Restraining bolt
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C-3PO fitted with a restraining bolt on his right chestplate
Arestraining bolt, also known as arestraining separator bolt, was a small device that could be attached to mostdroids used to ensure their obedience. More specifically, when fitted with a restraining bolt, droids could not leave the area designated by their owner, and were forced to obey commands given from a small remote device called acaller (such as "COME" and "STOP"). When activated, the restraining bolt turned off a droid's motor impulse without actually shutting down the droid. Restraining bolts had to be secured to specific locations on the droid.
Restraining bolts could also be used to shut down a droid, and power it back up again. This could be used to force a restart if there was an error in the droid's memory. The shut down could be accomplished with a switch on the bolt, or through the use of the caller.Kell Tainer helpedMyn Donos restart his droidShiner using this method afterEmpion mines had disabled the squadron.
Theastromech droidR2-D2 tricked his new ownerLuke Skywalker into removing his restraining bolt, so that he could leave theLars homestead and seek outObi-Wan Kenobi.R2-D2 andC-3PO were also fitted with restraining bolts during theBakuran Crisis. The assassin/protocol droidHK-47 also had a restraining bolt, so that he could not leave the droid shop until he was purchased and collected.Whistler,Corran Horn's R2 unit, had a unique mechanism which shifted control points internally, allowing the droid to avoid being controlled by restraining bolts at all.EV-9D9 also modified herself so as to be immune to restraining bolts, and (for obvious reasons) security droids such as theG-2RD could not be disabled by standard restraining bolts.
Droid rights activists abhorred use of the technology but supporters ofanti-droid sentiment embraced it.
