Duwani Mechanical Products/Legends

"Beep boo weep. Twee twee."

- A Duwani Mechanical Products 3C-series utility droid

Duwani Mechanical Products was a droid manufacturing company active during the Old Republic era. Founded well before the Gank Massacres of 4,800 BBY, the company specialized in the production of utility and astromech droids, but it also produced various models of rugged and utilitarian probe droids, protocol droids, mining droids, and battle droids. Duwani remained in business throughout conflicts such as the Jedi Civil War, the Dark Wars, and the Great Galactic War, and two of its products&mdash;the T3-series utility droid T3-M4 and the T7-series astromech droid T7-O1&mdash;played pivotal roles in galactic events during their lifetimes. However, Duwani eventually went out of business sometime before the Clone Wars, and their products were rarely seen outside of private collections in the time of the New Republic.

History
"TARIS: We received a dreadful welcome when T3 droids at the starport made off with our baggage."

- Trampeta's Star Guide A droid manufacturing corporation that also produced computer systems and droid repair equipment, Duwani Mechanical Products was founded well before the year 4,800 BBY, when they were commissioned by Supreme Chancellor Vocatara to produce the juggernaut war droid to aid the Republic's rocket-jumper corps in the conflict known as the Gank Massacres. In the centuries that followed, Duwani became one of the most successful companies in the droid market alongside the Czerka Corporation and the Aratech Repulsor Company, and they maintained their position in the decades before 4,000 BBY. They continued to produce utility droids, mining droids, and other models throughout the next several centuries, surviving the Mandalorian Wars, Jedi Civil War, and the Dark Wars&mdash;a series of conflicts that occurred in the decades after 4,000 BBY. Duwani acquired the T1-series trademark from Kellenech Technologies after their LB-series bulk-loading droid fell out of popularity over a century before the Great Sith War, and they used it for their flagship T1-series utility droid. Duwani's T3-series utility droid, which went into production sometime before 4,086 BBY, was one of the earliest predecessors to the astromech droid, and the company continued to improve upon the T3-series over the next century.

The T7-series astromech droid was a model offered around a century after the Dark Wars, and droids of similar design were common throughout the galaxy during the Great Galactic War between the Republic and the Sith Empire. In the years after the Mandalorian Wars, pilots began to retrofit utility droids with starfighter interface packages, allowing their droids to plug directly into their ships, though Duwani did not officially endorse such modifications. By the time of the Republic's reorganization into the Galactic Empire, Duwani had long been out of business, and models such as the T3-series were rarely seen outside of private collections.

Products
"Statement: Oh, do shut up, you beeping little trash compactor."

- The assassin droid HK-47, to T3-M4

The company's droids were known for their utilitarian and minimalist design, but even their early models were durable and efficient. In the years before the Great Sith War, a conflict that pitted various Sith organizations against the Galactic Republic, Duwani produced the humanoid 3DO protocol/service droid, though the price had decreased to 1,500 credits by the time the Jedi trainee Andur Sunrider purchased A-3DO several years before 4,000 BBY. Around the same time, Duwani offered the UniSlice&mdash;a compact device that jammed electronic systems while a low-power energy torch literally sliced through locking mechanisms&mdash;for 2,000 credits, as well as the Breather-1, a breath mask costing 150 credits.

One of their earliest products was the juggernaut war droid, a combat model designed specifically as a remote resupply and combat droid for the Republic's rocket-jumper corps. The droids became a common sight on the Republic's capital of Coruscant, serving as part of the planet's defense forces, but that ended with the HK-01 assassin droid reprogrammed many juggernauts during the Great Droid Revolution of 4,015 BBY. Most juggernaut war droids had their intelligence matrces removed, and production of the droids ceased as many active units were retired. Another droid produced by Duwani in the years before the Mandalorian Wars was the popular DP-2 probe droid, a large ovoid model intended for use by scouts and explorers in the deep of space. The KM1 mining droid was a crab-like model that saw great use in the Outer Rim Territories at mining complexes such as the Peragus Mining Facility.

With the production of the T1-series, Duwani pioneered the new class of utility droid, and subsequent models such as the 3C-series, IT-series, and T3-series utility droid built on the T1's success. Duwani's utility droids were easily recognizable by their four wheeled legs, flat rotating head, and short stature. T3-M4 was a T3-series droid who became a companion of the famous Jedi Revan during the Jedi Civil War, and he continued to serve aboard Revan's ship the Ebon Hawk even after Revan disappeared and his ally Meetra Surik utilized the ship during the Dark Wars. In the years after the Dark Wars, Duwani continued to refine and produce their droids, eventually shifting from utility droids to the more starship-capable astromech droids, and their T7-series astromech droid went into production around a century after the Jedi Civil War. Another Duwani droid, the T7-series astromech T7-O1, was in operation for more than two centuries after his creation, and he became a companion of the legendary Jedi Knight known as the Hero of Tython as renewed war broke out between the Sith Empire and the Republic in 3,642 BBY.

Behind the scenes
Duwani Mechanical Products was first mentioned in the 1996 reference guide Tales of the Jedi Companion, and reappeared in 2006's The New Essential Guide to Droids. The companion character T3-M4 in the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic was produced by Duwani, and the Jedi Knight companion T7-O1 in the MMORPG The Old Republic was later confirmed to be a creation of Duwani Mechanical Products in the 2012 guide Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia.