Ah hah! I forgot about that! Now you're thinking smart! That's why I needed help from ya'll. That would be a great way to make a connection to one of the movies.
If memory serves, we aren't told what those beams on a pod racer are. They're just one of those Star Wars gadgets that is assumed to be common place, I guess.
The only thing about this is that in Ep I the pod beams look more like thin lightning flashes, while Bao-Durs beam looks more like a beam of light.
Very good possibility, though.
They were called energy binders.