receptor
- 1x thermal sensor
- 1x audio sensor
Size:
Height - 0.5 meters (0.6 meters when neck apparatus fully extended)
Composition:
Duraplast casing, durasteel skeleton
Tools and Equipment:
- 2x air powered jets
- 1x integrated comlink
- 1x health stim dispenser
- 1x hologram projector and recorder
- 1x scomp link/computer probe
- 1x spotlight
- 1x Reader socket
- 1x standard I/O socket
- 1x spark projector
DESCRIPTION
The BD droid series was a droid model designed and manufactured for the purposes of research and exploration. They were intended to accompany lone explorers as they ventured out to the far reaches of the galaxy, providing physical support and companionship. Because of this, the units are typically programmed to have great empathy for others and protect their owners in the face of danger. Because of their niche applications, the BD units never found popular appeal in the greater galaxy and fell into obscurity when the company responsible for its production closed down.The BD series were designed with a strong emphasis on mobility. To achieve this, the BD series was given a powerful motor for its size, enabling the droid to sprint at ground speeds that greatly exceed what a fit human male is capable of, in the hopes that it would allow the droid to get out of harm’s way. This motor had the unintended side effect of allowing the droid to jump up to twice its own height with ease. The feet were designed to grip objects for greater stability as well as for climbing. This comes at the limitation of poor dexterity when it comes to precise motor skills due to the limited articulation. The BD series is also equipped with two light air jets, capable of lifting the droid over tall obstacles, but primarily meant to assist the unit in navigating complicated terrain or cushioning long falls.
The exterior of the BD series is capable of shrugging off bumps and scrapes that are expected during outdoor exploration, but its light frame means that the unit is not capable of surviving heavy, deliberate blows to its structure. The amount of features packed into the droid left little room for redundancies, making most of the BD’s functions vulnerable to damage. It can also help tend to injured people with its supply of health stims (also referred to as healing stims); a factory model BD droid can carry up to ten (10) health stims in its head compartment. These stims can patch up minor wounds and assist in treating moderate injuries, but medical professionals do not recommend using health stims as a replacement for proper bacta treatment. A major design flaw noted by clients is that the BD unit’s poor limb dexterity prevents it from applying a health stim to a patient by itself. However, the manufacturer argued that an incapacitated individual is unlikely to receive much benefit from a health stim anyways.
Its sensory package is designed to fulfill the needs of exploration. Aside from a standard photoreceptor and audio sensor in order to visualize the environment and comprehend verbal commands, the BD unit possesses both an infrared sensor and thermal sensor. The infrared sensor enables unobstructed night vision while the thermal sensor detects heat signatures within the immediate area. Just in case the BD unit’s owner requires it, it came equipped with a small spotlight for illumination purposes. All of these are mounted in the droid’s head module, which has full 360 degree rotation and is mounted on an extendable neck. The neck extension only increases its overall height from 0.5 meters to 0.6 meters.
As with other utility droids, the BD unit is capable of accessing computers and other electronic hardware. BD units are capable of slicing computers as well, with illegal modifications allowing them to slice into other droids. However, their rarity and the fact that the catalog of sliceable droids is limited to outdated droid models from the Clone Wars era prevented this modification from becoming a major security concern. They can also send communications from a planetary surface to as far as neighboring star systems thanks to its transmission and receiver antennae. The antennae are designed to both send large quantities of research data as well as broadcast SOS beacons.
Finally, the BD unit’s self-defense equipment is lackluster. It is only armed with a poorly powered spark projector. Although still capable of knocking out people, its effective range is limited to virtually point-blank. Clients complained that its weak spark projector is incapable of knocking out large creatures even at point-blank range, preventing the unit from being a useful protector against dire threats. The projector does have the power to overload circuits at close range to damage electronics. Modifications to the spark projector could allow a BD unit to transfer more power to its spark projector, allowing it to channel electric currents along electro-conductive surfaces, but it is not recommended by the manufacturer.
LEGALITY
Legal. There is no illegal equipment built into standard BD units.INTENT
The primary intent is to be able to role-play a BD droid character. The droid model has ways of expressing itself that most other Star Wars droids are incapable of due to its combination of leg articulation, head and photoreceptor articulation, and the range of motion of its two antennae. The features of the droid are in part based off of its appearance in Jedi: Fallen Order; other features are inspired by the lore bits that have been released about BD-1 and the BD series.It’s also super cute.
ADVANCED TECH
YES. There is no unique or specialized equipment utilized in the factory model of the BD unit. However, relatively few units were constructed and production of the BD model had ceased long ago, making appearances of BD droids rare in the current time period.
