Over time, however, some units' original domes were replaced with opaque ones or painted over carelessly. The transparency gave the droid's internal sensor package greater range and showcased the R3's other major distinction, its newly updated Intellex V computer brain. The obvious difference in the factory unit was its head: the R2's opaque dome was swapped for a clear dome of plastex or transparisteel.
The R3's designers copied the R2's general aesthetic, including the bright, contrasting color trim on a white metal chassis. The R3 came at the heels of IA's blockbuster launch of the R2-series astromech droid as the company rushed to capitalize on their new dominance of the maintenance and repair droid market. The R3-series astromech droid was an astromech model developed and sold by the droidmaker Industrial Automaton (IA).
