The Industrial Automaton (IA) P2 series is a first in droid design which will eventually lead to the development of the famous R2 unit. An eight-foot tall, grey, dome-topped cylinder, the P2 is equipped with two wheeled treads for locomotion plus a third one retracted within the body when the droid is stationary.
The P2 is controlled by its Resident Operating System, or ROS, which is IA's equivalent to our Windows. The first, prototype P2s carried ROS3, and were somewhat limited compared to the more widely available P2-ROS3.4. The P2 can only communicate via a computer link, although its does sound a status gong when its task is complete. This lack of communication has been addressed by IA and a driver for an acoustic signaller is to be included in Version 4 of ROS.
The astromech aboard the Red Planet is a P2-ROS3.4 purchased by Senator Thraurrallgisc to assist his crew, Ayo and Yarua in the navigation and maintainance of the ship. Known as Peetoo, this droid is too large to move freely about the ship and is thus confined to an alcove immediately aft of the cockpit. Peetoo remains parked in one spot, surrounded by a jumble of cables and wires that connect him directly to the ships systems.
