The History and Science of R2-D2

Ok, so today we are going to get an in-depth look at the man, the myth, the legend.  R2-D2.  His rise to fame was quite a noble one, starting out as a hard working droid from the ghetto eventually gaining the friendship of several jedi warriors as well as scoring with a princess.  

In 32 BBY, R2-D2 was serving the Royal Engineers of Naboo aboardQueen Padmé Amidala's royal starship when the Trade Federationblockaded the planet. His maintenance work on the ship's hull while it was under fire allowed the queen and her crew to bypass the blockade and flee the sieged world, and R2-D2 afterwards directly served the queen, playing a decisive role in liberating Naboo and remaining with Amidala for another ten years, even as she transitioned to the role of senator eight years later. When attemptson her life were made in 22 BBY and the Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker was assigned to protect her, R2-D2 and C-3PO accompanied the two to Geonosis and participated in a battle that started the Clone Wars, a galaxy-wide conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems. Amidala gave R2-D2 to Skywalker when he became a Jedi Knight, and the astromech droid faithfully served him throughout the war, often flying in the droid socket of Skywalker's starfighter or fighting next to him on the front lines.

Artoo's Technological Advances 

Artoo started out being a standard maintenance droid but was later tricked out to be much more sophisticated piece of machinery.  

• Rocket Booster 
• Cable Gun
• Oil Injecter 
• Claw Arm
• Fusion cutter
• Holoprojector Recorder
• Lightsaber compartment with ejector 
• Submarine Mode
• Collapsible Umbrella 
• Flea Remover
• Distractor 
• Computer Linking Module
• Electric Shock Arm
• Inflatable Mattress
•  Juke Box
• Confetti Maker

I mean who wouldn't want a confetti handy just in case one day you destroy an entire empire?  You pop one of those bad boys out and it would add to the moment fourscore!

The R2 unit is quite remarkable.  It is essentially a large box filled with gadgets and a human like motherboard that makes R2 able to think, come up with his own ideas, and even assess a situation and come up with a solution to benefit his friends in need.  This could be possible once Artificial Intelligence is invented in the future.  This unit could easily be made, the head would serve as the main hard drive, the brain, if you will.  The rest of the body would be used to store information, gadgets, the battery, and the motors for Artoo's transportation system.  

The one problem is, how can he take in so much data?  He has to know planetary systems, since he is the co pilot to ships, how to communicate with almost any computer, essentially talk, and all the information to his logic cortex.  It is unfathomable but the future holds many surprises.  

The little droid has gained the hearts of millions (including myself) and it is due to his personality and essentially being a walking, talking, animatronic Swiss Army Knife.  He is definitely up there in one of my favorite characters in the entire series!  (Which basically means like an hour of the third and then the entire Original Trilogy). 

Favorite tool Artoo has used?