A magnetic attractor was a hand tool used by mechanics to recover metal objects.
The magnetic attractor was little more than a short rod that contained a powerful electromagnet. When activated, one end of the tool became highly magnetized, creating an extremely focused and uni-directional magnetic field, which was used to attract large or heavy objects. The tool had multiple power settings, depending on the required amount of force needed to recover a specific object.
Many of the Republic's best podracers used magnetic retrievers to recover Steelton control cables that had come loose, using the tool's incredible attractive powers to retrieve the cables from a distance, all at speeds that neared 1,000 kilometers per hour.
