The Essential Guide to Droids (Page 54-55)
Municipal: Systems Control Droid
[edit]Genetech Corporation's string of highly successful supervisory and administrative units hit a snag with the PIP/2 systems control droid, a big-budget failure that briefly caused the company to return to its medical-supply roots.
Market research prodded Genetech to exploit a relatively untapped niche-control-board operation. Although a few modern computer systems are completely automated through artificial intelligence and microprocessors, many networks rely on old-fashioned central switchboards and keyboard input panels. The reasons for the latter setup are many, ranging from cost to security to convenience, but the humans and aliens who run the control boards are almost universally overworked. Inevitably, this leads to accidental goofs and anxiety-induced foul-ups.
The PIP/2 was rushed into development to replace these flawed workers with a fast and foolproof droid. For reasons unclear, Genetech invested a huge number of production credits in the line's creation, despite the fact that the droid could only be sold to a relatively small market. Numerous logistical delays compounded their problem. Before long, the company and its stockholders had an enormous stake in the PIP/2-if it didn't sell in record numbers, the fiscal year would be a disaster.
No droid model could be expected to fulfill such high expectations, but the PIP/2 failed in an extraordinarily spectacular fashion. Genetech advertised the unit as "glitch-proof," even going so far as to offer money-back guarantees to municipal and corporate buyers. To the company's horror, glitches seemed to be all the new droid was capable of.
The PIP/2's droid brain handled simple tasks with ease, but quickly became overtaxed when subjected to excessive stimuli-alarm bells and warning lights, for instance. The stressed unit would either switch itself off or punch the wrong buttons in a vain effort to keep up. In one case, a systems control droid crossed wired a habitation sphere's sewage drains with its water-flow piping, resulting in 1,013 cases of severe intestinal distress.
Genetech was quick to respond to complaints, recalling as many units as possible and installing new programming patches. These modified droids operated almost perfectly-their optics-covered heads could scan every section of the control board simultaneously, while their eight jointed limbs punched keys with enviable speed and precision. Unfortunately, the damage was done. The systems control line continued for two small years until its merciful discontinuation, while a chastened Genetech refocused its sales efforts on its core medical market until the public's memory of the PIP/2 had faded.
Occasionally, a galactic citizen might see one of the outdated droids still in use. The Holographic Zoo of Extinct Animals on Coruscant used a PIP/2 to control the holographic dioramas and keep visitors moving through the exhibit halls. When Han Solo's children became lost in the museum, the droid had a distinctly unpleasant encounter with an enraged Wookiee named Chewbacca.
Info Boxes
[edit]Front View
[edit]- Rotating Reception Antennae
- Sensor Feed Hookup
- Adjustable Optic Sensors for Control Board
- Eight Articulated Control Limbs
- Variable-height Telescoping Legs
Side View
[edit]- Primary Optic Sensors for Droid/Master Interaction
- Multitasking Cognitive Processor
- Vocabulator/Broadcast Speaker
- Multijointed Keypad Digits