The Essential Guide to Droids (Page 34-35)
Household Service: TDL Nanny Droid
[edit]Infants and children need round-the-clock supervision, but work schedules frequently don’t allow parents to stay at home. For those with credit accounts big enough to afford one, AccuTronics' TDL nanny droid is the next-best alternative.
By nature, droids are methodical, patient, and tireless, attributes that would seem to make them excellent choices for dealing with children. However, the earliest attempts to market nanny droids were widespread failures. "Sure," consumers complained, "the droid obeys orders and keeps a tight schedule. But where’s the warmth?"
The TDL nanny droid was designed from the start to address these concerns. Standing 1.9 meters tall, the silvery automaton sports a torso and multiple arms sheathed in soft brown synthskin. This artificial flesh is kept at normal human body temperature to comfort infants, and to ease the transition between natural mother and surrogate. A few deluxe TDL models can be customized to exude the mother’s familiar scent and pheromone pattern.
Each droid is equipped with four arms, making it easy to hold a baby while performing additional tasks. An internal basin holds 2 liters of refrigerated milk or formula—when needed, the fluid is pumped through a warming unit and into one of the four arms, where it passes into a detachable tube/bottle assembly.
The TDL features a limited AA-1 Verbobrain with a TranLang communications module, allowing it to understand millions of languages—though this feature is rarely utilized to its fullest. It is an expert in child-rearing techniques from thousands of alien cultures, although the AccuTronics company chose not to model the droids to resemble particular alien species. The droid possesses datalogs crammed with the most advanced theories on cognitive and social development. Nanny droids also make excellent school tutors for preadolescents.
Their vocabulators produce a firm but gentle voice that is often described as "grandmotherly." All corners, seams, and edges on the body are rounded off to prevent any accidental injury to the child.
The XL-Lioness version of the standard TDL contains a deadly surprise—behind the removable hands on the lower pair of arms are two blaster cannons. This model is marketed for politicians and celebrities who think their children are possible kidnapping targets.
Chief of State Leia Organa Solo purchased a Lioness TDL to protect her children at a secret base on Anoth, but had her technicians modify it beyond its original specs. The new version had four concealed blasters, one in each arm, and an unfolding laser screen to shield her charges from enemy fire. Sadly, the droid was destroyed in the line of duty while trying to protect Anakin Solo from an Imperial abduction attempt.
Info Boxes
[edit]Front View
[edit]- Heated Synthskin Arms
- Smooth Corners
- Photoreceptors
- Olfactory Sensor
- Modulated Vocabulator
- Auditory Sensors
- Detachable Lower Hands
- Recharge Port (behind panel)
Rear View
[edit]- Internal Child-Care Database
- System Access Panel
- Blaster Cannons in Lower Forearms
- Connection Point for Tube/Bottle Assembly