Skip to main content

star wars - Where is a droid's brain located?


Inspired by this clip, I was wondering where the brains (CPU's?) for the B1 battle-droids and C-3PO are located.


We see 3PO's head put on a battle droid's body and a battle droid's head put on 3PO's body. Three things then happen:




  1. The battle droid head comments that his legs don't seem to respond.

  2. 3PO is shooting things and says, “Die Jedi scum”, then asks what made him say that.

  3. We see the battle droid effectively using 3PO's arms to shoot, even though he commented that the legs didn't respond properly.


So, - Where is a droid's brain located? - Do they have more than one brain (and if so, how many brains do they have and what is each brain responsible for)?



Answer




...according to this:


enter image description here


Note the "COGNITIVE MODULE" in the cranial unit.




I could not find a canonical schematic or description of the internal workings of the B1 battle droid, but I was able to find this pertinent description of it in the online documentation for the game Star Wars: Republic Commando :



B1 BATTLE DROIDS


The standard "infantryman" of the Confederacy, the black-armored B1 Battle Droid is an upgrade of the Trade Federation's B1 as seen across the galaxy, and in the recent Trade Federation blockade and invasion of the planet of Naboo. They are relatively weak enemies, but make up for their weakness in pure numbers. They are typically equipped with a small, hand-held blaster rifle. WEAK SPOT: The "head" contains the neural circuits. Destroying it destroys the droid in quick order.



It would seem then, in-universe, that the odd behaviour we witness when their heads are swapped must be due to mismatched components or some other incompatibility.


It's also possible that the B1 body has a built-in failsafe to prevent it from having its cognitive module replaced with a unauthorized one (e.g. to make it turn on its fellow B1's during battle). When the "Jedi scum" who replaced the module turns the unit back on to test it, a command stored in some fixed memory in the body is implemented, causing the droid to say "Die Jedi scum" and then fire upon him or her (although this is pure speculation).


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more